Africa-Canada Forum

The Africa-Canada Forum brings together more than 40 NGOs, churches, unions and solidarity groups from across Canada that have a specific interest in development issues and social justice in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Select one of the categories on the left, or visit our Archives section for past documentation.

Introduction to the Africa-Canada Forum (ACF)

Africa’s Odious Debt: How foreign loans and capital flight bled a continent

The Africa-Canada Forum, Halifax Initiative and the Institute of African Studies at Carleton present  Africa’s Odious Debt: How foreign loans and capital flight bled a continent with author Leonce Ndikumana.

Date: Tuesday, 28 February 2012, 2:30 - 4:00 pm
Location: Arts Lounge (2017 Dunton Tower), Carleton University. 

For more information, please contact Sylvie Perras.

Léonce Ndikumana, Professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, will discuss the findings of the book he co-authored with James K. Boyce in which they reveal the shocking fact that, contrary to the popular perception of Africa being a drain on the financial resources of the West, the continent is actually a net creditor to the rest of the world. The extent of capital flight from sub-Saharan Africa is remarkable: more than $700 billion in the past four decades. But Africa’s foreign assets remain private and hidden, while its foreign debts are public, owed by the people of Africa through their governments.

Climate Negotiations and Justice for Vulnerable Populations: Perspectives for COP 17 and Rio+20 - September 26, 2011

This September 2011 learning conference was held in collaboration with the Canadian Coalition on Climate Change and Development (C4D), CCIC's Africa-Canada Forum, Asia-Pacific Working Group and Canadian Food Security Policy Group.

The conference sought to deepen civil society understanding of key policy debates in upcoming international negotiations for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17), to be held in Durban, South Africa, November 28-December 9, 2011, and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 4-6, 2012. The conference focused particularly on the implications for small farmers, indigenous peoples and other marginalized populations.

Click here to read the Conference Report (PDF 641KB)

Click here to view videos of conference presentations

Africa-Canada Forum 2011 Colloquium:
What Environment for Justice in Africa?
Civil Society Challenges for Climate Adaptation and Democracy

The 2011 ACF Colloquium (September 26, 2011) looked at how climate change debates are being shaped in the African context, how African civil society is mobilizing on those issues and how Canadian CSOs are supporting African efforts.  It also looked at the shrinking of democratic space for civil society in Africa in light of global discussions on aid effectiveness and development effectiveness.  The objective was to improve members’ understanding of the major issues and challenges facing civil society to build climate justice and democratic space in Africa, and reassess ACF's value-added as a tool to support African efforts and advance Africa's place in Canada's foreign policy in the current unfavorable political context for civil society.

Agenda

Listen to audio presentations from the 2011 Colloquium

Africa-Canada Forum - Peace and Security in Africa

The Difficult Walk Towards Peace in The Democratic Republic of Congo: What Role for Canada?
The conflict that unfolded in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from 1996 to 2003 has been the world’s deadliest since the Second World War.  Despite the end of the conflict, violence and insecurity still prevail in the eastern region of the DRC, primarily driven by the competition to control trading of valuable minerals.  The fight for these natural resources leads to some of the most serious human rights violations.  In that context, what role can Canada play?

Click here to read the Briefing Note

Canada’s Action Plan on the Implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security (1325, 1820, 1888, 1889)

Canada's Action Plan, released in October 2010, provides a framework for a whole-of-government approach to address the situation of women and girls in conflict settings. While the plan sets out important areas for action and has generally been well received by Canadian civil society, some important considerations still remain to be addressed, such as issues related to implementation, monitoring, and reporting, an increased focus on participation and representation, a more robust contextualized approach and the need for on-going consultation with civil society in Canada and abroad.

Click here to read the Briefing Note.

Africa-Canada Forum - Colloquium 2010
Issues of Peace and Security in Africa:A Civil Society Agenda for Democratization

Over 35 participants met over two days to deepen their knowledge of the complex challenges facing the continent in its search for sustainable peace. With colleagues from Africa, the Diaspora and academia, we discussed ways forward for the Africa-Canada Forum (ACF) advocacy work and members’ partnership relations in support of peace and development in Africa, taking account of the context of growing challenges for Canadian civil society organizations to sustain their work with African counterparts.

Click here to read the Report (PDF)

Click here for the Colloquium Agenda (PDF)

Click here for the Biographical Notes (PDF)

Africa Matters: Time for A Renewed Commitment to Economic and Social Justice for Africa (April 2010)

The G8 and G20 Summits 2010 provide Canada with an important opportunity to lead the way with bold new initiatives that strengthen the capacities of Africans and their governments to weather the economic, financial, climate, food, and conflicts crisis and resume strategies to overcome poverty and growing inequalities on the continent. You can consult the complete Africa-Canada Forum Backgrounder (PDF 304 Kb), or specific section as follow:

• Overview (PDF 45 Kb)
• Briefing Note 1: Increased Aid to Address Growing Poverty in Africa (PDF 48 Kb)
• Briefing Note 2: Promoting the Right to Food in Canadian Food Security Policies (PDF 49 Kb)
• Briefing Note 3: Ensuring the Highest Environmental and Human Rights Standards for Canadian Corporate Investments in Africa (PDF 48 Kb)
• Briefing Note 4: Working for Climate Justice in Africa (PDF 88 Kb)
• Briefing Note 5: Promoting Fair and Transparent Global Economic, Trade and Financial Policies for Africa's Development (PDF 90 Kb)
• Briefing Note 6: Promoting Sustainable and Inclusive Peace in Africa (PDF 75 Kb)

The Betty Plewes Fund – Award 2010

The Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe was selected, among 10 highly valuable nominations, as the winner of the $15,000 Betty Plewes Fund Award for its engagement on research and policy development on issues of priority to women. Formed in June 1999 The Women’s Coalition is a diverse group of 40 women's rights organizations working to address the aspirations and needs of women and to ensure the full participation of Zimbabwean women in the ongoing constitutional reform and to strengthen activists in raising their voices on critical issues affecting women. In particular, the Coalition is committed to decreasing abuse, particularly physical and sexual abuse through the empowerment of women and girls.  One of the legal gains that the Coalition has been instrumental in achieving for women include the groundbreaking Domestic Violence Act passed in 2007.  Christine Campbell, National Director, External Relations at Canadian Crossroads International received the award on behalf of their partner organization at the CCIC 2010 Annual General Meeting. For more information, click here.

Colloquium 2009:
Africa in Canadian Foreign Policy

The objective of the colloquium was to refine ACF strategy to put Africa back in Canada’s foreign policy agenda, in particular in relation to the 2010 G8 and G20 Summits opportunities, and in light of CIDA’s new priority areas, using its Platform for Action: Africa Matters. (PDF 368 Kb)

The Global Economic Crisis: Where does Africa Stand? 
Objective: In light of the international community’s responses to date to the global crisis, particularly the outcomes of the June UN meeting on the financial crisis, the G8 Summit in L’Aquila, Italy and the US meeting of the G20,the objective of the panel was to analyze ideas and proposals by African governments and civil society to address the different and continuing impacts of the crisis in Africa. The panel also looked at how Canada can support African efforts to overcome the effects of the crisis on their development.

Africa’s Trade During the Crisis and the Conclusion of the Doha Round – Tina Nanyangwe, formerly Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection (PDF 904 Kb)

Opportunities for Canada to Address the Crisis in Africa
Ann Weston, The North-South Institute

Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development: Shaping Canada’s Priority for Food Security

Objective: Situate ACF proposals for CIDA’s priority for food security as it may relate to Africa within an understanding of the impact of the food crisis on Africa, namely with regard to land grabs, GMOs and agrofuels, and sustainable rural development for small-scale producers, many of whom are women.

Food Crisis, Land Grabs, and Food Sovereignty – Devlin Kuyek, Researcher, GRAIN (PDF 866 Kb))

CIDA’s Food Security Strategy and Canada’s take on Global Food Issues – Stuart Clark, Policy Analyst, Food Grains Bank, Food Security Policy Group (PDF 561 Kb)

Canada’s Role in Supporting Women’s Empowerment

Objective: Better understand women’s experiences in conflict, and their roles in peace negotiations and peace building. Reflect on how Canada might better promote the role of women and women's groups in peace processes based on the principle of an inclusive and locally owned peace. Understand why and how CIDA should strengthen its leadership in women’s rights and gender equality.

Women’s Struggle for Peace in Zimbabwe – Tiisetso Russell, PhD Candidate, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) University of Toronto (PDF 572 Kb)

Canada’s Role in Supporting African Women in Peace Processes – Surendrini Wijeyaratne, Program Officer, Peace-Building and Humanitarian Response, CCIC (PDF 125 Kb)

Strengthening Canada’s International Leadership in The Promotion of Gender Equality – Rita Soares Pinto, Program Officer Gender Equality, Oxfam Québec (French only) (PDF 416 Kb). A civil society response to the evaluation can be found on CCIC's website.

Building a New Canada-Africa Relationship – Joan Baxter, Journalist, writer, and USC Canada Board Member. Author of Dust from Our Eyes: An Unblinkered Look at Africa (PDF 1.4 Mb)

Annual General Meeting 2009 

Meeting the Challenge of Democratic Development, Peace and Economic Justice in Africa
Understanding how Northern-designed solutions to the global financial crisis will or are affecting Africa, in particular in light of the traditional demands for debt cancellation and genuine African-led development, ACF members began elaborating a road map for collective action to put Africa back on Canada's foreign policy agenda. The ACF Platform for Action: Africa Matters was officially launched at the AGM.  (PDF 368 Kb) (March 2009)

Final Agenda (PDF 96 Kb) (April 2009)

Responses to the Financial Crisis (PPT 177 Kb)
Fraser Reilly-King, Coordinator, Halifax Initiative
For ongoing information on the financial crisis, go to the Halifax Initiative website. 

Africa in the Turmoil of the Global Financial Crisis (PDF 168 Kb)
Lawson Body-Kouglo, Coordinator, Social and Economic Policy Department, The International Trade Union Confederation – African Regional Organisation (ITUC-Africa) (presentation) (available only in French) (PPT 347 Kb) (April 2009)

Canada's Support to Peace Processes in Africa  
Surendrini Wijeyaratne, Program Officer, Peace and Conflicts, Canadian Council for International Co-operation, looks at the place of Africa in Canada's International Peace and Defence Policy. focusing on Canada's support to peace processes in Africa. Based on the cases of the DRC and Uganda, she argues that previous and successful support to specific and important peace initiatives in those countries, in particular in terms of women's participation in peace negotiations in the DRC, have not been capitalized upon. In fact, Canada's current dwindling prioritization on Africa may affect the sustainability and implementation of peace efforts in places like DRC and Uganda not to mention the number of smaller countries. (PDF 37 Kb) (April 2009)

Africa Matters: The Africa-Canada Forum Platform for Action 2009-2011
The platform describes what ACF recommends that Canada do to promote human rights and end poverty and injustice in Africa. Meant as a reference for individual members' and collective action for policy work, the platform is rooted in the close relationships ACF and its members have been building over years of collaborative work with African counterparts. It reflects our experience of the day-to-day reality of Africans and their struggle to transform this reality. (PDF 368 Kb) (March 2009)

Priority Countries for Canada's International Assistance: Africa Left on Sidelines 
"Africa is at the epicentre of global poverty. Several countries on the Continent are being dropped in favour of countries that are not doing as badly. This shift causes Canada's leadership in Africa to be seriously questioned." (Gerry Barr, President-CEO of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation) (PDF 19 Kb) (March 2009)