Cultural Solution for Aids?

From reading an article yesterday on the destruction aids has cost the continent of Africa and also reflecting on a previous class discussion, there is one question that always seems to strike me, where does the responsibilty lie for changing the detrimental and most times harmful cultural views that many African citizens have for dealing with the aids virus? In the article provided it even states that the health minister of South Africa "urged the use of garlic and African potatoe to fight Aids instead of effective treatment". Should the National leaders of these African states be "forced" to see that their methods are ineffective and further hurting their people, or should the world community, more specifically NGO's take the responsibilty upon themselves and try to involve the African governments as little as possible?

Corruption in Africa -- once again

Well, I can't say that it is a surprise. A recent inquiry revealed that there has been gross misuse of AIDS donations in Uganda. Specifically, the Global Fund -- the largest fund in the world to combat 3 diseases: AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria -- has already given Uganda $45 million of the $201 million earmarked for the country.
Monies were taken to pay for "personal phone bills, lavish "Christmas packages" and fancy four-wheel drive vehicles". What is so disturbing about this, however, is that Uganda was a leading country in combatting HIV/AIDS -- and President Museveni has at least rhetorically endorsed anti-corruption campaigns.Read the link above.

Never Again....Still

In a recent Washington Post article, "Still a Genocide", we learn that even though the Darfur peace accord was signed 3 weeks ago, the killing continues...
Is the Sudanese government backsliding on agreements? -- Yes -- Are the rebel factions still disagreeing over the peace agreement conditions? -- Yes-- Are innocent women and children and men still dying as a consequence? -- Yes.
So why isn't anything being done?

European countries and the UN are hesitant to even call what's going on in Darfur a "genocide". But doesn't everyone agree that innocent women and children are being slaughtered? Don't we all agree that this should stop?
So, why does it continue?
How can it still continue that nations will only get involved in mass slaughter of civilians if we can technically define it as a "genocide"? Isn't slaughter of innocents, slaughter?!

A Ugandan Activist Speaks Out

I just received this comment on my webblog from "Anne" -- I'm presuming a Ugandan activist. I thought I'd post it rather than just leave it as a comment, since it does relate to the post I just made about Nigeria and Uganda.
Kudos to you Anne!

We the people of the Commonwealth come together to sign this petition to demand that the Commonwealth be held accountable to its own committments under the Harare Declaration of 1991. Two past elections in Uganda in 2001 and 2006 have returned the incumbent after violent campaigns and rigged results as ruled by Uganda's Supreme Court and observed by local and international election observers. Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth for electoral fraud and violence, yet Uganda will be honored by hosting CHOGM 2007. We demand equal treatment of all member states regardless of the color or race of their citizenry. Act Now!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/983107725

Kudos to Nigerians and their Democracy

Perhaps there is hope for African democracy after all. Ghana, Botswana, South Africa -- leaders in democratization -- and now Nigeria -- an economic powerhouse gives hope to sustainable democracy. Why? The Nigerian senate has rejected an attempt by President Olusegun Obasanjo to run for a third fourth term next year (see The Chrisitian Science Monitor article attached).
This is a good sign for Nigeria -- but a bad one for Uganda -- which just had an election in March that allowed President Yoweri Museveni (in power since 1986) to remain in power for another term after changing the consitution to accomodate a third presidential term.
This brings us to the question of why are some African countries more successful at democratization than others? Both Nigeria and Uganda are former British colonies as is Zimbabwe with Robert Mugabe in power since 1980, and Ghana. What factors account for democratic success? Foreign aid, foreign pressure, civil society, good political leadership?

Whatever Happened to Live8 and Saving Africa?

A former student and friend sent me this article. Thought it would be interesting to re-post. She didn't include the source, other than that Gerald Caplan wrote the article.
The Live 8 concerts: Hold on Africa – here we come!
Gerald Caplan (2005-06-23)
With the global music extravaganza that is Live 8 just around the corner, Gerald Caplan is nervous about the crocodile tears shed for Africa by leaders like Tony Blair. Caplan writes that the job of Bono, Bob Geldof and other Live 8 organizers is to let their fans know that Africans need no more missionaries or do-gooders. “Instead, Africans have a right to justice and equity to make up for the incalculable harm that we in the rich world have inflicted on them for such a long, long time,” writes Caplan.
Everybody must be aware by now of the Bob Geldof Live 8 spectacular coming at us next week. The media has been abuzz with burning questions about where the concert will be held and who'll be performing, with a sentence occasionally thrown in about saving poor old Africa or ending poverty. This is a serious problem.
Getting it wrong about Africa is a venerable tradition in the rich world, and music has played its role. Remember the great famine concerts of 20 years ago and the giant hit "Do They Know It's Christmas?" It's just been re-recorded, with its inane lyrics of Africa as a land "underneath a burning sun…where nothing ever grows" and "no rain nor river flows". Get it? Natural causes---bad luck—are at the root of Africa's problems.
Television does its share. Who among us haven't seen inspiring stories about young Canadians who decide to raise pennies for a well or school in Africa? These efforts are invariably motivated by the best of intentions. But I'm concerned with their unintended message. I fear they reinforce wrong-headed stereotypes of both Africa and us. To my eye, they show Africans as helpless, dependent, passive victims, and we westerners as decent, selfless, compassionate, resourceful missionaries.
Now Paul Wolfowitz's has added his explanation for Africa's plight. Moving swiftly from being a maven about Iraq to becoming an authority on Africa's 53 countries, the new head of the World Bank has just completed a whirlwind learning tour of the continent—6 days, 4 countries. The problem in Africa, he announced at the end, is simple: "corruption". Right. If only Africa's leaders were more like our own.
These views reflect a common theme: they leave the rich world blameless for Africa's multitude of problems. I greatly fear that Live 8 is inadvertently strengthening the notion that we in the rich world must be missionaries to save Africans from themselves. The truth is already being lost-- the deep, comprehensive responsibility of western nations and western financial institutions for so much of Africa's continuing underdevelopment and poverty. The real reason the rich world should be racing to deal with African poverty is the central role we have played in causing and perpetuating it. Has anyone told Paul Wolfowitz that vastly more money pours out of Africa each year back to rich countries than flows in? That's the key to Africa's development crisis, and it's almost entirely unrecognized.
The responsibility of the rich world takes many forms. It includes the indispensable support given over the decades to countless African tyrants and to white racists. It includes the demonstrably retrograde free market policies imposed on virtually every Africa government by ideological extremists at the World Bank and International monetary Fund (also known by African pediatricians as the Infant Mortality Fund) and backed by almost all western governments, including Canada. Across west Africa, it's cheaper to buy a subsidized frozen chicken imported from Holland that to buy one from a local producer. Foreign aid is always tied to buying goods and services in the rich country or to sending consultants to Africa to make more in a day than the vast majority of Africans do in a year. Rich countries drain off a huge percentage of the professionals—doctors and nurses, especially—who are trained in African universities. Western corporations plunder Africa's natural resources, pay starvation wages and almost no local taxes, bribe anyone in charge—corruption!--pollute hideously, and leave conflict and human rights abuses in their wake. Western donors demand that user fees be imposed on health services and tuition fees on schooling. They demand that public services be slashed so that health and school systems deteriorate. The US government and fundamentalist western religious groups introduce unrealistic and irrelevant moral dogmas to combat AIDS and undermine evidence-based methods of prevention
Anyone who doesn't distrust the Group of 8 leaders who'll be meeting next month hasn't been paying attention. They're the ones responsible for the economic apartheid that characterizes rich-poor country relations today. Every one of them has failed to live up to repeated pledges about aid, debt relief and agricultural subsidies, solemnly made and blithely ignored. The recent ballyhoo about debt relief for 14 African countries was wildly overblown; it was no more than a modest first step. The more leaders like Tony Blair and Paul Martin shed crocodile tears talk about their moral crusade for Africa, the more liberal imperialist rhetoric they spin, the more nervous we should be. The job of Bono and Bob Geldof and other Live 8 organizers is to let their fans know that Africans need no more missionaries or do-gooders. Instead, Africans have a right to justice and equity to make up for the incalculable harm that we in the rich world have inflicted on them for such a long, long time.

* Gerald Caplan works with various UN agencies on African development issues.

Uganda: A Test Case for African Democracy

So, President Museveni of Uganda pulled off a 59.3% victory in Uganda's recent multiparty Presidential elections. Kudos to Ugandans for having a relatively violence-free election. Kudos also to Ugandans for showing up to vote -- 59.3% turnout -- the Western democracies could be so lucky with such a high-level of voter participation.
The most important test for Uganda's democracy still remains: what will happen after the elections? Neither side should advocate violence, although it may be inevitable. Uganda, with all of its economic successes has really become a test-case for African democracy. It it cannot succeed in Uganda, where can it in Africa?

Museveni: The Answer for Uganda?

Ugandans are once again testing their resolve for democracy. It's easy for us in the West to criticize Ugandans for not seeing through Yoweri Museveni's "Big Man" politics, but when the "Big Man" implies that he will "go back to the bush" if he doesn't win, and reminds people of the chaos and violence that beset Uganda pre-Movement politics, it's no wonder that Ugandans will probably vote for "no change" in Thursday's presidential elections.
It's also no wonder that Dr. Kizza Besigye is behind in the polls. As Emily Wax's Washington Post article, "Ugandans Put "Big Man" Politics to Vote", outlines, Besigye had to try and win the hearts and minds of Ugandans while going from a maximum security prison on charges of treason and rape, to multiple court appearances.
Perhaps we should applaud the fact that Museveni just didn't have Besigye killed when he returned to Uganda -- Museveni has obviously become more sophisticated than previous Ugandans rulers in underming the opposition.
My guess is that Museveni will win tomorrow -- not because he is necessarily the best man for the job, but because he has established himself as the "big man" for the job.

Democracy: The Answer or the Disaster?

By Matt. G.

It is not surprising that there are many who feel that democracy will never work in Africa. There is a lot of evidence to support this claim. Look at the countless countries who, after independence from the west, set forth with such high democratic or socialist goals just to meet severe disappointment less than a decade later. There are some who feel Africa is just not ready for successful sustainable democracy. Some place the blame on the fact that western, or liberal democracy, was not developed to suit the conditions of Africa. Noted Nigerian born sociologist said that Western style liberal democracy could not work in Africa because it is a, “society which is still pre-industrial and communal and whose cultural idiom is radically different [from the West].”(Ake 239) While I agree that it would be foolish to simply take western models of democracy and paste them over African countries, I believe that some type of democracy is in the best interest of African people in the present and in the future.
I do not buy the argument that democracy will not work in Africa because the society is not ready. First, democracy does seem to be at least burgeoning in several Sub-Saharan African states like Ghana or South Africa. While possibly an oversimplification, I agree in spirit with the claim, “A country does not have to be deemed fit for democracy; rather, it has to become fit through democracy.”(Sen 4) It is true, some states are more resistant than others to successful democracy, but failures in the past and difficulty in the future should not be a legitimate cause to drop the entire movement. It was not democracy that has failed in Africa, but the states that claimed to be reaching for it. A combination of inept leadership and poor structure has, “turned the high expectations of the independence movement into painful disappointment.”(Ake 240)
One of the other arguments against democracy in Africa is that the people would have to pay too high an economic price for the eventual promise of a more free and open society. This is the argument leaders like Yoweri Museveni have used to defend against those who believe that governments need to further democratize. Unfortunately this is a relatively common belief among Africa’s “New Leaders.” Though not as visibly autocratic and ruthless as earlier post-independence leaders like Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko, this new breed of African leadership seems no less interested in long term democratic reform that does anything but support their own bid for power.(Richburg 131)
These “New Leaders” appear to, “all subscribe to the notion that economic development precedes democracy, and reject the view that democratization and development are mutually supportive processes that occur at roughly the same time.”(Gordon 123) This is a false belief being put forward by rulers only interested in maintaining their own power. The actual truth is that “In Africa, the return to economic growth has been inextricably linked to political reform.”(Gordon 125) While this can not be claimed true in all situations, like that of Museveni’s economically successful “no-party” Uganda, it is an overall trend.
I do not doubt that Museveni has pursued successful economic policies during his tenure as the leader of Uganda, but what is to stop him from reversing his policies at whim? It was not so long ago that the Robert Mugabe sent a relatively successful Zimbabwe into economic free fall. Museveni’s recent arrest of his strongest political adversary does not convince me that his liberal economic policies truly reflect a support for Western ideals of a free and open society.(Lacey)
While I understand that opening the democratic process to more free and fair competition brings with it the fear of greater instability, lack of openness eliminates the protective qualities of democracy. It is clear that, “political and civil rights give people the opportunity to draw attention forcefully to general needs and to demands appropriate public actions.“(Sen 7) One compelling fact is that, “in the terrible history of famines in the world, no substantial famine has ever occurred in any independent and democratic country with a relatively free press.”(Sen 7) Where else in the world would the ability to resist famine be more applicable than Africa with the long going famine in Sudan and the recent famine in Niger.
Democracy does not only protect against famine or promote economic growth, but protects human rights as well. While human rights may mean different things to Africans it is not some Western ideal, human rights are an international goal. While democracy does not automatically mean there will be a respect for human rights, there are some long democratic countries in Africa with poor human rights records, it would seem that human rights are a goal only reached through democracy.(Aidoo 705) Akwasi Aidoo states it clearly when she says, “the full range of human rights cannot be guaranteed unless they are specifically promoted and protected in law and by popular organizations.“(707)
While I know that there are further criticisms of the viability of democracy in Africa, they are all of the same ilk. While democracy may have been born in the West, it is not limited in scope to Western civilization. African states need accountable, law based, and free states if they ever hope to improve not just the economy, but the lives of their peoples. But these governments can not be manufactured from the outside. Africa needs domestically created democratic governments better fit to the social and economic needs specific to African nations. Hard times are probably ahead for Africa, but letting go of democracy will only maintain the status quo of underdevelopment, famine, and human rights abuse in Africa.

Works Cited
Ake, Claude. “The Unique Case of African Democracy.” International Affairs. Vol. 69, No.2 (1993): 239-244.
Sen, Amartya. “Democracy as a Universal Value.” The Global Divergence of Democracies. Eds. Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. 3-17.
Richburg, Keith B. “Africa’s Rulers Do Not Support Democracy.” Africa: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. William Dudley. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000. 130-136.
Gordon, David. “Africa is Moving Toward Democracy.” Africa: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. William Dudley. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000. 119-129.
Aidoo, Akwasi. “Africa: Democracy Without Human Rights?” Human Rights Quarterly. Vol. 15, No. 4 (1993): 703-715.
Lacey, Marc. “Uganda: Opposition Leader Sent to Court-Martial.” The New York Times. November 26, 2005. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940CE1D91731F935A15752C1A9639C8B63 (December 1, 2005).

Is Famine a Man-made or Natural Disaster?

In Asia, Africa and Latin America, well over 500 million people are living in "absolute poverty". over 9 million people die worldwide each year because of hunger and malnutrition. 5 million are children. Some 1.2 billion people suffer from obesity. For the price of one missle, a school full of hungry children could eat lunch every day for 5 years. EVERY 3.6 SECONDS, SOMEONE DIES OF HUNGER. Famine is the last hurrah of long-term hunger. How does this persist in the 21st Century?Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Niger, Ethiopia...the list keeps growing of countries that are currently or will soon be experiencing famine. How can this continue?
Below, see some perspectives from our guest blogger, Jamie P (The imagine is taken from the following website? members.tripod.com/ ~afronord/hsdoc/famine.jpg)


Is Famine a Man Made Problem?
Famine can be traced back to the roots of civilization and seen throughout the annals of history. This empirical fact leaves one to conclude famine is inevitable, given the occurrence of natural disasters associated with the passage of time (http://library.thinkquest.org). And while environmental catastrophes have reigned supreme as the cause of famines for many years, is it still true today? In other words, economically and technologically speaking, does the world today possess a certain prowess that would allow man to circumvent the hardships inflicted by Mother Nature? One scholar laments that “Once we begin to see beyond the rather seductive and ironic depictions of the famine encounter, we will be in a position to recapture a glimpse of the real causes of famine and cautiously avoid the conflation of natural calamities with ‘man made’ famines”(Araia). Yet, other experts cling to environmental attributions, stating that natural disasters still lie at the root of all widespread hunger (FitzGibbon and Hennessy). I would argue, however, that while this second point, respectively, may initially be the culprit, pernicious famine is exacerbated largely by man. Thus, while Mother Nature may initiate hunger, man bears the onus for creating or at least not averting widespread famine.
Famine may be referred to as ‘the regional failure of food production or distribution systems, leading to sharply increased mortality due to starvation and associated disease…’ (FitzGibbon and Hennessy). Historically speaking, in a majority of the situations where this definition comes into play, natural disasters are the initial cause. Many possibilities exist within this realm including drought, earthquakes, flooding, tidal waves, and insects such as locusts (http://library.thinkquest.org/).
Pestilence is also an environmental condition which can lead to famine. It is commonly known that diseases of epidemic proportions such as AIDS and Malaria are highly prevalent in many of the African countries. These Sub Saharan territories, in which the threat of famine always exists, are crippled when entire chunks of the population fall prey to these infectious diseases which thus severely curtail a population’s ability to produce or acquire food (http://news.bbc.co.uk). Yet, while all of these environmental issues, are certainly problems, countries internally and internationally should be able to circumvent these issues to prevent the wide spread famine that follows the initial hunger.
The natural disasters stated above do not necessarily result in a famine. A flood may wipe out the crops for an entire country which causes initial hunger; yet, famine happens later when many die of starvation due to poor governance. Colonialism is an example of this phenomenon.
The colonialization of the imperial powers in the African countries caused many problems. Their insistence on growing cash crops continues today so that “…the persistence of using good land to grow ‘cash crops’ such as coffee, tea or cashews for export, continues in many countries today. Often the best land is used in this way” (FitzGibbon and Hennessy). In addition, the problem is not exactly lack of rainfall “…but the vulnerability of a given society that wholly depends on a rain-fed agriculture” (Araia). Theories abound as to why exactly Africa remains underdeveloped today. Whatever the exact cause may be, exploitation of colonial powers certainly did not help Africa’s long term development. This underdevelopment only perpetuated famine today.
Poor governmental planning is also a cause of famine. While a natural disaster may devastate the crops in a region, a sound government should have stored enough food or resources to acquire sufficient provisions to prevent widespread death from starvation. Also, the world community should step in to remedy the problem. Poverty is also rampant in Africa, and many situations occur in Sub Saharan countries today where food exists but the people are simply to poor to buy it. Obviously, fixing these solutions are easier said then done; yet, it demonstrates how in these circumstances, famine is caused by man and not the environment.
In addition to man exacerbating the hunger that stems from a natural disaster, certain famine occurs completely void of environmental problems. War, including internal strife, which persistently has ravaged the African continent for decades, often involves pillaging, looting, and burning. This has caused thousands to go hungry and die as a result of this man made famine (FitzGibbon and Hennessy).
Another example of man made famine is genocide. Often, dictators in power will suppress food from their enemies in order to eliminate them. Hunger is also used as a tool in order to cause certain sects of the population to comply. Sometimes, it can be harnessed as a means of punishment. Examples include Ethiopia and the Sudan where internal strife and the government’s suppression of food for factions of their populations occurred. Graft can also produce famine in a population. In corrupt governments, which are pervasive in Africa, food and aid from other countries is sometimes confiscated by corrupt officials who then sell the resources for their own profit preventing the aid from getting to the people it was intended for (FitzGibbon and Hennessy).
Sudan serves as an example of a direct link between government and famine. In this case, in 1997, the northern government decided it would not allow international planes to land in the South to administer aid because of the civil war that was occurring. In essence, they thought that by stopping the aid, they could eliminate their enemy by starving them to death and also illicit support by placing blame for the food shortage on their enemy (FitzGibbon and Hennessy).
A similar example occurred in Ethiopia in the mid 80’s where the government halted the flow of food into Eritrea during a famine because of threatening rebel forces. “Through these actions, the government hoped to reduce the support for Eritrean rebels, and eventually to force them to surrender. However, these acts caused many thousands of deaths within Eritrea” (FitzGibbon and Hennessy)
Another example in which government is to blame is Niger. Nigerian leaders denied there was a food shortage and turned away 19 million dollars from the World Food Programme (WFP). The governmental leaders accused the WFP of exaggerating the problem and denying the mass starvation (http://news.bbc.co.uk).
Natural disasters certainly are a problem and they live up to their name, disaster. Today, however, it seems that man is the true disaster in regards to famine. Examples abound where famine after a natural disaster could have been prevented if there had been proper planning and support from the international community. If utilized properly, technology, production, and distribution could ensure that there are adequate resources to feed the entire world population. Also, in today’s day and age, famine is solely a man made problem with the persistence of poor governance, war and poverty. Despite natural disasters being the root of some hunger and loss of food, man is the ultimate cause of death due to starvation.
Helpful Websites: http://chora.virtualave.net/ghelawdewos-famine2.htm
http://www.ucc.ie/famine/roots/pdfs/Roots%20of%20Famine2