June 8, 2007
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Really?
SPIEGEL: Mr. Shikwati, the G8 summit at Gleneagles is about to beef up the development aid for Africa...
Shikwati: ... for God's sake, please just stop.
SPIEGEL: Stop? The industrialized nations of the West want to eliminate hunger and poverty.
Shikwati: Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40 years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor.
Fascinating article...
Comments (6)
i actually agree that a lot of relief/aid is more harmful than good. i suppose it's that "teach a man to fish" kind of thing, combined with irresponsible and corrupt humans. juli teasdale was talking about this a while ago since they returned to kenya. she definitely has an inside view that is pretty interesting.
wow. hooking them on welfare? sounds sadly familiar to other history... I have a friend (a Livingston) who worked with the Peace Corps in Africa. She quit early because she said that their efforts to train the people to think ahead were futile; they were only interested in living day-to-day.
I'm hoping you have an alternative? That foreign aid is all that's keeping many of these people alive. You can just cut it off, but you'll kill millions unless it's replaced.
~Sol
not to be crass, but people are going to die, one way or another, one time or another. Is it really better for them to live a few years longer as beggars, rather than the possibility of some dying sooner and others becoming able to make an adequate living?
It seems to me that what Dr. Shikwati is getting at is indiscriminate aid going to government officials is worse than nothing. Even if it is earmarked, it seems he is saying there isn't any enforcement with teeth. There are organizations, however, that are focused on sustainable development, and not corn-dumping... Oxfam, to some degree, seems focused on training and specific capital improvement projects with the goal of foreigners not being a permanent part of the equation.
Likewise, some Christian organizations like Compassion are very focused on community partnerships to train children to be stable, productive individuals able to care for themselves and their families. SIL, a Christian linguistic training organization associated with Wycliffe Bible Translators, is also very focused on training nationals to do literacy, translation, and community development work, both to have a vibrant, independent, indigenous church and because nationals can simply do the work better and faster than foreigners.
As for the governmental side of things, there are tons of less direct measures--some listed by Dr. Shikwati--that Western governments can take to help foster strong national economies. And by economies, I mean people able to grow food for themselves and make a living off the excess. Lowering the massive farming subsidies to Western Agri-business would be one possibility.
Another interesting solution is the microcredit scheme advanced by the Grameen Bank, among others. Basically, the idea is to give very small loans to groups of people, usually women, to help them avoid the exorbitant interest rates of loan sharks. Although the idea is not without its problems, they have pretty good repayment rates, and generally turn a small yearly profit.
very interesting. thanks.
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