New Democrats have consistently put foreign aid at the top of our priority list. We are committed to getting Canada on track to fulfilling our longstanding commitment to increase our Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) budget to 0.7 per cent of GDP with an immediate increase of $500 million this year and larger increases each year thereafter. This will be a reversal of the records of past Conservative and Liberal governments that have left our historic 40-year-old aid pledge to stagnate at 0.3%. New Democrats believe that Canada has a moral responsibility to the world’s most vulnerable people, and that we can and must do better.

Of course, maternal, newborn and child health will be a fundamental pillar of an NDP Government’s international assistance policy, given its crucial importance in driving development. Our approach will be consistent with priorities set out by representative groups within recipient countries.