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Reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa Most of Africa's heads of state failed to turn up Thursday for the first African Union donor conference in Ethiopia to raise money for the Horn of Africa famine, leaving activists disappointed with the pledges.
Of the African Union's 54 member nations, only the heads of Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea and Djibouti participated in the conference in Addis Ababa, along with the head of the transitional government in Somalia, the country hit hardest by the famine. Critics accused African leaders of failing to make good on their rhetoric about finding African solutions for African problems.
Activists said leaders had pledged about $50 million, but much of it was "in kind" assistance, with few details given on the services being offered.
The African Development Bank, meanwhile, said it would donate $300 million for long-term development in the Horn of Africa.
The African Union had come under fire for delaying the conference for several weeks because some leaders had conflicts in their schedules.
Nicanor Sabula, spokesman for Africans Act 4 Africa, a coalition of civil organizations, said the failure of leaders to appear at the conference as the Horn of Africa faced its greatest crisis in two decades was "disappointing and embarrassing."
With 12 million people in crisis, and famine declared in many parts of southern Somalia, the United Nations has appealed for $2.4 billion. Despite pledges of more than $500 million from the United States, $228 million from the European Union and $630 million from individual European countries, the target has not been met.
It is reportedly the region's worst drought in more than 50 years. Tens of thousands of people have died and 1.5 million have left their homes in Somalia in search of food. Five regions of Somalia have been declared famine-hit and two others are expected to be added to the list.
At the conference, Andrew Andasi, an 11-year-old Ghanaian who saw images of the famine on television and launched a radio campaign for donations, said he had raised $4,000. Andrew called on African leaders to help those in need, especially women and children.
Activists said some countries that could afford to do more have not.
"We were expecting that the heads of states from Africa would come up and show solidarity with the people of the Horn of Africa," Sabula said. "It starts to reinforce the perception of the AU as a club of presidents.... It doesn't send a very good message to the people of Africa. I know people will be very disappointed."
That's sad these people can't get help. 2.4 billion is small compared to all the money thrown around.
A sixth region, Bay in central Somalia, has now slipped into famine, according to data released following recent fresh assessment missions. The studies show that more than half of the country, or four million people, need food aid to keep them from dying, but aid workers are concerned the international fund-raising effort is slowing down. Already tens of thousands have died and hundreds more are still dying each day, the UNs Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit said. In total, four million people are in crisis in Somalia, with 750,000 people at risk of death in the coming four months in the absence of adequate response, the report concluded.
Several more areas are expected to deteriorate in the coming months, before rains due in October water seeds ahead of harvests hoped for early next year. We cant underestimate the scale of the crisis, said Mark Bowden, the UNs humanitarian coordinator for Somalia. This is the most serious harvest failure that Somalia has had in 17 years. And there is a continuing deterioration. Other areas in the country are falling into the critical category. The Daily Telegraph saw at first hand the pain and suffering being experienced by famine victims.
On plastic mattresses on beds crowding the wards of Banadir Hospital in central Mogadishu lie the infant victims of this famine, some silent, some whimpering in pain. Doctors battled to insert an IV drip in one near-lifeless girl, who looked like she was less than six months old but who was in fact well past her second birthday. Upstairs, Muslima Hassan Aden sat on the floor cradling her two-year-old daughter Shiqri, whose body was blotched with measles and whose eyes barely registered her mothers face above her.
She was such an active child, fit and always playing, Mrs Aden, 28, told The Daily Telegraph yesterday. But our crops failed after we saw no rain for three years. All of our animals have died. There was nothing where we came from. We had no choice but to run here. Mrs Aden, her husband and their four children have lived near the central city of Baidoa, in the newly-declared famine region of Bay, all their lives. She has never seen a drought like this one, she said, as Shiqris eyes rolled closed for a panicked moment.
MORE
That's sad these people can't get help. 2.4 billion is small compared to all the money thrown around.
The truth is we are more concerned about the Somalis than their fellow Africans are, and you can forget about the Muslims in the Middle east, they wouldn't piss on the Somalis if they were on fire.
Countries with the highest number of aid workers killed (19972003) This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2007)
1.Angola: 58 (mostly as a result of anti-aircraft attacks on two UN planes by UNITA in 1998 and 1999 and by landmines)
2.Afghanistan: 36
3.Iraq: 32
4.Sudan: 29
5.Democratic Republic of the Congo: 18
6.Rwanda: 17
7.Somalia: 16
8.Burundi: 11
9.Palestinian Authority: 7
10.Uganda: 7
11.Serbia and Montenegro (Kosovo): 5
12.Liberia: 5
[edit] Countries with the highest number of incidents of major violence (2006-2008)According to the Overseas Development Institute's researchers methods of calculating incidents[1]:
1.Sudan: 93
2.Afghanistan: 77
3.Somalia: 68
4.Sri Lanka: 20
5.Chad: 13
6.Iraq: 12
7.Pakistan: 12
[edit] List of recent attacks on humanitarian workers This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2007)
[edit] 1993Somalia January 2, 1993 - A gunman killed Sean Devreaux, 28, a British worker for Unicef in Kismayu.[2]
Somalia February 22, 1993 - Gunmen killed Valerie Place, 23, an Irish nurse with the charity Concern.[3]
Bosnia July 5, 1993 Scottish aid worker Christine Witcutt shot by a sniper in Sarajevo.[4][5]
Bosnia October 25, 1993 Danish aid worker Bjarne Vium Nielsen Danish killed in attack on humanitarian aid convoy.[6][7]
Most of the deaths occurred mainly Bay and Bakol regions in southern Somalia. Medics say most of the Somali children affected by cholera were between the ages of three and four years. Relief groups say among the most vulnerable to the drought and famine are children under the age of five.
Drought and famine have affected millions of people across Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Somalia has been the hardest-hit country in what is being described as the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in 60 years. According to the United Nations, a quarter of Somalia's 9.9 million population are either internally displaced or living outside the country as refugees.
The UN has declared famine in five regions of Somalia and says that the international humanitarian response to the crisis has been insufficient. The United Nations says that more than thirteen children out of every 10,000 aged less than five die in the Somalia famine zone every day.
PressTV - Cholera claims 98 more lives in Somalia
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says the Horn Of Africa can look forward to weaker drought conditions in the coming months. In its latest El Nino/La Nina update, the WMO says near neutral or weak La Nina conditions, which lessen the severity of drought, are the most likely scenarios for the rest of 2011. The El Nino and La Nina phenomena, which occur in the tropical Pacific, have a significant impact upon weather and climate around the globe. The World Meteorological Organization says there is a possibility that La Nina conditions, where sea surface temperatures cool, may re-emerge over the coming months. But, if this happens, it says the event is likely to be much weaker than the moderate to strong La Nina, which prevailed in 2010 and ended in May 2011.
That La Nina was linked to disastrously wet conditions in parts of Australia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and portions of northern South America. At the same time, it caused drought in East Africa. WMO Climate Expert Rupa Kumar Kolli says if La Nina re-emerges it would result in rainfall, which is either normal or below normal. This, he tells VOA, could potentially spell bad news for East Africa but he adds that drought conditions are still likely to be less severe than in the past two years. “There is reason to be concerned about the situation. But, at the same time, even if La Nina occurs, the current indications are that it is likely to be weak and is not going to be anywhere close to the moderate to strong La Nina that we have seen last year," said Kolli. "In that sense, even if it is slightly below normal, it is really not alarming and it is very unlikely that we will see a very severe drought condition to happen in Eastern Africa.”
More than 12 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia are struggling to cope with the worst drought to hit the Horn of Africa in 60 years. People in Somalia are particularly hard hit as they try to survive the twin disasters of conflict and drought. The United Nations has declared several regions in southern Somalia to be famine zones. Kolli says the drought in the Horn of Africa came as no surprise to meteorologists. He says the impact resulting from the La Nina event was expected and he says regional weather centers warned countries of the severity of the drought that was looming. Once countries have been warned of a possible weather-related disaster, he tells VOA it is up to their governments to take appropriate measures to try to lessen the expected impact.
“Famines are man-made, whereas droughts are natural parts of the system. So, the drought warnings were given sufficiently in advance to the policy makers,".Kolli added. "But, the famine conditions are a combination of the drought and other factors, which actually create a situation where people have no access to food.” WMO Climate Expert Kolli says meteorologists are trying to improve ways of getting policy makers to take their warnings more seriously. He says they are trying to see how they can better communicate weather and climate information. He says it is important to make policy makers understand they must take appropriate decisions based on the regional forecasts they receive.
Source
That's sad these people can't get help. 2.4 billion is small compared to all the money thrown around.
The truth is we are more concerned about the Somalis than their fellow Africans are, and you can forget about the Muslims in the Middle east, they wouldn't piss on the Somalis if they were on fire.
That's sad these people can't get help. 2.4 billion is small compared to all the money thrown around.
The truth is we are more concerned about the Somalis than their fellow Africans are, and you can forget about the Muslims in the Middle east, they wouldn't piss on the Somalis if they were on fire.
Perhaps we are "more concerned" because we helped created their situations. Noticed how we were more concerned about 2010 Haiti catastrophic earthquake and had our rescue team already waiting in Haiti hours prior to the 7.0 magnitude earthquake?
Thats right, let the West pay for it.
Few African leaders show up for famine summit
Reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa Most of Africa's heads of state failed to turn up Thursday for the first African Union donor conference in Ethiopia to raise money for the Horn of Africa famine, leaving activists disappointed with the pledges.
Of the African Union's 54 member nations, only the heads of Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea and Djibouti participated in the conference in Addis Ababa, along with the head of the transitional government in Somalia, the country hit hardest by the famine. Critics accused African leaders of failing to make good on their rhetoric about finding African solutions for African problems.
Activists said leaders had pledged about $50 million, but much of it was "in kind" assistance, with few details given on the services being offered.
The African Development Bank, meanwhile, said it would donate $300 million for long-term development in the Horn of Africa.
The African Union had come under fire for delaying the conference for several weeks because some leaders had conflicts in their schedules.
Nicanor Sabula, spokesman for Africans Act 4 Africa, a coalition of civil organizations, said the failure of leaders to appear at the conference as the Horn of Africa faced its greatest crisis in two decades was "disappointing and embarrassing."
With 12 million people in crisis, and famine declared in many parts of southern Somalia, the United Nations has appealed for $2.4 billion. Despite pledges of more than $500 million from the United States, $228 million from the European Union and $630 million from individual European countries, the target has not been met.
It is reportedly the region's worst drought in more than 50 years. Tens of thousands of people have died and 1.5 million have left their homes in Somalia in search of food. Five regions of Somalia have been declared famine-hit and two others are expected to be added to the list.
At the conference, Andrew Andasi, an 11-year-old Ghanaian who saw images of the famine on television and launched a radio campaign for donations, said he had raised $4,000. Andrew called on African leaders to help those in need, especially women and children.
Activists said some countries that could afford to do more have not.
"We were expecting that the heads of states from Africa would come up and show solidarity with the people of the Horn of Africa," Sabula said. "It starts to reinforce the perception of the AU as a club of presidents.... It doesn't send a very good message to the people of Africa. I know people will be very disappointed."
Africa famine conference draws few African leaders - latimes.com
Honestly most of these dictators don't give two shits about there people. That is just reality. I'd support removing all aid from that place and just pulling back to the borders...It is not worth another cent to rebuild or care about someone that hates you.
Thats right, let the West pay for it.
Few African leaders show up for famine summit
Reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa Most of Africa's heads of state failed to turn up Thursday for the first African Union donor conference in Ethiopia to raise money for the Horn of Africa famine, leaving activists disappointed with the pledges.
Of the African Union's 54 member nations, only the heads of Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea and Djibouti participated in the conference in Addis Ababa, along with the head of the transitional government in Somalia, the country hit hardest by the famine. Critics accused African leaders of failing to make good on their rhetoric about finding African solutions for African problems.
Activists said leaders had pledged about $50 million, but much of it was "in kind" assistance, with few details given on the services being offered.
The African Development Bank, meanwhile, said it would donate $300 million for long-term development in the Horn of Africa.
The African Union had come under fire for delaying the conference for several weeks because some leaders had conflicts in their schedules.
Nicanor Sabula, spokesman for Africans Act 4 Africa, a coalition of civil organizations, said the failure of leaders to appear at the conference as the Horn of Africa faced its greatest crisis in two decades was "disappointing and embarrassing."
With 12 million people in crisis, and famine declared in many parts of southern Somalia, the United Nations has appealed for $2.4 billion. Despite pledges of more than $500 million from the United States, $228 million from the European Union and $630 million from individual European countries, the target has not been met.
It is reportedly the region's worst drought in more than 50 years. Tens of thousands of people have died and 1.5 million have left their homes in Somalia in search of food. Five regions of Somalia have been declared famine-hit and two others are expected to be added to the list.
At the conference, Andrew Andasi, an 11-year-old Ghanaian who saw images of the famine on television and launched a radio campaign for donations, said he had raised $4,000. Andrew called on African leaders to help those in need, especially women and children.
Activists said some countries that could afford to do more have not.
"We were expecting that the heads of states from Africa would come up and show solidarity with the people of the Horn of Africa," Sabula said. "It starts to reinforce the perception of the AU as a club of presidents.... It doesn't send a very good message to the people of Africa. I know people will be very disappointed."
Africa famine conference draws few African leaders - latimes.com
Your comment above the link hits the nail on the head....and the aid that the West gives is a large factor in the problem...
From Dr. Dambiso Moyo, a Zambian economist educated at Oxford and Harvard, who has worked for the World Bank and Goldman Sachs, believes that foreign aid is the root cause of the spiral that has led Africa into its present situation.
Her book is of the New York Times Bestseller "Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How there is a Better Way for Africa."
1. Dr. Moro asks why the majority of sub-Saharan countries flounder in a seemingly never-ending cycle of corruption, disease, poverty and aid-dependency, despite the fact that their countries have received more than $300 billion in development assistance since 1970. And her answer is that African countries are poor precisely because of all that aid!
2. The most aid-dependent countries have exhibited an average annual growth rate of minus 0.2 per cent. Between 1970 and 1998, with aid to Africa at its peak, the poverty rate in Africa rose from 11% to a staggering 66%.
3. Deep in every liberal sensibility is a profound sense that in a world of moral uncertainty one idea is sacred, on belief cannot be compromised: the rich should help the poor, and the form of that help should be aid.
4. The notion that aid can alleviate systemic poverty, and has done so, is a myth. Millions in Africa are poorer today because of aid: misery and poverty have not ended but have increased. Aid has been and continues to be, an unmitigated political, economic, and humanitarian disaster for most parts of the developing world.
5. With the rise of neo-liberal thinking, that African governments should liberalize their economies in favor of the laissez-faire paradigm, which encompassed, and acknowledged the importance of private markets, a model that worked well in the Asian tigers, there was a missing ingredient. Many of these newly capitalized nations were hardly conversant with the stability and transparency necessary for success. The movement took a turn toward corruption.
a. After meeting with President Reagan, Zaires President Mobutu Sese Seko had asked for easier terms to service the countrys debt; he then promptly leased a Concorde jet to fly his daughter to her wedding in the Ivory Coast. Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There Is Another Way for Africa by Dambisa Moyo review | Non-fiction book reviews - Times Online
b. Moyo believes that dependency on aid undermines the ability of Africans, whatever their station, to determine their own best economic and political policies. She is rightly angry about the way Africa's elected officials and policymakers have often been excluded from the debate, and had little opportunity to argue the merits and demerits of aid, and alternative answers: This very important responsibility has, for all intents and purposes, and to the bewilderment and chagrin of many an African, been left to musicians who reside outside Africa. Since the situation remains bleak, western activists tend to press for further aid in an attempt to make things better .put Africans in control of their own destiny, and give small-scale business people and entrepreneurs the opportunities that they have had elsewhere. I suggest that Bono buys a copy of Dead Aid and claps Bob Geldof over the head with it, repeatedly. Ibid.
Thats right, let the West pay for it.
Few African leaders show up for famine summit
Africa famine conference draws few African leaders - latimes.com
Your comment above the link hits the nail on the head....and the aid that the West gives is a large factor in the problem...
From Dr. Dambiso Moyo, a Zambian economist educated at Oxford and Harvard, who has worked for the World Bank and Goldman Sachs, believes that foreign aid is the root cause of the spiral that has led Africa into its present situation.
Her book is of the New York Times Bestseller "Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How there is a Better Way for Africa."
1. Dr. Moro asks why the majority of sub-Saharan countries flounder in a seemingly never-ending cycle of corruption, disease, poverty and aid-dependency, despite the fact that their countries have received more than $300 billion in development assistance since 1970. And her answer is that African countries are poor precisely because of all that aid!
2. The most aid-dependent countries have exhibited an average annual growth rate of minus 0.2 per cent. Between 1970 and 1998, with aid to Africa at its peak, the poverty rate in Africa rose from 11% to a staggering 66%.
3. Deep in every liberal sensibility is a profound sense that in a world of moral uncertainty one idea is sacred, on belief cannot be compromised: the rich should help the poor, and the form of that help should be aid.
4. The notion that aid can alleviate systemic poverty, and has done so, is a myth. Millions in Africa are poorer today because of aid: misery and poverty have not ended but have increased. Aid has been and continues to be, an unmitigated political, economic, and humanitarian disaster for most parts of the developing world.
5. With the rise of neo-liberal thinking, that African governments should liberalize their economies in favor of the laissez-faire paradigm, which encompassed, and acknowledged the importance of private markets, a model that worked well in the Asian tigers, there was a missing ingredient. Many of these newly capitalized nations were hardly conversant with the stability and transparency necessary for success. The movement took a turn toward corruption.
a. After meeting with President Reagan, Zaires President Mobutu Sese Seko had asked for easier terms to service the countrys debt; he then promptly leased a Concorde jet to fly his daughter to her wedding in the Ivory Coast. Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There Is Another Way for Africa by Dambisa Moyo review | Non-fiction book reviews - Times Online
b. Moyo believes that dependency on aid undermines the ability of Africans, whatever their station, to determine their own best economic and political policies. She is rightly angry about the way Africa's elected officials and policymakers have often been excluded from the debate, and had little opportunity to argue the merits and demerits of aid, and alternative answers: This very important responsibility has, for all intents and purposes, and to the bewilderment and chagrin of many an African, been left to musicians who reside outside Africa. Since the situation remains bleak, western activists tend to press for further aid in an attempt to make things better .put Africans in control of their own destiny, and give small-scale business people and entrepreneurs the opportunities that they have had elsewhere. I suggest that Bono buys a copy of Dead Aid and claps Bob Geldof over the head with it, repeatedly. Ibid.
You are pretty much spot on PC, all this aid we are giving to these African countries actually makes things worse not better. You have to remember most of the leaders in Africa are nothing better than tin pot dictators who could give a shit less about their people, when you give those guys billions what do you think is going to happen? We have put so much money into Africa and we are getting so little back for our investment.
Your comment above the link hits the nail on the head....and the aid that the West gives is a large factor in the problem...
From Dr. Dambiso Moyo, a Zambian economist educated at Oxford and Harvard, who has worked for the World Bank and Goldman Sachs, believes that foreign aid is the root cause of the spiral that has led Africa into its present situation.
Her book is of the New York Times Bestseller "Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How there is a Better Way for Africa."
1. Dr. Moro asks why the majority of sub-Saharan countries flounder in a seemingly never-ending cycle of corruption, disease, poverty and aid-dependency, despite the fact that their countries have received more than $300 billion in development assistance since 1970. And her answer is that African countries are poor precisely because of all that aid!
2. The most aid-dependent countries have exhibited an average annual growth rate of minus 0.2 per cent. Between 1970 and 1998, with aid to Africa at its peak, the poverty rate in Africa rose from 11% to a staggering 66%.
3. Deep in every liberal sensibility is a profound sense that in a world of moral uncertainty one idea is sacred, on belief cannot be compromised: the rich should help the poor, and the form of that help should be aid.
4. The notion that aid can alleviate systemic poverty, and has done so, is a myth. Millions in Africa are poorer today because of aid: misery and poverty have not ended but have increased. Aid has been and continues to be, an unmitigated political, economic, and humanitarian disaster for most parts of the developing world.
5. With the rise of neo-liberal thinking, that African governments should liberalize their economies in favor of the laissez-faire paradigm, which encompassed, and acknowledged the importance of private markets, a model that worked well in the Asian tigers, there was a missing ingredient. Many of these newly capitalized nations were hardly conversant with the stability and transparency necessary for success. The movement took a turn toward corruption.
a. After meeting with President Reagan, Zaires President Mobutu Sese Seko had asked for easier terms to service the countrys debt; he then promptly leased a Concorde jet to fly his daughter to her wedding in the Ivory Coast. Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There Is Another Way for Africa by Dambisa Moyo review | Non-fiction book reviews - Times Online
b. Moyo believes that dependency on aid undermines the ability of Africans, whatever their station, to determine their own best economic and political policies. She is rightly angry about the way Africa's elected officials and policymakers have often been excluded from the debate, and had little opportunity to argue the merits and demerits of aid, and alternative answers: This very important responsibility has, for all intents and purposes, and to the bewilderment and chagrin of many an African, been left to musicians who reside outside Africa. Since the situation remains bleak, western activists tend to press for further aid in an attempt to make things better .put Africans in control of their own destiny, and give small-scale business people and entrepreneurs the opportunities that they have had elsewhere. I suggest that Bono buys a copy of Dead Aid and claps Bob Geldof over the head with it, repeatedly. Ibid.
You are pretty much spot on PC, all this aid we are giving to these African countries actually makes things worse not better. You have to remember most of the leaders in Africa are nothing better than tin pot dictators who could give a shit less about their people, when you give those guys billions what do you think is going to happen? We have put so much money into Africa and we are getting so little back for our investment.
What do you suggest be done? For as long as I can remember, I have seen the pics of starving babies in Africa. First one place then another. It never ends. We send people to help, and they kill a lot of those we send. So, clearly, there are some things they do not want from us. But if we don't send aid, we will be condemned the world over. Oh, wait! We send aid and we are condemned the world over anyway.
You are pretty much spot on PC, all this aid we are giving to these African countries actually makes things worse not better. You have to remember most of the leaders in Africa are nothing better than tin pot dictators who could give a shit less about their people, when you give those guys billions what do you think is going to happen? We have put so much money into Africa and we are getting so little back for our investment.
What do you suggest be done? For as long as I can remember, I have seen the pics of starving babies in Africa. First one place then another. It never ends. We send people to help, and they kill a lot of those we send. So, clearly, there are some things they do not want from us. But if we don't send aid, we will be condemned the world over. Oh, wait! We send aid and we are condemned the world over anyway.
I really don't have the answers, when people see pictures of people starving and suffering it is a natural inclination for most to want to help. I do know one thing for sure we just can't throw money at the problem, we were going through the exact same thing in Somalia 20 years ago and here we are again, tossing billions of dollars at countries with corrupt governance or no real government to speak of is basically flushing that cash down the toilet and in the long run at the very best it is only a short term solution to a long term problem.
That's sad these people can't get help. 2.4 billion is small compared to all the money thrown around.
The truth is we are more concerned about the Somalis than their fellow Africans are, and you can forget about the Muslims in the Middle east, they wouldn't piss on the Somalis if they were on fire.
Bingo!
The US are the suckers of the world.
You are pretty much spot on PC, all this aid we are giving to these African countries actually makes things worse not better. You have to remember most of the leaders in Africa are nothing better than tin pot dictators who could give a shit less about their people, when you give those guys billions what do you think is going to happen? We have put so much money into Africa and we are getting so little back for our investment.
What do you suggest be done? For as long as I can remember, I have seen the pics of starving babies in Africa. First one place then another. It never ends. We send people to help, and they kill a lot of those we send. So, clearly, there are some things they do not want from us. But if we don't send aid, we will be condemned the world over. Oh, wait! We send aid and we are condemned the world over anyway.
I really don't have the answers, when people see pictures of people starving and suffering it is a natural inclination for most to want to help. I do know one thing for sure we just can't throw money at the problem, we were going through the exact same thing in Somalia 20 years ago and here we are again, tossing billions of dollars at countries with corrupt governance or no real government to speak of is basically flushing that cash down the toilet and in the long run at the very best it is only a short term solution to a long term problem.
What do you suggest be done? For as long as I can remember, I have seen the pics of starving babies in Africa. First one place then another. It never ends. We send people to help, and they kill a lot of those we send. So, clearly, there are some things they do not want from us. But if we don't send aid, we will be condemned the world over. Oh, wait! We send aid and we are condemned the world over anyway.
I really don't have the answers, when people see pictures of people starving and suffering it is a natural inclination for most to want to help. I do know one thing for sure we just can't throw money at the problem, we were going through the exact same thing in Somalia 20 years ago and here we are again, tossing billions of dollars at countries with corrupt governance or no real government to speak of is basically flushing that cash down the toilet and in the long run at the very best it is only a short term solution to a long term problem.
The answer, I belive is the same answer that should be used anywhere in the world.Consider the American Indians who are given their own land, and treated with benign neglect, in the words of Pat Moynihan....
Then look at the Indians living on reservations under the auspices of the 'Great White Father.'
There is the largely unspoken and insidious view that the problem with Africa is Africans- that culturally, mentally and physically Africans are innately different. That, somehow, deeply embedded in their psyche is An inability to embrace development and improve their own lot in life without foreign guidance and help.
Nor is it the first time in history that cultural norms, social mores, or religious beliefs have been cited as the reasons for difference in development between different peoples. The German political economist and sociologist Max Weber argued that a Protestant work ethic contributed to the speed of technological advancement and explained the development seen in industrial Britain and other European nations.
In his mind, there were two broad groups: the Calvinists, who believed in predestination and , depending on their lot, may or may not acquire wealth; and the believers in the Protestant work ethic who could advance through the sweat of their brow. As with Weber, Africa’s development quandary offers two routes; one in which Africans are viewed as children, unable to develop on their own or grow without being shown how or made to; and another which offers a shot at sustainable economic development- but which requires Africans to be treated as adults. The trouble with the aid-dependency model is, of course, that Africa is fundamentally kept in its perpetual childlike state.
Again, from an African herself, Dr. Dambisa Moyo, "require Africans to be treated as adults."
Education
Free market
The rule of law.
And from Marcus Aurelius: Stand erect, or be made to stand erect.
are you trying to say that we created the earth quake??That's sad these people can't get help. 2.4 billion is small compared to all the money thrown around.
The truth is we are more concerned about the Somalis than their fellow Africans are, and you can forget about the Muslims in the Middle east, they wouldn't piss on the Somalis if they were on fire.
Perhaps we are "more concerned" because we helped created their situations. Noticed how we were more concerned about 2010 Haiti catastrophic earthquake and had our rescue team already waiting in Haiti hours prior to the 7.0 magnitude earthquake?
