Ottawa, ON – World Vision Canada welcomes the Africa Commission report’s recommendations which could make a huge difference for the people in Africa suffering from poverty, conflict, and disease. As a member of the commission, Ralph Goodale has shown leadership in making the end of poverty in Africa a priority for G8 countries.

As a development organization working in some of Africa’s worst affected countries for more than 50 years, World Vision hopes the report’s recommendations will result in:

• Stopping the flow of arms in conflict areas including the Sudan, Uganda, and DRC;
• An emphasis in accountability to the people in African countries and that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will work with civil society to empower citizens to hold their governments accountable through strengthened parliaments;
• G8 countries taking this report seriously in the World Trade Organization negotiations as they try to develop a new agreement on agriculture;
• All G8 countries increasing their aid budgets to 0.7 per cent of their national incomes. This would increase access to education and health systems that can prevent HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

World Vision is an international Christian humanitarian relief and development organization, working in more than 90 countries helping approximately 85 million people each year. Canadians sponsor more than 310,000 children through World Vision.