Unknown Outcome for Billions Spent on Canada’s Feminist Foreign Policy, Says Auditor General

Global Affairs Canada has not been properly tracking the outcome of approximately $3.5 billion spent on projects to advance gender equality abroad, the Auditor General says in one of her latest reports.

“It is imperative that Global Affairs Canada act immediately to improve its information management practices and reporting on results to show parliamentarians and Canadians the value of Canada’s bilateral international assistance to support women and girls in low- and middle-income countries,” Auditor General (AG) Karen Hogan wrote in a statement.

Hogan released her four latest reports reports on March 27, with the one on Global Affairs Canada (GAC) being the most critical.

It looked at the department’s Feminist International Assistance Policy that was launched in 2017 and applies to all its foreign aid programs.

The AG found that 24 of the 26 indicators created by the department to monitor progress against policy goals did not measure outcomes.

The report also notes the difficulty of obtaining documents on the projects from the department, something that was raised in a previous audit in 2021.

In some instances there are no standardized procedures for storing and maintaining project information, and in others key information is kept on the personal computer drives of employees who have since moved on, wrote the AG.

In the event where GAC provided full information on projects, the AG found that progress reports could not be readily found.

The AG also found the department only met one of three spending commitments outlined in its feminist policy.

“This makes it impossible for the department to accurately account for the outcomes of funded projects.”

International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan reacted to the report in a press conference in Ottawa on March 27 and said he “absolutely” agrees his department must improve it’s administrative processes.

“Improving our reporting is imperative for transparency, accountability, and also for decision making,” he said, noting that work to that end is underway.

While recognizing the need for improvement, the minister also defended the results delivered by GAC by mentioning having seen firsthand some of the funded projects.

“When I was in Bangladesh, I visited one of the slums there and learned about how Canadian funding is supporting menstrual health education … our efforts are reducing cultural stigma around using feminine hygiene product,” he said.

“This means we are supporting girls to stay in school and reducing barriers for women to work.”

Conservative MP and his party’s critic for international development Garnett Genuis says the AG report shows that Liberals are not serious about delivering on their gender equality promises.

He also criticized Sajjan for agreeing with the report’s findings yet providing his accounts as a gauge of success.

“It’s a pure guess what the impact is because the Auditor General has shown that the government isn’t measuring the results,” Genuis said in a press conference in Ottawa.

Other reports released by the AG on March 27 cover the accessibility of transportation for persons with disabilities, broadband and wireless coverage in rural areas and the renovation of Parliament’s Centre Block.