Recent Articles on Africa

[PRCalDude]

Sorry. My conscience has toured this territory on foot and financially. Unlike most of you, I have been to Ethiopia; like most of you, I have stumped up the loot to charities to stop starvation there. The wide-eyed boy-child we saved, 20 years or so ago, is now a priapic, Kalashnikov-bearing hearty, siring children whenever the whim takes him.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/africa-is-giving-nothing-to-anyone--apart-from-aids-1430428.html

In the US and Africa, my book garnered a fair amount of criticism for deviating from the standard Afro-centric orthodoxy and offering some rather unvarnished views of the continent’s suffering, its abysmal leadership, the rampant corruption. My conclusion was that I was fortunate that circumstances meant I had been born outside Africa.

Keith Richburg: Zimbabwe shows Africa is still in the despots' grip

Alice was 18 years old when “it” happened. She was also seven months pregnant. “They were several,” she says, without telling me how many men raped her. She never raises her eyes, weaving colourful plastic bags as if her life depended on it. Her husband was killed, she lost the baby and she became a sex slave for a group of Hutu fighters. (She weaves more quickly as she tells this.) She managed to escape from the military camp, but she has a fistula. Her case is particularly complicated: she underwent six operations in both Heal Africa and Panzi but she is still unable to control her urine loss. She is waiting for yet another intervention, and is still hopeful.

http://www.theirc.org/news/congos-sex-crimes-rage-on0326.html

[Zap_Branigan]

What a mess. I am so torn on African aid because this is the reality of having people become dependant on others.

[DrSkeptix]

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
What a mess. I am so torn on African aid because this is the reality of having people become dependant on others. [/quote]

On diplomacy, force, and a world held hostage:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/07/betancourt_forgets_to_thank_th.html

[Gambit_Lost]

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
What a mess. I am so torn on African aid because this is the reality of having people become dependant on others. [/quote]

Theres different types of aid though, and different ways to distribute it. With the rampant corruption that plagues the continent, there is good reason to be skeptical about aid.

However, in many ways, many nations in Africa are turning the corner, experiencing sustained high growth rates, and finally seeing improved HDI indicators. Many parts of the continent are still horrible though and it’s understandable that some people who only see those news reports think the whole place is one big war zone.

In my opinion, Aid needs to be more selectively given out, that’s why I hope the MCC works. (Although I fear it never will). If the OECD can get together and actually follow the Paris Accords things will improve…I’m skeptical that this can happen, but it may well.