It's easy to be cynical about Live 8 and the campaign to "make poverty
history." It's even easier to be cynical about the fine words that will
emanate from the Group of Eight leaders in Scotland this week. Grandstanding
rock stars and pious politicians -- we have seen it all before, haven't
we?
In fact, the Live 8/G8 extravaganza has already done a power of good. The
rock concerts, celebrity TV spots and assorted other stunts orchestrated by
Bono, Bob Geldof and crew have put the issue of world poverty at the top of
the international agenda. Partly because of them, the world leaders
gathering in Gleneagles will cough up billions of dollars in new money for
debt relief and development aid.
But if cynicism is misplaced, skepticism is not. The taxpayers of the G8
countries whose leaders are pledging all those billions have every right to
wonder whether the money will simply disappear down a rat hole as it often
has in the past. The question is not whether rich countries really mean it
when they say they want to help the poor. There is no lack of compassion and
no shortage of money. Canada alone is doubling aid to Africa by 2008. The
question is whether the recipients can make good use of it. As Freedom
House, the U.S.-based human-rights group, points out, "aid, no matter how
well intentioned, is only as effective as the governments receiving it."
Freedom House took a look at the quality of governance in 30 countries,
including nine in sub-Saharan Africa. Many of these countries are the
recipients of ramped-up development aid. What it found was disturbing.
Though Third World governments almost all pay lip service to the need to
fight corruption and operate effectively, few are following through. Because
judges aren't independent enough or the media free enough to act as a check
on government malfeasance, much of the money intended for the poor goes to
waste.
Ethiopia is not the only example. A World Bank study has shown that, in
Guinea, Cameroon, Tanzania and Uganda, 30 per cent to 70 per cent of
government medicines vanished into the black market instead of reaching
patients.
Because of figures like that, donor countries have been demanding better
governance from aid recipients. That was the thrust behind the New
Partnership for Africa's Development, which came out of the G8 summit in
Kananaskis, Alta., in 2002. Under NEPAD, African governments committed
themselves to raising standards of human rights and governance if they were
to receive rich-country aid. Better governance is also the notion behind the
Millennium Challenge Account set up by the U.S. government. It rewards
countries that respect the rule of law, rule democratically, invest in their
citizens and allow economic freedom to flourish.
Yet, for pushing the MCA approach and expressing doubts about flooding
poor countries with new foreign aid, George W. Bush is being painted as the
skunk at the Gleneagles picnic. He shouldn't be. The idealism of the End
Poverty campaign is inspiring, but it needs to come with a dose of realism.
If the rich world is going to spend billions fighting Third World poverty,
the least it can demand from the governments that get the money is honesty
and good management.
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