On Aid to Africa
Hi, i'm new to this site, but have been looking at this discussion on how aid to Africa has been such a failure from so many different persectives - people now have some very strong views because we feel at a loss for ways forward. All the existing international institutions and structures in place to address poverty in Africa seem to have got things so wrong. But as someone has said, these institutions and mechanisms are in place. So how can we make them work more effectively? How can we make sure that aid really gets to people who could be more self-sufficient and not dependent on emergency aid. I came across a website called
African Voices in Europe which is a project of a UK organisation called Practical Action. The project has tried to get the voices of Africa's poor in remote areas to policy makers in Europe. There is a great account of some MEPs visiting Kenyan communities - and it shows how powerful a greater understanding of their context can be in changing policy. These MEPs are now working within the European Community to make sure aid is used more effectively - to reach people such as those they met on their visit. The whole site discusses how aid to agriculture can be improved, including videos and photos of people in zambia and kenya saying what their priorities are and how international aid (in this case from Europe) can be improved.
