...Is Foreign Aid Doing More Harm than Good? Introduction “ Africans…they’re tired. They’re tired of being the subject of everybody’s charity and care. We are grateful, but we know that we can take charge of our own destinies if we have the will to reform them.” – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Finance Minister of Nigeria (How to help Africa…2008). Influenced by the success of the Marshall Plan for Europe, throughout the last several decades “over one trillion dollars of aid money has gone from the Western world to Africa,” (Griffiths 2010) as an attempt to increase quality of life for those living on the continent. However, as seen in the initial quote above, it is implied that aid has both harmed and benefited African society. In this paper, the views of those who oppose foreign aid and those who support foreign aid in Africa will be discussed. Furthermore, the effect of foreign aid on food and migration challenges in Africa will be examined, as these two issues remain unresolved in the continent. The Benefits of Foreign Aid There is no doubt that foreign aid has provided some benefit to Africa. By the intrinsic nature of aid itself, aid has a tremendous impact on the humanitarian imperative (Griffiths 2010). Through the increase in available medical attention, medical technology, sanitation, and access to schooling, aid has provided an additional 30 million children with schooling since 2000, has had millions immunized from various diseases, and has reduced the lives lost to...
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...distrubuting foreign aid is important for any country,but what aid are we sending should be a question.Peace and war has always been around in africa. With the Foregin aid it has pro’s and con’s for the country. Africa is a rich land but the country is so poor. The government is crupeted,so the people have to suffer. There is an article in the wallstreet journal on “why foreign aid is hurting africa”. They did a insight on Kibera,Africa. kibera is one of the largest slum in africa, but ironicly the the united nation for human settlement is located right in Kibera.The agency recieves millions of dollars. That money is mandated to promote socially and enviromentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal to provide adequate shelters for all. In a curupt country with a war going on within it’s community /government money is being sent to aid the people but they are not receiving it. It is sort of like the poor gets poorer and the growth gets slower. One of the former President Frederick Chiluba was charged with theft of state funds. Throughout the african government history they have had several president that has been stealing from the people’s aid. As the government steals money it does not only grease they’re pockets but it harms the people. They lose medical care,education,food supplies and etc. people in africa are sick with no care or hope to get care so they just die slow and painful(at times). They life spand weaknend. With the people not seeing the aid they also loses...
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...Peace on Foreign Aid The country that I believe has been affected mostly by both peace and war is Africa. The foreign aid that have been received includes relief operations, medicine, and reconstruction in assisting the various programs in this country. The advocates wanting to get aid to Africa are lifting their voices to the U.S. government to push the international assistance for roughly $ 50 billion each year. The evidence that demonstrates that this aid is being used to help the poor seem limited compared to the funding other countries such as the U.S and China has provided. The aid that is going to Africa has made more debt, more inflation and even more vulnerable to the currency markets and more unattractive to higher quality investment. It's increased the risk of civil conflict and unrest that caused an unmitigated political, economic and humanitarian disaster. The examples of some positive effects are the relief programs that continue to support the development and reconstructing of poverty stricten areas in Africa. Another look at the the development is recovering from war to addressing the causes of inequalities, discrimination, and structural insecurity which would reduce terriorists. There are few people that will deny that fact of a clear moral imperative for humanitarian and charity-based aid to step in when necessary, such as the storm of 2004 tsunami in Asia. Nevertheless, it's worth reminding ourselves what emergency and charity-based aid can and cannot...
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...BEIJING FOREIGN POLICY IN WEST AFRICA (Yang Jiechi Policy) Foreign Policy Article: Published by Kingsley C. Onyenankeya December 5, 2011 SUNY EMPIRE STATE Kingsley: Beijing Foreign policy in West Africa 1 Contents Executive Summary Concept and Assumptions Methods of Argumentation Theoretical and Policy Prescriptions Conclusion References Kingsley: Beijing Foreign policy in West Africa 2 Executive Summary China's increase involvement in West Africa over the past decade is one of the most significant recent developments in the region. It appears to redirect the idea of marginalization of West Africa and Africa as a continent, which brings significant political consequences. Beijing's West Africa interest is part of a recently...
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...James Sturgill April 14,2014 Research Paper: Foreign Assistance The government needs to solve the problem of wasteful spending in regards to its use of foreign aid. While it has been a practice for the U.S. to provide foreign aid to other countries for national security purposes, wasteful spending in a time when the U.S. already runs a large deficit needs to stop. I recommend the cutting of foreign aid to foreign nations and in turn setting up an economic investment fund aimed to help countries economies specifically; this is the proper policy because humanitarian groups will always help the impoverished and spending money on foreign aid to help corrupt leaders needs to stop. Foreign aid is a controversial subject because many people have different opinions on how foreign aid should be used and if it is actually beneficial to countries. The American public for instance does not realize that only 1.1% of the U.S. Federal Budget goes towards foreign aid, rather the public believes a quarter of the U.S. budget is spent on foreign aid (Bristol, 2011, p.532). Foreign aid is also controversial because it is hard to measure the success of the aid, since most foreign aid goes to countries that have instability within their government. Foreign aid is important because the U.S. strives to be humanitarian when dealing with impoverished countries. This humanitarian effort, while seemingly good is still controversial because in 2010 humanitarian groups spent more money in their...
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...presence as a colonizer in Africa. To the contrary, China played the role of a supporter in the struggle for independence of African countries. This is highlighted by a lot of Africans, particularly in response to Western criticism of China. Some Africans feel that the reactions from the West arise because Westerners fear competition from China. Consequently Western objections to China’s way of dealing with Africa, is not perceived as a result of concern for African countries, but a protection of Western political and economic interests on the African continent. The Chinese emphasize that their engagement with Africa is in fact South-South cooperation, and that it should be beneficial to both China and Africa. Rather than emphasizing its role as a donor to African countries, China considers its engagement to be a mutual benefit, leading to win-win results. Chinese aid is mainly invested in infrastructure such as roads, railways, buildings, monuments etc. This is generally very welcomed in African countries where infrastructure is often seriously underdeveloped. Many of the infrastructure projects are implemented to facilitate trade. Although all of the countries in cooperation with China are receiving some sort of aid, the size and form of the aid inflows vary. China does not disclose how much aid and investment is going into different countries, but media announcements in China give the impression that there are clear patterns to where the investment and aid from China is greatest...
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...usefulness of foreign aid is often measured in terms of its capability to motivate economic growth, but it has turn out to be more and more clear that economic growth is largely unaffected by foreign aid investments in developing countries due to mismanagement and corruption. This claim is supported by the uncountable observed studies that have influence failures of foreign aid support to developing countries. Money from rich countries has trapped many developing nations in a cycle of corruption, slower economic growth and poverty. Nima, is one of the largest slums in Africa. This suburb of Accra, the capital of Ghana, is home to more than one million people, who make a living in an area of about one square mile. By my estimate, the place is roughly 70% the size of Washington DC South East area. The place is a sea of aluminum, stagnant water breeding mosquitos, and cardboard shacks that forgotten families call home. The idea of a slum raises an image of children playing amidst piles of garbage, with no running water and the rank, and common disgusting odor of sewage. Do developing countries really need foreign aid? What is incredibly disappointing is the fact that just a few yards from Nima stands the Presidential Castle, the Osu Castle, which points out that leaders of the country are aware of the ongoing situation but have not done much to help. Nima embitters in Ghana, a country that has one of the highest ratios of development workers per capita in Africa should do better...
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...PROPOSAL TO EVALUATE THE IMPACT THAT FOREIGN AID HAS HAD ON DEVELOPMENT IN KENYA RESEARCH STUDIES MOD001774 SHIRLEY JONES SID 1223384 FACULTY OF HEALTH, SOCIAL CARE AND EDUCATION 2012/13 1 SID 1223384 ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of foreign aid on development in Kenya. The study will investigate the effect that foreign aid has had on development, appraising its benefits as well as exposing its shortcomings. Judging from the level of aid that the developing world receives and the economic development that takes place in third world countries, there appears to be an inverse relationship between aid and development. With this continuing debate, my interest of study has been to find out foreign aid’s impact to development in Kenya as it is dependent of aid but poverty still seems impossibility in the country for many decades. Therefore, the study will seek to expose these pitfalls of foreign assistance to a nation’s growth and development, using the Kenyan example to illustrate this relationship. The prevailing research methodology shall be of a qualitative positivist nature. Debates still exist around foreign aid dependency and economic development in the “Third World” countries as despite the input from developed countries there hasn’t been much change witnessed in the developing nations which are still drowning in poverty since 1960’s. The study will highlight on the demerit of excess foreign aid has development whereby the more dependent...
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...Western Drug Companies and the AIDS Epidemic in South Africa In December 1997, the government of South Africa passed a law that authorized two controversial practices. One, called parallel importing, allowed importers in South Africa to purchase drugs from the cheapest source available, regardless of whether the patent holders had given their approval or not. Thus South Africa asserted its right to import “generic versions” of drugs that are still patent protected. The government did this because it claimed to be unable to afford the high cost of medicines that were patent protected. The other practice, called compulsory licensing, permitted the South African government to license local companies to produce cheaper versions of drugs whose patents are held by foreign companies, irrespective of whether the patent holder agreed. The law seemed to be in violation of international agreements to protect property rights, including a World Trade Organization agreement on patents to which South Africa is a signatory. South Africa, however, insisted that the law was necessary given its own health crisis and the high cost of patented medicines. By 1997, South Africa was wrestling with an AIDS crisis of enormous proportions. It was estimated that over 3 million of the country's 45 million people were infected with the virus at the time, more than in any other country. However, although the AIDS epidemic in South Africa was seen as primary reason for the new law, the law itself was applied...
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...Western Drug Companies and the AIDS Epidemic in South Africa In December 1997, the government of South Africa passed a law that authorized two controversial practices. One, called parallel importing, allowed importers in South Africa to purchase drugs from the cheapest source available, regardless of whether the patent holders had given their approval or not. Thus South Africa asserted its right to import “generic versions” of drugs that are still patent protected. The government did this because it claimed to be unable to afford the high cost of medicines that were patent protected. The other practice, called compulsory licensing, permitted the South African government to license local companies to produce cheaper versions of drugs whose patents are held by foreign companies, irrespective of whether the patent holder agreed. The law seemed to be in violation of international agreements to protect property rights, including a World Trade Organization agreement on patents to which South Africa is a signatory. South Africa, however, insisted that the law was necessary given its own health crisis and the high cost of patented medicines. By 1997, South Africa was wrestling with an AIDS crisis of enormous proportions. It was estimated that over 3 million of the country's 45 million people were infected with the virus at the time, more than in any other country. However, although the AIDS epidemic in South Africa was seen as primary reason for the new law, the law itself was applied...
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...nations face on their way to economic growth and prosperity. The report discuses overpopulation problem and also questions the effectiveness of foreign aid. Moreover, it provides information on impact of information technology, as well as addresses the issue of lack of economic diversification. Finally, it explains causes and consequences of corruption on economic growth. Keywords: Third World, development, overpopulation, foreign aid, technology, diversification, corruption Table of Contents Abstract2 Introduction4 Brief history4 Classifications4 From Third World to First World6 Issues7 Population growth7 Foreign aid8 Information technology11 Economic diversification12 Corruption13 Conclusions16 References18 Economic Development of Third World Countries History The end of the World War II brought into being a number of new nations in Asia and Africa, which gained independence from colonial rule and were given a title of “Third World”. The term was created by French demographer Alfred Sauvy and was originally intended to distinguish newly emerged states from the Western industrialized nations and from those that formed the former Soviet bloc (Prachi, 2011). Today the designation is used to describe the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, generally characterized as poor, heavily dependent on foreign aid, having unstable governments and the economies that rely on the exports of primary products in return of finished goods, also high rates...
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...Africa’s major problem is not poverty, HIV/AIDS, illiteracy, underdevelopment or any other imaginable problem. Africa’s major problem is lack of good and effective leadership. Effective leadership is a pivotal element in the success of any group. Without this skill every attempt of development is at risk of dilapidating, staying dwarfed or not taking off at all. It is indubitable that the need for effective leadership in Africa is skyrocketing. It is bad leadership that has led to most of the problems that Africa is facing. Why do Africans languish in poverty yet Africa is so rich with natural resources? Why is brain drain on the rise in Africa? Why are our skilled intellectuals deserting mama Africa? Why is Africa isolated from social and economic development while other continents are developing at the speed of light? Do our leaders ever stop and think about the genesis of all these? We must stop whining, complaining and blaming the West for our problems but look at what we can do to salvage the pitiable situation. The solution lies in good leadership. Africa needs more than just foreign aid to solve her problems. If foreign aid would develop anywhere then Africa would be the most developed continent in the world because Africa has been awash in foreign aid. But that’s not the case. Africa’s medicine is good leadership; leadership that can channelize socio-economic development, a leadership that is visionary and is passionate about alleviating the myriad of challenges facing...
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...Case: Anglo American PLC in South Africa (from Lesson 5) 1 Who are the various stakeholders that Anglo American needs to consider as it adopts an effective HIV/AIDs strategy? - Anglo American employees and their families - Government bodies - Non- Profit organizations (NGOs)/ World Health Organization (WHO) - Competitors/ Other large mining concerns or companies operating in South Africa - Pharmaceutical companies - National Union of Mine Workers - Financial Institutions - Shareholders 2 What are the pros and cons of Anglo American’s adoption of an aggressive strategy in combating HIV/AIDS among its South African workforce? What recommendations would you give the company concerning its HIV/AIDS policy? Pros: - Prevented further operating loss and increased productivity. - Bright future as government started national strategic plan to combat HIV/AIDS. - By adopting the strategy, the company achieves trust and commitment from ethical minded shareholders. - It got good response from WHO, Global business council for HIV/AIDS and other NGOs, this makes the company a socially responsible organization in Global business. - It became a trend setter for other major companies operating in South Africa, thus gaining a goodwill among other companies Cons: -This program had spiraling costs for the company as the distribution of the medicines remained high. - It was unable to determine if its efforts are making a difference in underlying problem as one...
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...The Impact of Globalization on the Health Sector in South Africa After the Apartheid era, massive inequalities in income, health status, access to health care and other social services continued to dominate in South Africa. The Apartheid era was a system of racial segregation that was implemented in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. Due to colonization, whites had ruled South Africa for several centuries, which resulted in the creation of a system that was constructed to serve as a legal framework for continued economic and political dominance by people of European descent (WHO 2003: Antiretroviral Therapy). The apartheid era came to an end as a consequence of both inner and global pressure and South Africa’s new democratic government. The new government claims that improving the access to health care is a main priority noting, “emphasis should be placed on reaching … the most vulnerable” (Department of Health 1997:13). Giving access to health care is becoming an even greater challenge. South Africa was, and is still facing an exploding HIV/AIDS epidemic that, if anything, is highly associated with health care demands. Today, there are more than 5.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa, this accounts for more than 21.5% of the entire population (CIA World Fact book: 2006). This paper aims to understand how the health care sector has dealt with the challenges faced in dealing with immense inequalities and a growing epidemic in the context of globalization...
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...spite of known solutions to its causes, poverty still claims 20,000 lives daily due to lack of food, safe water, medicine or other essentials. Dramatic improvement in economic conditions in much of Asia in the past 25 years shows that ending poverty is an attainable goal, according to Sachs. If donor nations would fulfill their promise to contribute about 0.7 percent of their gross national product to the effort, Sachs thinks famine, epidemics, regional conflicts and poverty could be successfully combated. Americans overestimate the amount of U.S. foreign aid by as much as 30 times, he writes. Therefore, when they fail to see impressive results, they think aid programs have failed. In reality, official U.S. assistance to sub-Saharan Africa, one of the most entrenched poverty areas, runs about $3 to $6 per person daily, most of which does not go to improve health, nutrition, food production, or transport of needed items. Too much of past aid has gone for consultants and corrupt officials, Sachs...
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