The fact of the matter is that Many of the ills , such as povery, disease, Ignorance can be fought and fought decisively ...Many Africans can be uplifted from this ills. But then , as I have pointed out before in this internet forum, a governemnt, any African government which embarks on policies of promoting wars and war mongering, of reppression of political aspirations of a people, such as the of British Stooge Yoweri Museveni , is most definately going to fail in fighting disease , poverty and igonrance. It is meaningless for th e likes of US president or British prime Minister to come up with this Grand Idea with fancy names to I hear help Africa and African fight..for in the end it will really amount to nothing. It will be a waste of time and effort.
Ask yourself how much foreign AID monies from Britian and the US has the Ugandan Military dictator, Yoweri Museveni, spent for close to 20 years he has spent in Office on his ARMY , buying junk helicopter gunship, Bazookas, junk Tanks ..all for a simply fact..to fight wars!!!!!
I say Billions of dollars!!!!!!!!
The funds spent on fighting wars and promoting polcies of wars in Uganda, would have help tremendously in fighting poverty in Uganda.. Indeed, in at least Uganda, if only the foreign aids funds were put into proper use , there would have been no need for the British Prime Minister trotting the Globe in an effort to I hear promoting policies to eradictae poverty in Africa...!!!
..
MK
EDITORIAL
Africa's Routine Misery
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Every once in a while, something so awful happens in Africa that the rest of the world momentarily takes note of the continent. Twenty years ago, a devastating famine prompted Michael Jackson and friends to stage a nationally televised benefit concert that raised millions. More recently came the horrors in Rwanda and Sudan, prompting a lot of international indignation, if little else. Those crises duly acknowledged, people outside of Africa were free to look away again.
Nothing much new is happening in Africa these days. It's the same old miserable routine � 6,000 people dying of AIDS every day, thousands more, mostly children, dying from malaria, tuberculosis or malnutrition. It's no tsunami, so your neighborhood Ralphs isn't asking for donations to help assuage the continent's suffering.
That isn't to say no one is paying attention. Indeed, the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, offered a heartening call to focus on Africa. It was as if Oxfam had hijacked the high-roller confab in the Alps.
French President Jacques Chirac kicked things off by proposing the impractical idea of creating new worldwide taxes on such things as international financial transactions and airline tickets, and using the money to relieve poverty and disease. British Prime Minister Tony Blair seemed intent on showing he can outdo his French rival when it comes to humanitarianism. Besides issuing dire warnings about climate change, he said Britain is trebling its aid to Africa this year. In addition, Blair has used his leadership of the Group of 8 industrialized nations to strongly push for African debt relief.
Other high-powered participants at Davos also made Africa a theme, including Bono, the wonkish rock star; former President Clinton; and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose Gates Foundation recently pledged $750 million to vaccinate children in developing countries. Bono, who once famously toured Africa with Pre sident Bush's first Treasury secretary, Paul O'Neill, acknowledged Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for traveling to Africa and calling for a boost in AIDS relief spending.
But the United States is a laggard on the humanitarian front. Bush has spoken eloquently about boosting foreign aid while quietly ignoring his own promises.
The president has trumpeted his Millennium Challenge Account for foreign aid, promising in 2002 to invest billions in it and to reach an annual contribution of $5 billion by 2006. That pledge was recently erased from the fund's own website, and for the last two years Bush has been contributing far less to the account than promised. Not a dime from the fund has been distributed, and there was no mention of foreign aid in Bush's State of the Union address.
"There are no second-class citizens in the human race," Bush said when he announced the fund three years ago. "I carry this commitment in my soul." It's time for Bush to now act on that commitment, by cutting some checks. Keeping the commitment locked up in his soul isn't saving any lives.
Nothing much new is happening in Africa these days. It's the same old miserable routine � 6,000 people dying of AIDS every day, thousands more, mostly children, dying from malaria, tuberculosis or malnutrition. It's no tsunami, so your neighborhood Ralphs isn't asking for donations to help assuage the continent's suffering.
That isn't to say no one is paying attention. Indeed, the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, offered a heartening call to focus on Africa. It was as if Oxfam had hijacked the high-roller confab in the Alps.
French President Jacques Chirac kicked things off by proposing the impractical idea of creating new worldwide taxes on such things as international financial transactions and airline tickets, and using the money to relieve poverty and disease. British Prime Minister Tony Blair seemed intent on showing he can outdo his French rival when it comes to humanitarianism. Besides issuing dire warnings about climate change, he said Britain is trebling its aid to Africa this year. In addition, Blair has used his leadership of the Group of 8 industrialized nations to strongly push for African debt relief.
Other high-powered participants at Davos also made Africa a theme, including Bono, the wonkish rock star; former President Clinton; and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose Gates Foundation recently pledged $750 million to vaccinate children in developing countries. Bono, who once famously toured Africa with Pre sident Bush's first Treasury secretary, Paul O'Neill, acknowledged Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for traveling to Africa and calling for a boost in AIDS relief spending.
But the United States is a laggard on the humanitarian front. Bush has spoken eloquently about boosting foreign aid while quietly ignoring his own promises.
The president has trumpeted his Millennium Challenge Account for foreign aid, promising in 2002 to invest billions in it and to reach an annual contribution of $5 billion by 2006. That pledge was recently erased from the fund's own website, and for the last two years Bush has been contributing far less to the account than promised. Not a dime from the fund has been distributed, and there was no mention of foreign aid in Bush's State of the Union address.
"There are no second-class citizens in the human race," Bush said when he announced the fund three years ago. "I carry this commitment in my soul." It's time for Bush to now act on that commitment, by cutting some checks. Keeping the commitment locked up in his soul isn't saving any lives.
If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives.
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