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Earlier this week, Blair failed to win over Bush to the idea of doubling African aid to $50 billion by 2015. The U.S. did agree to provide $674 million into an immediate African famine relief initiative, but that's far less than the anti-poverty push the British leader envisions.
They G-8 leaders will be facing intense pressure from the public, fortified by a heavy dose of celebrity endorsements for global debt reduction.
Movie star Brad Pitt, rocker Bono and Canadian pop singer Sarah McLachlan signed ads calling on Goodale to pressure the G-8 to drop the debt of poor countries. And that's just part of a global campaign that will culminate in a series of rock concerts around the world, focusing attention on third world debt during the G-8 summit.
* We need to build up and in many places create workable infrastructure that the people of Africa can use to better their lives, the use of local labour should be looked into both as a way of getting funds to the local workers and as a way of getting Africans involved.
* We should stop simply throwing money at the issue, we should focus on the short term relief of the starving and the sick but we should also focus on the long term issues of agriculture, healthcare and education.
* We need to deal with the corrupt leaders of Africa through political and financial boycotting of their funds, the people of Africa deserve better and its our responsibility to see that they are led by people who want to help their people rather than use them as a source of income.
* Through the UN (United Nations) we need to spread peaceful democracy through Africa, the people of Africa deserve to elect leaders that they want not what the vote riggers want. The UN needs to set up fair and free elections that are free of corruption and vote rigging.
like they say learn the man to fish and he will ask you once
Originally posted by Dulcimer
Im in the agriculture business. You know what I have?
Enough grain to feed thousands of people that I cant sell because the markets absolutely suck. Why doesnt the government kill 2 birds with 1 stone.
SHUT OFF the agriculture payments and programs. What farmers need is cash, not surveys and statistics about how poor they are. Spend that government money on actual product that you can ship.
www.grain.org...
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the biggest cog in the world’s food aid machinery. The US is by far the biggest single donor to the WFP, providing more than 60% of aid. But it insists on either donating foodstuffs or tying cash contributions to the purchase of US produce. This policy is part of a deliberate strategy to subsidise US agriculture and undermine its agricultural competitors. [8], [9] Giving aid in kind alleviates the symptoms of famine but perpetuates the causes.
Originally posted by AceOfBase
Originally posted by Dulcimer
Im in the agriculture business. You know what I have?
Enough grain to feed thousands of people that I cant sell because the markets absolutely suck. Why doesnt the government kill 2 birds with 1 stone.
SHUT OFF the agriculture payments and programs. What farmers need is cash, not surveys and statistics about how poor they are. Spend that government money on actual product that you can ship.
They already do that.
www.grain.org...
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the biggest cog in the world’s food aid machinery. The US is by far the biggest single donor to the WFP, providing more than 60% of aid. But it insists on either donating foodstuffs or tying cash contributions to the purchase of US produce. This policy is part of a deliberate strategy to subsidise US agriculture and undermine its agricultural competitors. [8], [9] Giving aid in kind alleviates the symptoms of famine but perpetuates the causes.
A lot of the aid the US and other countries give actually go into buying US goods or it goes to pay for services from US companies.
There was a report done on it recently:
www.actionaidusa.org...
Originally posted by Netchicken
There is no lack of food in Africa, there is no lack of resources in Africa. the problems will not be solved by throwing money at the place, just as it hasn't worked in the past.
The problem is the people.
Its the tribalism that divides people
Its condoning viiolence to achieve ends
Its the corruption that destroys societies
Its the conflict between religious groups who cannot live in peace
Basically its the failed societies and corrupt and incompetent leadership that destroys Africa. Its corrupt from the bottom to the top, the corruption is endemic to the societies there. If you hcange the leaders you will still have the sme problem.
There are a few good countries in Africa, but they are the ones that have held on to the western models that founded them.
No amount of money will solve that until the psyche of the people is changed. Whats the chances of that happening? Minimal.