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Letter to the Editor to International Herald Tribune by Platform Chairs |
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Written by Daniel Gerecke
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Wednesday, 02 May 2007 |
Platform Co-Chairs react to the International Herald Tribune’s editorial ‘The money flows, the boy dies’ with a Letter to the Editor
An editorial in the International Herald Tribune (IHT) with the title ‘The money flows, the boy dies’ from April 26, 2007, accused international aid of being rather ineffective and “missing the point”. “More money is not the solution to Africa's poverty. The continent's real problem lies in aid hypocrisy”, say the authors.
This prompted Platform Co-Chairs Christoph Kohlmeyer (BMZ) and Michael Wales (FAO) to point to the growing momentum of the “translation into practice” of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness of March 2005 within a letter to the editor sent to IHT.
In July 2005, 22 heads of state gathered in Gleneagles, Scotland, and promised to double aid to Africa by 2010. Last week, nearly two years later, while traveling on the Mbale-Tirinyi highway in Uganda, we saw first hand that such bold pledges to increase aid flows are simply missing the point.
Vast volumes of money are currently flooding Uganda. However, instead of representing prioritized contributions to sustainable change, funds are simply fueling an "aid industry" of fragmented assistance. At the end of the day, yet again, it is Uganda's rural poor who suffer the most.
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Do the Gleneagles heads of state truly believe that more money is the key to Africa's rise out of poverty? How long can the aid industry continue to ignore the fundamental needs of countries like Uganda?
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Recipient governments need not underestimate their bargaining power. And Uganda should ensure that all external funds directed in any way toward its health sector carry a mandatory levy for support of strengthening basic health services.
More money is not the solution to Africa's poverty. The continent's real problem lies in aid hypocrisy.
Authors of “The money flows, the boy dies”, International Herald Tribune, April 26, 2007.
This prompted Platform Co-Chairs Christoph Kohlmeyer (BMZ) and Michael Wales (FAO) to point to the growing momentum of the “translation into practice” of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness of March 2005 within a letter to the editor sent to IHT.
The tragedy in Uganda described in ‘The money flows, the boy dies’ (page 6, April 26, 2007) highlights the fact that more aid money will not alleviate suffering without an accompanying reform of donor and partner-country behaviour say Platform Co-Chairs Christoph Kohlmeyer and Michael Wales. This is precisely what over 100 donors and developing countries recognized when signing the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, which commits donors to harmonize their various development policies and procedures and align their funding behind the development plans and national systems of the countries they operate in.
The Paris Declaration was the culmination of a profound shift in donor strategy that started in the late 1990s. More responsibility now lies with developing-country governments.
The difficult choices about priorities are for them to make, no longer for the donors to dictate.
Platform Co-Chairs Christoph Kohlmeyer (BMZ) and Michael Wales (FAO)
Of course, success depends on substantial changes in donor mentality and practice as well as on good governance in those countries receiving aid. But while both things are regrettably slow in coming, they are building momentum.
This letter to the editor was posted in the International Herald Tribune on May 1, 2007.
Read the full IHT editorial  “The money flows, the boy dies”.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 11 July 2007 )
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The articles in this section, while carefully researched and reviewed, are informal news-style summaries. None of the content is binding on either the Global Donor Platform or on its members, and cannot be taken as the endorsement, formal viewpoint or intention of these organisations. Quotes directly attributed to named persons in this section do not necessarily reflect the opinion or policy of the organisations they represent.
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Detailing Platform achievements in late 2007
 Platform News No 2, November 2007 (193KB)
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