NGO Another Way (Stichting Bakens Verzet), 1018 AM
Edition 04: 16 April, 2011.
Edition 23 :11 November 2014.
01. E-course : Diploma in
Integrated Development (Dip. Int. Dev)
SECTION A : DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS.
Study value :
04 points out of 18.
Indicative study time: 112 hours out of 504.
Study points are
awarded only after the consolidated exam for Section A : Development
Problems has been passed.
First block : Poverty and quality of life.
Study value : 02 points out of 18. (Indicative study
time: 57 hours out of 504. )
Study points are awarded only after the consolidated
exam for Section A : Development Problems has been passed.
First block : Poverty and quality of life.
Section 1. Analysis of the causes of poverty.
[26.50 hours]
Section 2. Services needed for a good quality of life.
First Block : Exam. [ 4 hours each attempt]
Block 1 of Section 1. Analysis
of the causes of poverty. [26.50 hours]
Part 2 : In depth analysis of the causes of
poverty. [14.00 hours]
01. In depth : definition of poverty.
02. In depth : some factors linked with poverty.
03. In depth : debts and subsidies.
04. In depth : financial leakages : food and
water industries.
05. In depth : financial leakage : energy.
06. In depth : financial leakage : means of
communication..
07. In depth : financial leakage : health and
education.
08. In depth : financial leakage : theft of
resources.
09. In depth : financial leakage :
corruption.
10. In depth : the industry of poverty.
Report on Section 1 of Block 1 : [06.00 Hours]
Part 2 : In depth analysis of the causes of
poverty. [14.00 hours]
10. In depth : the industry of poverty.
(at least one hour)
“Carbonized money : Heartbeat of the Beast….. the green economy will not flourish until the monetary system itself is transformed.” (Quilligan, J.B. , Interest Rates and Climate change : Realigning our Incentives through the Power of the Commons, Kosmos, Vol. X, Number 1, Fall/winter 2010, p. 29, Kosmos Associates, Lenox, 2010.)
“The differences between rich and poor nations cannot be resolved on the same terms that gave rise to them.” (Quilligan, J.B. , Interest Rates and Climate change : Realigning our Incentives through the Power of the Commons, Kosmos, Vol. X, Number 1, Fall/winter 2010, p. 31, Kosmos Associates, Lenox, 2010.)
Look at slide :
10. Financial leakage : development aid.
Read the notes you made on the law of diminishing returns in 07. Financial leakage : health and education.
Read the universal declaration of human rights.
Now read C.
Hedges, The hijacking of human rights, truthdig.com 09 April,
2013.
1. Opinion.
Everyone should be able to benefit from the universal
rights.......shouldn’t he/she ?
Or perhaps, 60 years after the date of
the Declaration, the real-world
situation is quite different from the one described in the Declaration?
Since the world was not created in one day, priorities have to be set when dealing with development problems in poor countries.
2. Opinion.
What are these priorities ?
Who decides them ?
See Vidal J., World Bank spending on forests fails to curb poverty, auditors claim, The Guardian, London, 29 January, 2013 :
“The World Bank funded 345 major forestry projects in 75 countries in the decade to July 2011. The IEG panel, [Independent Evaluation Group, comprising World Bank staff member and outside consultants] which visited many of the projects and interviewed hundreds of people, criticised the bank strongly for:
• Continuing to support industrial logging.
• Not involving communities in decision-making.
• Assuming that benefits would accrue to the poor rather than the rich and powerful.
• Paying little attention to rural poverty.”
A
second commentary on the IEG panel report can be found in the article A forest of failures :
“Negligible” sustainability in World Bank’s forest work, Bretton
Woods Project, article 571990,
"As of 31 March,
2013, “Sixteen months after signing the first contract, the SIKA [Stability in
Key Areas in Afghanistan] programs reported that cumulative disbursements [ for
US$ 47 million] primarily consisted of operational expenses, such as
subcontracts, security, labor, and indirect costs, and resulted in community
workshops, meetings, and training sessions….none of the funds had gone to
grants that fund community projects, such as those that are “labor-intensive or
productive infrastructure projects,” as called for in the SIKA contracts to
address sources of instability.” ( Stability
in Key Areas (SIKA) Programs: After 16 Months and $47 million spent, USAID Had
Not Met Essential Program Objectives, Special
Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstructions (SIGAR), Report 13-16, Arlington, July 2013. )
It may be necessary to make «brutal » choices.
3. Opinion.
Where a person
suffering from AIDS needs medicines costing € 1.000 and for € 1.000
a local production unit for mosquito nets can be set up for the benefit
of all of the children in the village and surroundings, which choice, do you
think, should be made? What about the situation where € 1.000 is enough to set
up a cooperative information system over AIDS and a service for the
distribution of condoms ? Which choice should be made in that case ?
Is a human
life more valuable than the quality of life of the rest of the inhabitants of the
village? Is hygiene education and disease prevention for the benefit of future generations more valuable than the
life of an AIDS patient ?
In poor communities,
the very first investments of a few Euros per person can bring important
benefits to the population. For example, the installation of just 5 peak watts
per person of photovoltaic energy means a 1000 Wp installation in a community
of 200. This is enough to supply energy for a pump for drinking water, a grain
mill, lighting for evening study, and for the storage of medicines.
As capital investments increase, their relative benefits tend to
diminish, following the law of diminishing returns.
4. Opinion.
Which criteria would you adopt in this regard?
A new, often
profit-making, industry.
In the slide 10.Financial : leakage:development aid it is claimed that even money spent on «good» things reduces the amount of funds available for integrated development of the poor.
5. Opinion.
What do you think about that statement?
In 07 Financial leakage : health and education , an analysis was made
of GAVI’s investments and George Bush’s provision for aid for AIDS medicines. The
total amount of development aid is about € 100 billion per year. Amounts spent
one way for development aid are not available for spending in another way. This
means that neither the money spent to make vaccines in industrialised and
emerging countries nor the money paid to consultants in industrialised
countries to carry out research on vaccines, nor the money needed to pay for
the transport of food products (with or without farmers’ subsidies) from rich
countries for distribution to the hungry is available for direct investment in
poor countries.
6. Opinion.
Who makes these decisions ? Why are the decisions
made ?
What is the relationship between the decisions made and
the priorities established by the local populations in developing
countries ?
The G 8 summit in Camp David in May 2012 approved a G-8 Action on Food Security and Nutrition
forming a “New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition” which de facto gives
multinationals, including those involved in the introduction of genetically
modified crops (GMOs), leadership in solving the hunger problem in
“Today we are faced with two contrasting aspirations in Sub-Saharan Africa : the desire to regain control of our development, and, on the other hand, the temptation of an excessive reliance on external resources … [African Governments] should accord the major advantages to the principal investors in agriculture, those who take the risks within the family enterprises, that is, the peasants, and not to urban or foreign sources of capital.”
“The dominance of international NGOs and private contractors in
“Despite
extensive efforts, our ability to trace the money is limited by a lack of
transparency and accountability—indeed, three years after the quake, much
remains unknown. For instance, who exactly got the $1.3 billion – 36% of
the total – that was disbursed as grants to International NGOs and
contractors? As we have blogged
previously, we can look at procurement
databases to track primary contract recipients, but we cannot go much further.
We can see, for instance, that $150 million was disbursed to Chemonics, but we
have no idea about how that money was spent.” (Walz, J., Ramachandran, V., Haiti: Three Years After the Quake and Not Much Has Changed, Global Development : Views from the Center (Blog). Center for Global
Development,
To see how U.S. Aid funds have been used for
housing projects in post-earthquake
As the conservative Wall Street Journal puts it : “Foreign aid is notoriously
wasteful and often counterproductive. Even when the money is not going directly
to Swiss bank accounts it is rarely allocated to its highest use because the
process is fundamentally political. Contractors with all the wrong training and
incentives but the right connections have the best chance of winning jobs.” ( M.A. Grady, Bill, Hillary and the Haiti
Debacle, Wall Street Journal,
On the use of USAID funds to encourage the
production of palm oil as a monoculture in
“..the Colombian oil palm industry offers an example of the intricate links that exist between North and South under neoliberal globalization, especially in the relationship between five issues: energy, food, poverty, global warming, and human rights………. the human rights abuses, environmental devastation, poverty, and inequality often associated with oil and mining are also being transferred to the agrofuel sector. Furthermore, the shift to growing crops for fuel has led to food shortages and undermined self-sufficiency in many regions of the world..” (p. 34).
Here are some extracts from a report on EU Support for Governance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, European
Court of Auditors, Special Report no. 9, September 2013.
"Some € 1.9 billion was
spent by the European Union in assistance for (good) governance in D.R. Congo
between 2003 and 2011. € 1 billion of it “disappeared” because of “the absence of political will, the
donor-driven dynamics of the programmes, and the lack of absorption capacity.”
At paragraph 35 : “Fewer than half of all the programmes examined have delivered, or are likely to deliver, the planned results.”
At paragraph 65: “In 2011, spending on the Presidency,
the Prime Minister, the National Assembly and the Senate accounted for 11% of
the total budgetary expenditure and was almost three times the amount spent on
health.”
At paragraph 79 : “The programme documents do
not mention a number of major risks – notably the lack of political will,
fraud, and corruption…”
In your first analysis in 10. Financial leakage : development aid a list of local projects
was prepared.
7. Opinion.
During
the execution of the projects on your
list, were there any cases of friction between what the populations said
they wanted and what was supplied to them ?
“I went for a cataract operation.
They told me it costs 7,000 Egyptian pounds. All I had was seven so I decided
to go blind.” A (Seery E.,
Arendar, A, Even It Up : Time to end extreme inequality,
Campaign Report, Oxfam International, 29 October 2014, Executive summary p. 18, citing a 60-year-old woman in a remote village in Egypt.)
Resource : Easterly, William, The White Man’s Burden – Why the west’s efforts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good , Penguin Press, London, 2006. For a review of the book , read Why doesn’t foreign aid work ? Mercy Corps, Global Envision, April 25, 2006, reproduced by Mercy Corps with the authorisation of CATO Unbound .
«Throughout the history of the aid program, Australia has consistently used the mantle of ODA [Overseas Development Aid] to protect, bolster and line the pockets of domestic corporations and to maintain our country's commercial presence in the region, with the bulk of project tenders going to big businesses that have diversified their operations to accommodate overseas development in order to get in on the lucrative aid deals.” Aid is increasing, but can we spend it well? (Wheen K. and Lusby S., Aid Watch News, 28 February 2008.)
“The continued effect of tied-aid, an over reliance on expensive, Australia-based technical assistance including Australian companies, consultants and contractors, and a common perception that aid can be legitimately deployed to serve Australia’s own strategic and commercial interests are all factors that fundamentally handicap Australia’s $3 billion aid program.” Source : Duxfield F and Wheen K. Fighting Poverty or Fantasy Figures ? Aid Watch, Erskineville, Australia, May 2007, p.28.
8.
Research.
The industry of
poverty and arrange them in an order of
priority, beginning with the projects
you consider the most “pure” and ending
with the ones you think are the least “pure”.
Next to each
project make a note on the (eventual) corrupting factors.
9. Opinion.
What are your
conclusions?
Experts, expatriates, everywhere.
From the chapter Does Aid Aid? by Harker, C., One Thousand Days as an Expert.
“It cost the Canadian government a lot of money to send us to Tanzania. It began with the process of recruitment which led to a two week orientation programme for all “experts” and their spouses selected that year. Our air fare to Tanzania was paid for as was the air freight of “essential items’ which totaled about 200 pounds. We were permitted a sea shipment of over a ton to go there and, because we had Malaika while at our posting, were permitted to ship two tons back to any Canadian destination.
“There was an agreement with the Tanzanian government that enabled us to purchase a vehicle duty free and we were not required to pay for our housing while at Mkwawa. By being accorded resident status, we paid far less in the parks and at hotels than would a tourist.
“My salary was based on what I would have received had I remained in the job from which I was recruited. As CIDA took no deductions for pensions, my salary appeared to be considerably higher. Then, on top of this was something called “overseas allowance” which was based on the cost of living in the country to which we were posted. This was tax free. After a year at our post, we were given two tickets to the “nearest European capital” which happened to be Athens. We turned our holiday there into a visit to Addis Ababa, Cairo, Beirut, Athens, Rome, Geneva and Madrid by paying about $150 extra. After our second year, the cost of a flight back to Canada was covered. Our health costs were paid for while we were under contract and finally, when we returned to Canada, we were obliged to report to the Tropical Diseases Hospital in Toronto for an “all expenses covered” week to be thoroughly “medically debriefed”.”
Clearly, the presence and participation of experts with knowledge which is not available locally is justifiable both in industrialised and in developing countries. For example, for large-scale works such as the construction of dams, motorways, and refineries. This may be one of the reasons why donors traditionally had a tendency to favour large-scale “development” projects.
More recently, projects of more modest dimensions have been preferred. The question is whether this had led to a reduction in the number of expatriates involved in the execution of development projects.
10.
Opinion.
Take
the list of projects you have made for your project area (eventually for your
country).
Why
are the participating experts necessary for the success of the projects?
Could
they be substituted by local people? Could they be substituted by nationals
from other areas?
11. Research.
Make
a list of the activities (see your
analysis in 07.
Financial leakage : health and education )
which could be executed in your area to reduce the incidence of bacterial,
viral, parasitic and other infections.
You might wish to consider the following, amongst others :
Active protection against mosquitoes (nets).
Action against flies (all species).
Elimination of surface waters (drainage).
Control over waste disposal (pest control).
Hand washing.
12. Research.
How many of these activities can be executed at local level?
How many expatriate experts would be necessary?
How much would they cost?
What are your conclusions?
Help! We’re hungry !
“It's important for our
nation to build -- to grow foodstuffs, to feed our people. Can you
imagine a country that was unable to grow enough food to feed the
people? It would be a nation that would be subject to international
pressure. It would be a nation at risk. And so when we're talking
about American agriculture, we're really talking about a national security
issue. ” (G.W.Bush, President’s Remarks to the
Future Farmers of America, The
White House,
The same principles apply to all nations.
Yet, “like all fans of
globalisation they [presidents G.W.Bush and Clinton and leaders of
industrialised countries in general] worked for the asymmetrical opening-up of
markets and reduction of levels of protection. They worked to reduce duties and
tariffs, leading to grave
consequences for local rural economies and for farmers incapable of competing
with foodstuffs imported at artificially low prices……Development aid from
developed countries and financial institutions was often conditional on opening
access to natural resources, the privatisation of water, and the promotion of
cash crops and exports. Irrigation dams and reservoirs, for example, were
needed for the development of plantations, and this infrastructure was
privatised or sold. The management of public food stockpiles was handed over to
the private sector, and the companies that mediate and manage agricultural
supply were either privatised or incapacitated by inadequate government
funding. In almost all the countries of the developing world, tariffs and other
means of protecting internal markets were reduced or removed, allowing an
influx of fertilisers, machinery and food goods. This favoured
export-orientated agricultural practices, and a focus on producing only a
limited number of commodities essentially destined for industrial processing
locally or abroad, at the expense of producing food for local consumption.
Imports came from the developed world, where farmers enjoy considerable
subsidies – so generous that they overproduce.” (
“Food aid is perhaps most infamous for the practice of dumping, or
disposing of surplus food commodities in vulnerable national markets. In this
case, food aid functions as just another US agricultural subsidy. In 2007,
despite growing hunger, food aid fell globally by 15%, the lowest level since
1961. This reflects the tendency of food aid to respond to international grain
prices and not to the food needs of the poor. When the price of cereals is low,
Northern countries and transnational grain companies sell their commodities
through food aid programs. When prices are high, they sell their grains on the
global market. So, when people are less able to buy food, less food aid
arrives.” (Hicks, B., The US Food Aid Industry : Food for Peace or Food for Profit?, Food First/Institute for Food and Development
Policy,
“The monetization process [ practised by USAID and
USDA] results in the expenditure of a significant amount of appropriated funds
in unrelated areas such as transportation and logistics, rather than
development projects. Moreover, the potential for adverse market impacts, such
as artificially suppressing the price of a commodity due to excessive
monetization, could work against the agricultural development goals for which
the funding was originally provided. The inefficiencies of monetization stem
directly from the multiple transactions required by the process and, except in
rare cases, prevent full cost recovery on monetization transactions. Therefore,
as a source of funding for development assistance, monetization cannot be as
efficient as a standard development
program which provides cash grants directly to implementing partners.” (
Another top example from Afghanistan is the October
2014 report of the (United States’) Special Inspector
General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR, ) Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan : After a Decade of Reconstruction and over
$7 billion in Counternarcotics Efforts, Poppy Cultivation Levels are at an
All-time High ( SIGAR Special report 15-10-SP, Arlington, 2014)
which describes the sharp increase in opium production in Afghanistan in 2012
and 2013 despite the US$ 7.6 billion “spent” there on its eradication.
“[USAID] spent $7.4 billion on food between 2003 and
2012 while shelling out $9 billion on transportation and logistics. Experts
said it was the most “inefficient humanitarian aid program in the world.” (K.
Caulderwood, USAID Wastes Billions Shipping
American Food Abroad : Report, International Business Times,
Section 05.43 recycling of urines and faeces of the
Model for integrated development projects, the file Agriculture and Food Security, the
block five file Section 4: Food crisis and the file 09. CDM funding indications
for the selected applications and methodologies all provide
information on how food security can be reached in project areas.
Read your notes from section 03. Debts and subsidies of this section, on subsidies paid to farmers in industrialised countries.
Read your notes from section 04. Financial leakage : food industries and water of this section, on food production.
About
11.000 years ago, nomadic groups of a few dozen hunter-gatherers (usually
defined as “extended families” or “clans”) began cultivating food and to form
village groups (Diamond J., Guns, germs,
and steel, Vintage, London, 1998, part 2 : The Rise and Spread of Food
Production). Refer to 01. First
level : hunter-gatherers of the
anthropological analysis in the third
block solutions to the problems of the course.
In the absence of natural disaster, many communities managed to survive at the same site for centuries.
13.
Research.
How have some developing countries put themselves into a situation where there is not enough food to feed and maintain their populations, while some industrialised countries have a food surplus?
14. Opinion.
Try to relate your conclusions to financial leakage caused by development aid.
Proceed with the drafting
of your Report on Section 1 of Block 1 Analysis of the causes of poverty.
First block : : Poverty and quality of life.
◄ Index : Diploma in Integrated Development
(Dip.Int.Dev)
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