World Hunger: Advocate
The CRC both strives to feed the hungry in the short term and to address the root causes of hunger. To reform systemic injustices that keep people in hunger, Christians are called to advocate for just and equitable policies on issues that impact food security.
Foreign aid is one crucial way in which Canadian and US policies have a tremendous impact on the well-being of millions of hungry people. In addition to famine relief, both countries provide foreign aid for investment in the agricultural development of developing countries.
However, to be effective in achieving long-term food security, the foreign aid systems need improvement.
What can you do to combat the root causes of hunger?
Learn More
Read more about the current state of world hunger and the need for reform of the US foreign aid system.
Learn about the importance of food justice for Canadian international policy in the Committee for Contact with Government report Food Justice Makes a Difference.
Read about the importance of smallholder farmer resilience to global crises for food security.
Advocate
Canada: Good news! This fall, you urged your MP to prioritize the resilience of small-scale farmers in Canada’s international aid work, and now the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has acted on your requests.
CIDA has announced that its new international food security strategy will emphasize farmer resilience to the food crisis, the climate crisis, and the global economic recession, which have pushed a billion of the world's most vulnerable people into extreme hunger.
Please thank your MP for supporting small-scale farmers by conveying this important message to the Prime Minister's office and to the Minister of International Cooperation (CIDA)
United States: Urge your representatives to support the reform of the US’s out-dated foreign aid system.
By making our foreign aid more efficient and effective, U.S. assistance will have a greater impact on poor and hungry people around the world—which is critical in these tough economic times.
There are currently two bills in Congress that are essential to making U.S. foreign aid more effective:
- The Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act (H.R. 2139) directs President Obama to create a national strategy for global development, and it requires each U.S. department and agency carrying out foreign assistance to develop a system to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of its assistance programs. Click here to contact your Representative.
- The Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act (S. 1524) rebuilds the policy, planning, and evaluation capacity of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The bill would also increase transparency of foreign assistance programs and bring greater development coordination on the ground.
- Update: S. 1524 passed its first major hurdle on The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved this bill by a vote of 14-3. Click here to contact your Senators.
- Update: S. 1524 passed its first major hurdle on The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved this bill by a vote of 14-3. Click here to contact your Senators.
