So...today I'm writing about the needed changes in our foreign aid program. yes I know the candidates have their own advisers but I want to offer the advisers some advice. Stop. Stop offering advice based on rapid trips to far off countries. Stop tinkering with poor people's lives based on the pleas from wealthy rock stars with limited concepts of what make a system run.
AIDS--20 years ago, WHO categorized AIDS as a disease of choice--along with some cancers and diabetes. Why? Becasue in the West and indeed in many parts of developing countries it's a disease related to people's personal behaviors-that these are rooted in culture makes no difference it's still their behavior that's the culprit. WHOs identification however was quickly slapped down by the West. Today we are spending million in AIDS treatment programs, but one research study suggests that if we can get girls into secondary school, they remain AIDS free for the most part. In Uganda and Malawi two thirds of girls in secondary school are AIDS free while two thirds of girls not in school have AIDS or HIV. So why aren't we putting money into girl's education, giving them the self esteem to say no to men, delaying marriage until they can get better choices? Because our pharmaceutical industry doesn't want to change the focus from treatment. The entire AIDS program is a boondoggle for the US pharamaceutical industry.
WATER and ELECTRICITY are the engines of development. Without water no health, without water no agriculture. Without energy no environment (wood becomes the fuel of choice), yet there's virtually no money going into rural electrification programs and very minimal amounts into water. MDGs are a joke today--Most African countries are not going to make the majority of their development goals.
If the next iteration of USAID is going to make a dent in development here's what they should do. Focus on just three things. Water, energy and education (especially for girls but for both boys and girls where possible).
AIDS--20 years ago, WHO categorized AIDS as a disease of choice--along with some cancers and diabetes. Why? Becasue in the West and indeed in many parts of developing countries it's a disease related to people's personal behaviors-that these are rooted in culture makes no difference it's still their behavior that's the culprit. WHOs identification however was quickly slapped down by the West. Today we are spending million in AIDS treatment programs, but one research study suggests that if we can get girls into secondary school, they remain AIDS free for the most part. In Uganda and Malawi two thirds of girls in secondary school are AIDS free while two thirds of girls not in school have AIDS or HIV. So why aren't we putting money into girl's education, giving them the self esteem to say no to men, delaying marriage until they can get better choices? Because our pharmaceutical industry doesn't want to change the focus from treatment. The entire AIDS program is a boondoggle for the US pharamaceutical industry.
WATER and ELECTRICITY are the engines of development. Without water no health, without water no agriculture. Without energy no environment (wood becomes the fuel of choice), yet there's virtually no money going into rural electrification programs and very minimal amounts into water. MDGs are a joke today--Most African countries are not going to make the majority of their development goals.
If the next iteration of USAID is going to make a dent in development here's what they should do. Focus on just three things. Water, energy and education (especially for girls but for both boys and girls where possible).
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