The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child lays out the full spectrum of rights to which every child in the world is entitled. World Vision knows the role poverty plays in depriving children of these rights. Consider "the right to survival". In most poor countries where we work, a staggering percentage of children don't live to see their first birthday.

In many poor countries, international aid constitutes a significant portion of revenues. In Niger, for example, nearly half the government's budget is derived from foreign donor resources.

World Vision wants the Canadian government to meet the financial commitments it has made to poor countries. But we also want to ensure that such funds are effectively spent. World Vision believes that aid money is not well spent without a demonstrable impact on human rights.

The World Vision advocacy team challenges the Canadian government to make this so. We often refer to the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, which defines a plan to help improve the quality and positive impact of development aid. We also draw on lessons learned from our extensive field experience.