LAST WEEK, President Bush pledged to allocate a paltry $674 million in foreign aid to Africa. While this is a positive step towards funding development, the amount offered falls woefully short of potential.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair met with President Bush over the last week to discuss progressive action towards eradicating poverty on the world's poorest continent.
According to The New York Times, Blair also pressured the U.S. to aid in the development of an international body for the purpose of raising money to help fund Africa's development, which Bush flat out rejected.
The Group of Eight Nations, led by Britain, did make some substantial progress towards ending global poverty by agreeing to offer relief through canceling foreign debt for 18 of the world's poorest countries. The relief frees the beneficiaries from over $40 billion in debt and paves the way for economic development.
While President Bush's agreement to cancel debt is laudable, his reluctance to offer more than a comparatively diminutive amount in foreign aid is appalling.
The Bush administration's policy of limited aid to help fund deteriorating conditions throughout much of Africa stands in sharp contrast with the recent E.U. commitment to double aid to Africa within the next five years. The United States has repeatedly declined to commit to a similar plan.
The Bush administration explains the America's stingy attitude towards foreign aid by arguing that Africa does not yet have the capacity to spend the assistance effectively. The administration has repeatedly contested that pouring money into many poverty-stricken countries will be unproductive and lead to corruption if not properly managed.
However, Blair, the European Union, the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund all dispute the U.S. policy and contend that "more African nations are ready to spend much more money productively."
As stated by the Inter Press Service based in Johannesburg, the aid promised by the United States demonstrates only "compassionate showmanship over sea-change." There is great potential for the world's industrialized nations to orchestrate substantial progress toward eradicating poverty, but America's lack of real commitment and stinginess in pledging foreign aid is proving to be a hindrance to substantial progress.
The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development ranks the United States 22nd in the world in foreign aid as a percent of GNP, behind all other industrialized nations.
Three years ago, the United Nations set the goal of having the world's wealthiest nations set aside 0.7 percent of their GNP by the year 2015 for "official development assistance". Since the U.N. declaration was signed, four counties have met the target, while Britain, Germany and France have all developed plans to reach the deadline. Despite signing the declaration, the United States has made no moves towards reaching the goal.
Currently, the United States gives just 0.16 percent of its national income to foreign aid. The U.S.'s GNP for 2004 constituted over $11.75 trillion. Thus the $674 million President Bush has allocated for Africa is less than 0.0006 of U.S. GNP. The United States, unlike the European Union, has consistently refused to allocate a set percent of national income to foreign aid.
The Blair proposal to double aid over the next five years coincides with the release of a U.N. Development Program report that details deteriorating conditions in Africa, especially the in Sub-Saharan region. Findings included a projection that over 28 million African children will die over the next ten years. Additionally, the report forecast that the child mortality rate would increase to 5.1 million child deaths in 2015, more than the 4.8 million that are estimated to die this year, if the region continues on its current path. That makes Sub-Saharan Africa the only region in the world where the death rate is consistently rising.
The United Nations estimates it would take only an additional $3.5 billion to "combat root causes of humanitarian problems in Africa." The U.N. has appealed for just $4.5 billion in foreign aid, which it estimates would provide food, shelter, health care and sanitation for over 44 million people. To put it in perspective, that's only 6 percent of the $80 billion recently approved by Congress for further funding in Iraq.
The world's largest economy has the means to lift an entire continent out of poverty. With the recent approval of debt relief paving the way, it's time to end the stingy attitude embodied by the administration and start planning to meet international goals.
Sophia Brumby is a Cavalier Daily columnist. She can be reached at sbrumby@cavalierdaily.com.
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