A multi-year, multi-million dollar funding proposal submitted by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada has been turned down by the federal government’s Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
The proposal of $2.9 million a year for the next three years would have provided much needed food, water and income generation assistance for thousands of people in India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Haiti, Bolivia, Mozambique and Ethiopia.
“This decision means that the implementation of some MCC programs may be temporarily delayed or scaled back,” said Don Peters, MCC Canada executive director. “These needs remain and MCC is now exploring other options for funding some of these projects.”
In recent years, CIDA has made a number of changes in the way it operates and approves grants, explained Peters. Grants are now approved through a competitive process with CIDA issuing calls for proposals and approving the proposals that best meet the objectives set by CIDA.
“We should not be surprised that we are not going to win every submission,” said Peters. “In the coming weeks, we will be working with CIDA to better understand the shortcomings of our proposal and to learn from this experience.”
MCC proposals to CIDA that have been approved over the past few years include $2.1 million for MCC’s reconstruction work in Haiti, $1.2 million for disaster assistance in China and $300,000 for disaster assistance in Burma/Myanmar. MCC is also accessing CIDA funds through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank for various food assistance and food security projects.
“We don’t automatically apply for every proposal but we will leverage our resources with government resources when MCC’s interests match CIDA’s interests,” explained Peters. “We have been doing development work for more than 90 years and are confident in the basic premises of how we wish to work. We are well rooted, we know who we are and we know who we are serving.”
Last year, MCC had personnel in 48 countries and income (including Canada and the U.S.) of about $76 million.
--Feb. 1, 2012
Comments
On first blush, this news seems to come as a vicious below- the-belt blow from a cynical, compassion-starved government flexing its ‘majority, whose hubris is blindly driving the bus.
At the risk of unintentionally offending those who see an critical comment about MCC tantamount to sacrilege, I candidly offer these reflections solely in the interests of striving towards essential improvements in its execution of its vitally important mission, done on our behalf. It’s time to call a spade a spade!
Having long worked closely with both MCC, (first as a field administrator in Northeast Brazil, 1968-70, - as a predecessor of Don Peters, then as a member of three MCC Boards at three levels from 1980-2000, - a former insider),also working , intermittently as a consultant to CIDA in program design\delivery and program evaluation, this announcement comes as no great surprise. While CIDA has been driven increasingly to results-based management, MCC bi-national staff have unwisely stood steadfastly resisted in program planning management and evaluation adhering instead to the presumed 'superior' MCC-way and traditions, (the MCC culture), this leaves MCC empty-handed when called on to demonstrate 'results' achieved from the past 'generous' contributions from CIDA for international development work, leaving it poorly positioned to compete with far more aggressive and shrewd NGO's at fund-raising. Statements like Peters’ " “We have been doing development work for more than 90 years and are confident in the basic premises of how we wish to work. We are well rooted, we know who we are and we know who we are serving”, and publication of occasional off-the-cuff quotes from the odd senior bureaucrat about the 'exemplary' quality of some of MCC's efforts. carry little freight among today's generation of 'bureaucrats’ in-charge' " Doing development work for more than 90 years", or, ‘(liberally spending 'easily come-by money is yet again an over-emphasis on 'doing'\activity vs. solid credible 'data' on results. Furthermore, language like, We are” confident in the basic premises of how we wish to work smack of arrogance and closed-mindedness.The need to “better dot the i’s and cross the t’s”, which is to trivialize MCC’s problem.Trying to play catch-up by now talking with CIDA officials is I expect ‘wishful thinking’.
Sadly, while MCC administrators were so consumed during that extravagant Wineskins extravaganza with collecting a myriad of quasi-informed opinions about others 'think' MCC may be doing ‘well’, they took their eyes off the ball in communicating with the largest single funding source.CIDA would, I think, not be impressed with the lavish expenditure on an exercise resulting in the needless rupture of the organization, instead of seeking out ways within the administration and governance systems to deliver assistance programs more effectively and with greater accountability.
Where is the evidence that the needy will be better off for all the energy and money spent on this needless exercise?
The yearning for more power and control does not necessarily lead to better results in the field where the real needs lie.
Our “Just trust us swallow unquestioningly our literature about our noble activities,” is not a modus operandi for governments who are at the end of the day held accountable.
My unsolicited advice to Don Peters for "exploring other options for compensatory funding" is that he begin his search among the folks who have so long been pushing for a separate Canadian MCC, with full control lying north of the 49th. Meanwhile he can start thinking about initiating administrative cost-cutting measures. Though the dollar impact may be minor, it’s the ‘attitude’ that counts.
A respectful dialogue with provincial counterparts stuck in ‘expansion-modes, some, caught up in very expensive building projects.
Nor should a single new dollar be spent in trying to co-ordinate the unwieldy mess that has resulted. I recognize that that to insiders the new configuration may look neat and tidy, but to some of us out on the fringes being constantly begged for more dollars, it looks anything but neat and ripe for confusion and increased waste.
Until the new MCC in Canada can demonstrate some very significant belt-tightening as it chops overseas projects, I doubt there will be much constituency support for appeals to ‘dig deeper’; hold more sales, sell,ore used stuff, etc., etc.
Let’s take this as a wake-up call, concentrate on undoing all the damage done by Wineskins champions.
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