International
Where’s Africa?
Earlier this month Angela Merkel and Frank-Walter Steinmeier (the 2 main contenders in the upcoming German election) went head to head in a debate on German television. The debate was hosted by 4 presenters from 4 different TV stations, which all broadcast the debate simultaneously. Observers were hoping for a substantial political debate that would highlight their different political positions and what they would do differently. Unfortunately, however, it ended up being broadly perceived as a duet rather than a duel, and it was particularly disappointing that there were no questions during the debate relating to Africa and the future development policies of both candidates.
In the run up to the debate, ONE, together with the German anti-poverty campaign “Deine Stimme gegen Armut” and the UN Millennium Campaign, initiated the “Chancellor Question”. In a joint effort, we asked the TV hosts to question the candidates about Africa and the fight against extreme poverty.
Almost 7000 people signed the online petition, which was brilliant but unfortunately, it was not enough. The economic crisis dominated the debate and neither Africa nor development policy was mentioned. In fact international issues more generally only played a small role in the debate, when the candidates argued about Afghanistan and international financial regulation. It was interesting to note that other very important issues such as family, education and climate change were also not discussed.
Nevertheless, we are very happy about the remarkable number of people who signed the online petition; we had hoped to get 5000 supporters and so it was great that so many people signed up. We’re now entering the final phase of the electoral campaign and will continue to push awareness on keeping the promises made for the people living in extreme poverty.
Thank you for your support!
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About the Blog
The International ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with guest contributions from ONE volunteers, members and allies.
The content of each post and each comment represents the views of that author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ONE. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any post expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE.
22/09/2009 at 7:56 pm
Well it is something about perspective. What do German Leaders think of Africa? Do they think any issue about Africa will impact their country for good or for bad or none?
23/09/2009 at 1:00 am
Africa has great potential but sadly the solution lies in eradicating corruption and minority rule. All the good ideas fall on deaf ears of those whose pockets are lined by financial efforts. Africa must be fixed socially before it can find economic success. That begins with education. Even those efforts can be thwarted by those who would siphon off the majority of funding and fear an educated populace.