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| Saturday, September 02, 2006 |
| EDI or WDAI anyone? |
Measurements of how miserable, poor, generous etc. nations are widely available although they are far from painting the true picture of whatever they are measuring. What is missing from such indexes is the other side of the story. I would say that it's about time somebody comes up with Effectiveness in Development Index (EDI) or Wasted Development Aid Index. That will be interesting.
What good is measuring what the rich is giving to the poor without measuring the effectiveness of aid? Take America's effort to combat HIV/AIDS in poor countries for instance. According to USAID, the US has spent almost $6 billion on AIDS programs in 100 countries. A recent renewed commitment entailed $15 billion approved under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to benefit 120 nations. The administration is not shy in telling us that...
The Emergency Plan is the largest commitment ever by any nation for an international health initiative dedicated to a single disease -- a five-year, $15 billion, multifaceted approach to combating the disease in more than 120 countries around the world.
Fine, but why aren't HIV/AIDS advocates jumping with joy about this initiative? Because the ideologically loaded ABC (Abstinence-Be faithful-use Condom) policy is seen as worsening the problem.
66% of resources dedicated to prevention of HIV from sexual transmission must be used for activities that promote abstinence before marriage and fidelity. Under the guidelines, at least half of total prevention funding must be spent on sexual transmission initiatives, with the remainder going toward programs that prevent HIV transmission from mother to child or through the blood supply. Many countries last year spent much more than half of their total prevention budgets on sexual transmission programs, meaning that the policy change will increase funding for abstinence programs while "implicitly set[ting] tighter limits on spending for condoms," according to the Sun. (Source: The Keiser Network
The Center for Global Development’s Commitment to Development Index ranked the US as the second most improved nation in terms of increased aid allocation. By itself, this piece of information is encouraging. However, put it in the context of incompetent policies that accompany aid, then it is a totally different story. |
posted by Fikirte @ 9:54 AM
 
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| The face of VAW |
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Kamilat - victim of acid burning
The face of VAW - violence against women. It should and can be stopped with enough commitment. Helping one woman at a time is a start.
Go to the blog VAW - Do something!
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