The U.S. is the leader in Humanitarian aid

No country in the world gives more to help others than the U.S. and it's people.

No surprise there.

www.usaid.gov...

You would expect the biggest economy and the country with the most wealth on the planet to be the leader in humanitarian aid.

According to NationMaster.com, going by the "Official Development Assistance" the statistics tell another story.

Total

#1 United Kingdom: $10,700,000,000.00
#2 France: $10,100,000,000.00
#3 Japan: $8,900,000,000.00
#4 United States: $6,900,000,000.00
#5 Germany: $5,600,000,000.00
#6 Netherlands: $4,000,000,000.00
#7 Canada: $2,600,000,000.00
#8 Denmark: $2,130,000,000.00
#9 Sweden: $1,700,000,000.00
#10 Norway: $1,400,000,000.00

Per Capita

#1 Luxembourg: $490.59 per capita
#2 Denmark: $389.53 per capita
#3 Norway: $302.51 per capita
#4 Netherlands: $241.39 per capita
#5 Sweden: $188.24 per capita
#6 United Kingdom: $176.06 per capita
#7 Finland: $162.36 per capita
#8 Ireland: $147.72 per capita
#9 Switzerland: $145.61 per capita
#10 Belgium: $103.15 per capita

Per $ GDP

#1 Denmark: $8.76 per $1,000 of GDP
#2 Luxembourg: $7.57 per $1,000 of GDP
#3 Netherlands: $6.93 per $1,000 of GDP
#4 Norway: $5.60 per $1,000 of GDP
#5 France: $5.04 per $1,000 of GDP
#6 United Kingdom: $5.00 per $1,000 of GDP
#7 Sweden: $4.91 per $1,000 of GDP
#8 Finland: $4.56 per $1,000 of GDP
#9 Ireland: $3.31 per $1,000 of GDP
#10 Belgium: $3.06 per $1,000 of GDP

[edit on 14-9-2007 by UK Wizard]

reply to post by UK Wizard


How much does that say about Western Society. It's almost shameful. No, it is shameful. Thank you for those figures.

reply to post by chissler



I suspect that the amount currently been given to African countries could be doing a lot more if only it was managed better, what I see being achieved in no way reflects the size of current aid.

Lets face it we can always give more (and should be), but corruption and the lack of guts to act correctly in African is having such a negative effect it takes such an unhealthy chunk out of the very act of aid.

In situations such as Sudan when innocent people flee for their lives from militias the leaders of our world sit around and debate the point for months before even the slightest whisper of effort is seen, deployment of UN troops or even those under the banner of the EU or NATO to protect the lives of innocent people should not be something people wince at but rather support.


[edit on 14-9-2007 by UK Wizard]

Agreed. A dollar could be going a lot further than it is, even those that are being spent on a just cause. It frustrates me to no end though, that so much could be done, without having to spend a dollar.

It was about a week ago, I had received a call from a telemarketer asking if I would donate some money to help save the dying children in Africa. He went on a big long speech about the AIDS virus and what it is doing to the children over there, and how with just an easy payment of $19.99, I could be saving a life. But just wait, if I wanted to give more, he would of been happy to accept it.

First of all, you don't need to throw a .99 cent amount at me to make me think that I'm getting some sort of deal. That alone annoyed me, as they wanted to "market" the amount that was being requested. And then when I asked how I could be assured that this money would be going to save an actual life, he told me that I would receive a few pamphlets if I were to give him my home address. A pamphlet would certainly satisfy my curiosity.

As scripted, he continued to sell this to me and continued to pressure me into getting a credit card, or send a money order, to save an innocent life.

I could not bare it any longer, so I had to say exactly what I wanted to say. I explained to him what I do for a living, and how much of my free time that I volunteer to helping complete strangers. I may not be saving a life of a dying child in Africa, but I am helping those that live in my community. And at the end of the day, I know that my labor, and my small amount of money, has gone directly to an individual, to hopefully make tomorrow a little bit easier.

I would love to donate money to first world nations and help these young children. But I don't believe for a second that it is actually going to them. I think it is swelling the wallet of some business executive who has absolutely no morals or ethics, and the guinea pigs who work in the organization might be naive enough to believe that they are saving a life.

There are organizations that I do trust, and that I would be happy to donate money to. But I prefer to get up and out, and work alongside individuals and help them learn skills, rather than providing a monetary amount. Not everyone has the ability to do this, and not everybody has the ability to offer money. But people should offer whatever they can, and nobody should be pressured by these ignorant telemarketers, so save the life of a dying child.

Save the life of a dying child. ....Save the life of a dying child.

I really should have counted how many times I heard this while on that short phone call. The individual could not have said it enough. "Sir, you would be saving the life of a dying child".

The phone call ended with me politely saying no, and that I would be continuing to do what I do, and help those within my reach. His response was that I was an ignorant person who only thinks of himself. Once he knew he was not getting any money from me, he became very rude and very insulting. Would this be the script of a large humanitarian organization? (I don't think so)

A lot of our humanitarian aid, in western society, can not be measured. But we can still be doing more.

[edit on 14-9-2007 by chissler]