Aid: not just a quick fix
7/10/2011 4:00:15 PM Isheeka Goswami
A blog post by Isheeka Goswami*.
This week, the Australian Government announced its “dollar-for-dollar” initiative whereby it will match each dollar that donors give to help alleviate the Horn of Africa crisis. This effectively means that all the donations that you and I give will be doubled, and, with the crisis still acute and widespread, the Government’s announcement could not be more welcome.
The reason why a boost in aid is so important is two-fold. Firstly, and most obviously, the region remains in desperate need of funds to battle an ongoing famine and civil war. But what is an equally important consideration is the fact that longer-term improvements in the quality of government, of development and of life in the Horn of Africa cannot be achieved without first combating short-term obstacles. Today’s aid focuses largely on this broader goal of sustainable development and democracy as it has become increasingly apparent that aid can not only feed and nurture but mobilise and stabilise societies. With 13 million people in need of urgent humanitarian aid, we have the ability to inject funds immediately for food and medicine and help to propel a move toward long-term prosperity.
Countries like Japan, South Korea and Germany would not have become the economic powerhouses and modern hubs of progress that they are today if it had not been for continued international financial support in the years following the second World War. Sustainable economic growth and democracy depends on developing a strong civil society with an educated, engaged, and — most importantly — healthy middle class to constitute the labour force and voting population. A steady food supply, well-sourced hospitals, basic shelter and sanitation are the most rudimentary building blocks without which no lasting development can be achieved.
This is why aid and steps like the dollar-for-dollar initiative are of fundamental importance. The purpose of aid is not merely to stem the flow of damage from one-off disasters and crises. It works primarily to give developing countries the resources to build the institutions that will, one day, be the bedrock of their societies. The goal is to help nations to become self-sufficient and promote effective governance and production. It’s a lofty ambition if we try to impose it all from the outside. It’s very achievable, though, if we focus on short-term health, sanitation and food security programs to give those people in the Horn of Africa the basic resources to reassert control over their societies.
Once these first hurdles have been overcome, aid money can be directed towards schooling, helping young people to become educated and productive members and leaders of their communities. Long-term agriculture programs will then be more manageable and sustainable as the people who will benefit from them will possess the expertise required to maintain them. Urbanisation and industrialisation can only develop once the population has enough agricultural production to sustain themselves and to generate income. Then, possibilities for trade and the development of international commercial relationships will arise.
This is the end-point that we all desire to see emerge in the Horn of Africa, though it seems impossibly far away. The point that I wish to highlight, however, is the fact that it all begins with the most basic development initiatives: aid for food, health and sanitation. This is aid that the Horn of Africa needs now, and without which this path to development cannot even begin. It is reasonable to want long-term solutions to poverty and underdevelopment. It is practical to work toward short-term solutions first, and to recognise the crucial role that humanitarian aid has to play in establishing stable, healthy societies.
*Isheeka Goswami a guest blogger for Act for Peace. She holds a Bachelor of International and Global Studies and is currently studying the Juris Doctor at the University of Sydney. She has been a volunteer at the immigration detention centres on Christmas Island. The views contained herein are personal to her and do not necessarily reflect those of the NCCA or Act for Peace.
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