Pink Poogle Toy Forum

Only (the) Africa(n Government) can help Africa. And (the) Africa(n Government) doesn't want to.

Not meaning to start a debate or anything. But I believe if you say "Country A is going to give aid to Country B", you actually mean the government of Country A is going to give money to Country B.

Only (the) Africa(n Government) can help Africa. And (the) Africa(n Government) doesn't want to.

DATA advocates a comprehensive and sustainable solution to the crises of poverty and disease that plague the African continent. For humanitarian, economic and security reasons, DATA is asking for a real commitment from richer countries to:

Relieve unpayable debts — Many African countries are paying more in old debts to rich countries than they pay for health care or education for their own people! These countries have developed clear and budgeted plans for how they could fight poverty if only the resources were available and debt relief is one way to provide those resources. The rich countries that have already committed to forgiving African debt need to follow through and they also need to work with the World Bank and the IMF to forgive the debts owed to these international organizations.

Fight the AIDS crisis — Africa is home to 30 million living with HIV/AIDS; 6,500 die every day and there are already 11 million orphans. AIDS is a global emergency and the whole world needs to work together to fight it. It will cost more than $10 billion per year to fight this killer; so far, we're spending less than half that amount. Every year we wait to fully fight the epidemic, more people die and the overall cost of stopping AIDS gets bigger. Rich countries need to work with Africa to raise the money needed, to fight the stigma attached to living with AIDS, and to make sure the drugs that are needed to fight AIDS and other diseases are available to Africans.

Provide more development assistance — Development assistance is critical to helping countries pay for education, health care, clean water, roads and other development priorities. We've set a global goal of dedicating 0.7% of our nations' wealth on the poor people of the world — but most rich countries aren't even close to that goal. While increasing the quantity of development assistance, we also need to improve the quality of development to make sure that every dollar, euro, and yen we send is as effective as possible.

Make trade fair so that Africa can work to boost its own economic growth — Africa is currently limited in its ability to earn resources through trade because international trade rules limit Africans' ability to sell their products abroad and allow for U.S. and European goods to be 'dumped' into African markets at disproportionately low prices. The U.S. should open its market quota and duty free to all African exports and remove agricultural subsidies which hurt African farmers.

We're not asking for cookie-cutter solutions or band-aids. We're looking for the richer countries of the world to stand up and say enough is enough. Only by making a long-term commitment can the U.S. truly help Africa achieve the internationally agreed upon Millennium Development Goals to cut poverty in half.

DATA also stands for Democracy, Accountability and Transparency. DEBT cancellation, help in the fight against AIDS, and TRADE reform should be increased for those countries which are DEMOCRATIC, ACCOUNTABLE, and TRANSPARENT. Where those things happen, people can see how assistance money is being spent, and insist that it be spent well. And if assistance is being spent well, donors like us will be more likely to give more of it. Many African countries are working hard to make progress in these areas through the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), a plan for African leaders to help each other end conflict, fight poverty, and increase democracy and political freedom.

The way in which development assistance has been given in the past has often actually encouraged corruption and waste. That must end. Giving aid to countries with democratic, accountable, and transparent governments means that citizens have a voice in where assistance goes (democratic); that they can hold their government responsible for keeping its promises (accountable) and that they can see whether international assistance in fact goes where it is supposed to go (transparent). Done right, development assistance and debt cancellation can encourage more democracy and openness, by giving more people a voice in their own societies. This makes development assistance work twice as hard for Africa's poor.

DATA advocates a comprehensive and sustainable solution to the crises of poverty and disease that plague the African continent. For humanitarian, economic and security reasons, DATA is asking for a real commitment from richer countries to:

Relieve unpayable debts — Many African countries are paying more in old debts to rich countries than they pay for health care or education for their own people! These countries have developed clear and budgeted plans for how they could fight poverty if only the resources were available and debt relief is one way to provide those resources. The rich countries that have already committed to forgiving African debt need to follow through and they also need to work with the World Bank and the IMF to forgive the debts owed to these international organizations.

Fight the AIDS crisis — Africa is home to 30 million living with HIV/AIDS; 6,500 die every day and there are already 11 million orphans. AIDS is a global emergency and the whole world needs to work together to fight it. It will cost more than $10 billion per year to fight this killer; so far, we're spending less than half that amount. Every year we wait to fully fight the epidemic, more people die and the overall cost of stopping AIDS gets bigger. Rich countries need to work with Africa to raise the money needed, to fight the stigma attached to living with AIDS, and to make sure the drugs that are needed to fight AIDS and other diseases are available to Africans.

Provide more development assistance — Development assistance is critical to helping countries pay for education, health care, clean water, roads and other development priorities. We've set a global goal of dedicating 0.7% of our nations' wealth on the poor people of the world — but most rich countries aren't even close to that goal. While increasing the quantity of development assistance, we also need to improve the quality of development to make sure that every dollar, euro, and yen we send is as effective as possible.

Make trade fair so that Africa can work to boost its own economic growth — Africa is currently limited in its ability to earn resources through trade because international trade rules limit Africans' ability to sell their products abroad and allow for U.S. and European goods to be 'dumped' into African markets at disproportionately low prices. The U.S. should open its market quota and duty free to all African exports and remove agricultural subsidies which hurt African farmers.

We're not asking for cookie-cutter solutions or band-aids. We're looking for the richer countries of the world to stand up and say enough is enough. Only by making a long-term commitment can the U.S. truly help Africa achieve the internationally agreed upon Millennium Development Goals to cut poverty in half.

So you got the email from Bono, too, eh?

I've always found most Charitable Organizations incredibly repetitive and very uninforming. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for helping people in need, but throwing money at a cause never got anything done, expect, maybe paying for the sandwiches at the meetings these people have. it's really just making people feel good about themselves by writing a bunch of inspiring lines: "We're looking for the richer countries of the world to stand up and say enough is enough."

There's also an incredibly constructed formula writing these types of things. They all start with a negative positive negative positive run of facts, with no real content. They've actually managed to say less by saying more.

DATA is an ambitious thing, however, it doesnt state the how. How do you fight the stigma against AIDS in a place where a good poriton of the people living with it are totally ignorant to the fact? There isn't a TV in every residency there, you can't just make up commercials were Bono is yelling at people that they have AIDS and that it's A-OK.

A lot of these countries and smaller communities require a great deal of reform before we throw any more money at them. The highest on social class/heirarchies absorb any cashflow we give them, and balancing trade wont suddenly make the poorer side of communities have places to sleep and food to put on the table.