In early April I had the honor to be part of a delegation traveling to Ethiopia at the invitation of Bread for the World and the Protestant Development Service (EED). We saw some amazing projects and had numerous discussions about the development opportunities and challenges in Ethiopia.
On the flight back I had a long conversation with another delegation member, who is sort of the ambassador of the Protestant Church to Germany and the EU, about all the everlasting impressions the trip had on us. We could think of so many and I’d like to share some of these with you:
In 2007, Germany pledged €600 million between 2008 and 2010 for the Global Fund at its own replenishment conference here in Berlin. ONE repeatedly praised Germany for this commitment. For us it came as a shock when we learned that the Government´s budget proposal for 2010 however does not follow through: GF contributions were reduced by €58m to €142m in 2010. This would have meant that the host of the last replenishment breaks it own promise in a year of the next replenishment – a really bad move.
This Tuesday, the Ministry of Development Cooperation reversed the cuts. The shortfall of 58 million Euro will now come from unspent 2009 money and the “planning reserve” (financial reserves for unexpected expenditures) in the 2010 budget, we and others were told by the Deputy Minister. This money will not be taken away from other budgeted programs as far as we know.
The Financial Times Deutschland on Wednesday reported on the protests against the cuts, using the headline: “Cuts of Anti-Aids-Support Causes Protests” / “Development Ministry back pedals after criticism”. The FTD mentions the organization ONE (“who is supported by Rockstar Bono”…) along with our NGO-friends DSW criticizing the Government for breaking its promises.
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
