Africa appeals
Discussion
sutoka said:
Not Africa, but those Yemen adverts really make my piss boil. The UK Government and BAE Systems continue to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia who blast the f
k out of some poor village in Yemen and then they want the British public to donate a fiver to provide food and shelter for the people whose lives they have destroyed.
I think that's just good business planning. k out of some poor village in Yemen and then they want the British public to donate a fiver to provide food and shelter for the people whose lives they have destroyed.Get paid to make a mess, get paid to tidy it up... Its a perfect win win capitalist model.
StevieBee said:
That would be the logical solution but Africa is sadly often lacking logic.
The town know this goes on but have no power to intervene to stop it. The national government lacks the wherewithal or capacity to do anything. In many parts of Africa and elsewhere around the world corruption has become normalised.
Thanks for your informative posts. It's always good to read things from somebody who knows what they're talking about.The town know this goes on but have no power to intervene to stop it. The national government lacks the wherewithal or capacity to do anything. In many parts of Africa and elsewhere around the world corruption has become normalised.
A500leroy said:
Which bits lacking empathy?
Might just be me but I thought the OP was just another one of those "Daily Mail" type posts designed to get loads of people frothing at the mouth.I'd be surprised if anybody suggests that Africa is a model of good governance. That doesn't mean that charities aren't having an impact on improving peoples lives.
One thing is clear: development aid can be successful. South Korea transformed from being an aid receiver to a contributor, with most aid received between the end of the Korean war and the early 1980s. One generation (~30 years) of receiving, one generation of further growing prosperity, and now donor.
Many regions on this planet struggle to show signs of increased development despite receiving aid for much longer than one generation:
funded programs to meet people's basic needs in health, education, water and sanitation. It's fair to expect that the recipients can operate, maintain and sustain the level that has been funded and established for over thirty years.
It's certainly wrong to expect that every region on this planet wants to gain a civilization level similar to the one in the donor countries; development aid will not work if the supermajority of the receiving society is not willing and able to contribute to the development themselves.
It does not make sense to provide aid to regions where the aid increases corruption and wealth gaps - it will do more harm by creating poverty and misery.
Many regions on this planet struggle to show signs of increased development despite receiving aid for much longer than one generation:
funded programs to meet people's basic needs in health, education, water and sanitation. It's fair to expect that the recipients can operate, maintain and sustain the level that has been funded and established for over thirty years.
It's certainly wrong to expect that every region on this planet wants to gain a civilization level similar to the one in the donor countries; development aid will not work if the supermajority of the receiving society is not willing and able to contribute to the development themselves.
It does not make sense to provide aid to regions where the aid increases corruption and wealth gaps - it will do more harm by creating poverty and misery.
Jazzy Jag said:
So no one in Tanzania has a shovel?
No one is able to make rudimentary tools which mankind has made for thousands of years?
Many years ago, I knew people who went to Saudi during their building boom, and I asked them much the same question.No one is able to make rudimentary tools which mankind has made for thousands of years?
The reply may also be the same. "If you give a local a shovel and say, dig a hole there, the first thing they will do is run off and sell the shovel"
LeadFarmer said:
TV adverts see to be dominated by 'can you spare just £3 per month...'
Years ago there would just be adverts for RSPCA, WWF etc, but now there are adverts for obscure charities that seem to just pop up, then are never heard of again - spastic donkeys, foreign school girls etc.
I don't give to any.
Spastic donkeys - that's quite a narrow focus isn't it! Didn't know they even could have CP (cerebral palsy).Years ago there would just be adverts for RSPCA, WWF etc, but now there are adverts for obscure charities that seem to just pop up, then are never heard of again - spastic donkeys, foreign school girls etc.
I don't give to any.
Bodo said:
It does not make sense to provide aid to regions where the aid increases corruption and wealth gaps - it will do more harm by creating poverty and misery.
Actually, it does make sense.If you want to bring about true change, eradicate corruption, achieve gender equality, and all that, you have to get in amongst it all and stimulate that change from within. This is why modern development funding and aid comes with caveats on the need for governance reform. Once this reform starts to happen, those that might have been prone to corruptive practice begin to see there is more money to be made legitimately than through corruption.
It's when you turn your back on these countries the problems become seriously dangerous.
Despite the example I gave a few posts back, it is very very difficult to corrupt modern development aid. No actual money goes to the recipient country. It goes to the people and companies appointed to carry out whatever work is necessary.
As for nations where it works.. You mention South Korea as a good example. You could also look at places like Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Kenya.... some of these remain a work in progress but the trajectory is good. Closer to home you have Albania (where I'll be next week), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Croatia, and others nearby. These are nations that had the propensity to damage Europe (geographically and politically) to divesting levels yet they're slowly getting their acts together, thanks to the development aid and support from the international community. And these aren't Africa or Asia... you can drive there in a day.
Countdown said:
StevieBee said:
That would be the logical solution but Africa is sadly often lacking logic.
The town know this goes on but have no power to intervene to stop it. The national government lacks the wherewithal or capacity to do anything. In many parts of Africa and elsewhere around the world corruption has become normalised.
Thanks for your informative posts. It's always good to read things from somebody who knows what they're talking about.The town know this goes on but have no power to intervene to stop it. The national government lacks the wherewithal or capacity to do anything. In many parts of Africa and elsewhere around the world corruption has become normalised.
honest_delboy said:
Countdown said:
StevieBee said:
That would be the logical solution but Africa is sadly often lacking logic.
The town know this goes on but have no power to intervene to stop it. The national government lacks the wherewithal or capacity to do anything. In many parts of Africa and elsewhere around the world corruption has become normalised.
Thanks for your informative posts. It's always good to read things from somebody who knows what they're talking about.The town know this goes on but have no power to intervene to stop it. The national government lacks the wherewithal or capacity to do anything. In many parts of Africa and elsewhere around the world corruption has become normalised.
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