Archive for November, 2008
Irish Times: Creative accounting suspected in ‘Barroso billion’ aid effort
A look at whether the EU’s billion dollar aid package and some “doubts over whether the full aid package constitutes brand new money or is simply existing cash already pledged by the EU or member states repackaged.” ONE estimates that €760 million of the €1 billion is additional money at the EU level. Oliver Buston, European director of ONE, welcomed the deal and applauded those who made it happen. He also stated, “we know that the real test on additionality is yet to come – when national treasuries write the cheque they must not take this funding from their bilateral aid programmes.”
Wall Street Journal: Big Players Scale Back Charitable Donations
The WSJ takes a look at how the current economic conditions are affecting charitable giving. Overall, donations are down significantly as “billionaires and large banks are pulling back on commitments or scaling back pledges.” Some donors, such as Bear Stearns Cos. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. have folded or been bought out. Others are simply scaling back. But it’s not all bad news. Yesterday, the Financial Times reported that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged to expand annual disbursements.
FoxNews.com: If You Live In This Great Country, You Have a Lot To Be Thankful For
Governor Mike Huckabee reflects on his trip to Rwanda with ONE this past July. He recalls some of the extreme poverty he observed and asks his readers to be thankful this holiday season for what they have.
-Chandler Smith and Chris Scott
Some interesting news from the world of agriculture and development: last week South Korea announced plans to plant corn in Madagascar, reflecting a growing trend in the region to secure cropland abroad to address the duel challenge of recent food price increases and a shortage of cropland at home.
Daewoo Logistics, a South Korean company best known for its automobile production, has secured rights to develop 1.3 million hectares in Madagascar; 1 million will be used to grow corn and 300,000 will be used for palm oil production. This scheme will enable Daewoo to produce 10,000 tons of corn in 2010 and 5 million tons of corn annually – more than half of South Korea’s annual need – once the land is fully developed, which will take about 15 years. Daewoo plans to manage its plantations directly and use labor from South Africa.
The area that Daewoo will be planting in Madagascar is approximately equivalent to 240 large US farms. Currently, South Korea imports corn primarily from the US. In 2007 the US harvested approximately 37 million hectares of corn, and is expected to harvest about 32 million in 2008.
South Korea is one of several countries following the trend of developing agricultural commodities abroad. Companies in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Kuwait have done the same. Especially considering the fear of decreasing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Africa because of the global economic crisis, new investments like South Korea’s are encouraging for Africa’s economic climate. It is unclear, however, why Daewoo intends to staff their farms with South Africans rather than local people from Madagascar.
-Beth Adler
WSJ: Obama’s Opportunity to Help Africa (op-ed, George Clooney et al.)
This opinion piece calls for peace in Sudan and the Congo and asks President-elect Obama to make this region a priority. The writers claim that amidst the global crisis, there are three major reasons for renewed hope. First, this is an issue on which China and the U.S. can align. Second, the writers claim that President-elect is uniquely fitted to inspire hope and lead on this issue. Lastly, the American public, especially our younger generation, is increasingly interested in what happens outside of our borders, and particularly in Africa.
Guardian: Aid Appeal (editorial)
A call to make sure that international development remains a priority even as markets across the globe take a hit.
Associated Press: Zimbabwe bars Carter, ex-U.N. chief
Zimbabwe has refused to let Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter and a South African human rights advocate Graca Machel visit the country for a humanitarian mission, the three said Saturday. All three are members of the Elders, a group formed by former South African President Nelson Mandela to foster peace and tackle world conflicts.
-Chandler Smith
Late Friday night, the EU finally agreed to provide 1 billion Euros of funding to struggling farmers in the developing world. Best of all, after crunching the numbers it looks like 76% of this funding will be new development assistance above and beyond what these countries currently give.
Congratulations to the 15,000 European ONE members who took part in the massive effort and great achievement. We’ll update you later today with more details on the final deal.
While this was a challenging campaign, the EU has shown, for now, that it will not forget people living in extreme poverty during these difficult times. But there are still two tests that remain. Firstly, when these countries write the check they must not simply reallocate other development assistance to fulfill their commitment. Secondly, we’ll be following the process to make sure the Commission spends these funds wisely.
- Roxane Philson, ONE’s EU Deputy Director
Last week, we wrote about World Toilet Day. John Sauer from Water Advocates passed along this great post about raising awareness for better sanitation practices, and what we can do to help:
Public indifference to the HIVAIDS epidemic was chronicled in 1987 in And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic. As the author Randy Shilts lamented, “Everyone responded with an ordinary pace to an extraordinary situation.” Thankfully now there is attention to this deadly disease, but it wasn’t always the case.
Another pandemic—namely more than two dozen diseases associated with poor sanitation—now faces the same kind of unresponsiveness. Every 20 seconds a child dies of sanitation-related diseases, which kill five times as many children as HIVAIDS. As an article in the New England Journal of Medicine documents, pathogens that cause diarrheal diseases, tracoma, and guinea-worm are among the culprits. You didn’t think you can die of diarrhea did you? Well you probably can’t but those living where open defecation is the norm can. Human excrement: it is the last taboo.
Pushback on this topic is very real. A TIME Magazine review of Rose George’s new book on sanitation suggested that “a series of articles was plenty on this topic.” One US government official refused to release a statement on World Toilet Day because of objection to the word “toilet.” Progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halving the proportion of people without basic sanitation by 2015 will not be met, at current rates, until 2115. In fact, the original version of the MDGs didn’t have a sanitation target.
(more…)
I went to a forum yesterday on political developments in Zimbabwe, co-hosted by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The event was titled, “Zimbabwe: Time for Hope?” and while there are few promising recent developments, hope remains that this country can emerge from its present situation.
Once heralded as the breadbasket of Africa, Zimbabwe has gone from the fastest growing economy in all of Africa in 1997, to a country embroiled in an acute humanitarian and political crisis. Of the 12.3 million residents, 1.3 million are living with HIV/AIDS (and only 100,000 are receiving life-extending ARTs). The nation has the world’s highest number of orphans per capita, and the life expectancy for women is the lowest in the world. Dr. Jendayi Frazer, U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, reported that students in public school have attended less than 30 days of full classes throughout the year.
Given all of this, what can be done?
For one, people can help raise awareness about the situation in Zimbabwe. At the beginning of the forum, the audience was shown a clip from the award-winning documentary, “Pain in my Heart,” by Zimbabwe journalist Hopewell Rugoho-Chin’ono. This moving film tells the true story of two adult HIV/AIDS patients living with their disease amidst the strained economy and deteriorating health-care system of Zimbabwe. Mr. Rugoho-Chin’ono’s film puts a human face on a problem that can feel very detached from our everyday lives, and it is journalism like this that can help elevate Zimbabwe’s crisis on the global agenda.
Political change is another option on the table. Dr. Jendayi Frazer remains hopeful about the implementation of the power-sharing deal between Mr. Mugabe’s party and the opposition, and spoke to the U.S. commitment of working to support Zimbabwe regardless of the political outcome.
As a final note, the New York Times has reported that former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and former President Jimmy Carter will visit the country on a humanitarian mission over the weekend.
We’ll be following the situation in Zimbabwe closely, and will let you know what develops.
-Rena Pacheco-Theard
6,000 reasons… each has a name, a face, and a story. Today, like every day, 6,000 children will lose a parent to AIDS. Today, like every day, we have 6,000 reasons to care. Today, like every day, we have 6,000 reasons to offer hope. – from the “6,000 Reasons” World AIDS Day 2008 group curriculum
I wanted to let you know about “6,000 Reasons,” a new World AIDS Day 2008 one-lesson group curriculum put out by ONE partner World Vision, in collaboration with Willow Creek Association and the Fuller Youth Institute.
Numbers can often bury the real story. For me, statistics can often becoming overwhelming. Despite the overwhelming numbers, we do have real ways to act in fighting a treatable and preventable disease like HIV/AIDS.
“6,000 Reasons” reminds us, however, that behind the numbers are real faces, names, and stories of the 6,000 kids who experience great loss each day because of HIV/AIDS. In collaboration with the Willow Creek Association and the Fuller Youth Institute, ONE partner World Vision has put together a FREE downloadable resource for congregations, families, small groups and others in time for World AIDS Day.
To check out “6,000 Reasons,” visit the sign up site at Willow Creek to view or download this valuable education, awareness and action resource. There you will find two videos, a leader’s guide with group activities and discussion questions, as well as action items that give your church group clear next steps for how to respond to the AIDS pandemic.
While World AIDS days is officially December 1 every year, congregations across the US will be lifting up World AIDS Day on Sunday, November 29. As ONE’s members respond this World AIDS Day, people of faith are reaching into their own traditions to not only reflect on the impact of AIDS but to respond in ways that can bring about focused change amidst the pandemic.
-Adam Phillips
