My two Euros worth
“Just 2 Euros a month…”
“Just 1 pound a week…”
“Give a little, it would help a lot”
Oh Christ. Oh Fuck no. I’m a holidaymaker, get me out of here.
It’s that time of year when I go back to Europe to catch up with friends, family and material goods. Only due to various factors it’s been almost a year and half. Things get stranger every time I go back but I didn’t count on coming face to face with Poverty Porn splattered like so many tabloid headlines all over the TV.
Pathetic little kids with flies in their eyes, images of the dirt poor used to manipulate you into thinking that making a ludicrously small (by your standards) contribution will save the world. Africa is poor, poor people need money => Throw money at the problem, that’s all it needs. Right?
Except that, for a start, the organisations which are soliciting your donations are ones I know to be primarily involved in development aid and the pictures they are showing look like they are from refugee camps, which is emergency/humanitarian aid: two very different beasts, each with their own set of problems.
Humanitarian aid provides food, shelter and basic services to a population at risk and is intended to be relatively short term in nature. Development aid for most International Non-Government Organisations (INGOs), is the long slow process helping people to help themselves. Within the confines of organisation wide policy and programs, agendas set in western capitals with no small influence of the INGOs largest contributors (usually Western governments). It will involve protracted negotiations with local NGOs on priorities – endless meetings, costing countless millions, with organisations who, for the most part, exist for the purpose of absorbing funds from INGOs. Then protracted efforts at capacity building in local organisation, and cajoling them into sensible planning and financial reporting. Finally, when the channels are set up, some money can be given to the projects, activities done by the poor for themselves. Then perhaps the INGO priorities are changed…no, sorry realigned…or their country rep moves on, or the staff at the local NGO move, in that endless circulation of local NGO staff looking to move up the ladder and maybe finally get the glittering prize of a job in somewhere like the UN…and the whole process starts again. Year after year after year.
This is the development industry, a sprawling parasitic monster that feeds on its own need for itself. Christ, in the West we now have full degrees in development studies ,what kind of madness is this? Western people qualifying solely to work in an industry which depends on others perpetual poverty. When our jobs start to depend on their misery, you can guess who’s going to win out.
That’s not to say that all of this merry-go-round achieves nothing. Over decades, the little victories are there and NGOs have helped millions of people to survive war and helped the poor to become just a little less poor. They also provide jobs for educated Africans in Africa, which also has benefits for the economies of richer nations. Still though, it smacks of false advertising to be using refugee camp images to collect funds for development. Why not try to educate the general public instead of hoodwinking them?
At home, when I railed against the adverts and the NGOs using them, pointing out that much of the operating funds are eaten up before they get to the poor, people often asked me where they should donate. Many showed me leaflets where X or Y NGO stated they had only 5% of administration costs. I countered that it depends on how you count admin costs, usually those figures relate to the costs associated with the NGOs operations in their “home country”(eg Ireland), which allows them to rate any costs related to a country office (eg Rwanda) as spending on development. However, whats not clear is how much of the operating fund for a country office is spent on salaries, meetings, logistics vs how much is donated directly to local NGOs. And then of course, you have another layer to the onion in considering how much of that donation is spent by the local NGO on their salaries, meetings, logistics as opposed to the amount going directly to their beneficiaries (ie the unfortunate fly-ridden, muck-rakers that you see on TV).
Some in the industry might worry that the complexity of the issues will not be understood by the public and that the net effect might just be to discourage them of donating. The public may not realise that as wasteful as the development system, it consists for the main part of people and organisations trying to their best to alleviate suffering within the present confines of that system. I say, it is upon those of us who do know to demystify aid and get the public, get the electorates involved. Let them know there are no quick fixes, let them know there is a lot of overhead, show them the mechanics of aid and let them decide based on full awareness, not cheap Poverty Porn. Hopefully it might get them off their arses to campaign for a better system.
To those who asked me about where they should put their 2 Euro, I asked them if they really cared about the kid on the advert. Like, really, really. Then they should find out about the trade tarrif structures made to protect our fat farmers at the expense of African producers and exporters. Examine EU over fishing off the coast of West Africa, literally taking food out of the mouths of the starving Africans, as seen on TV. Lobby the government and the EU and the US for change, put this shit on election agendas.
They should ask themselves why the conditions on the big bucks from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and other such institutions are tied to opening up developing economies totally, while our markets are closed to them?
While you’re at it, ask why the development agenda has been completely hijacked by the concept of economic development (ie higher GDP) over the need for growth and developing social systems at the same time. Ask why, most of the time the people who care least about the African poor, are the African rich? Ask if its any accident, that South Africa and Kenya are the economic powerhouses and cities like Nairobi and Jo’burg are essentially warzones?
They should look at big business practises in Africa (eg Shell in Nigeria) and put pressure on their important customers in the West to get them to force big business into more ethical partnerships with African nations. Failing that, lobby for supporting African nations (or regions) to organise themselves and stand up to big business…I’d love to see an OPEC for diamonds, gold, coltan, copper and any or all of the precious natural resources here.
They should find out how their government is spending their personal invisible contributions to international development, via their taxes. If a government screws up with an unwise or unpopular education policy or program, they will pay for it at polls and in the headlines – what happens if a Government fucks up on foreign aid? Does any western electorate know what a foreign aid fuck-up looks like? Who is holding your government to account for the billions of tax money they spend on your behalf in developing countries?
Find out if your government’s aid policies are empowering local governments to set their own policies and manage their own funds, rather then imposing our ideas, filling the civil service with our advisors and generally helping by domineering. Find out if local governments can compete with the army of high wage International organisations for bright locals to move developing countries forward. Find out if your government is supporting corrupt and/or repressive regimes, why they are supporting such regimes and what steps they are taking to try and mitigate this.
Oh? What? Did this all seem like a little too much effort?
Then the best thing you can do with your 2 Euro is frame it, put it beside the telly so that when the wide-eyed kid in the shit pit comes on, you can remind yourself that you don’t care about him. Not really, really.
“Just 1 pound a week…”
“Give a little, it would help a lot”
Oh Christ. Oh Fuck no. I’m a holidaymaker, get me out of here.
It’s that time of year when I go back to Europe to catch up with friends, family and material goods. Only due to various factors it’s been almost a year and half. Things get stranger every time I go back but I didn’t count on coming face to face with Poverty Porn splattered like so many tabloid headlines all over the TV.
Pathetic little kids with flies in their eyes, images of the dirt poor used to manipulate you into thinking that making a ludicrously small (by your standards) contribution will save the world. Africa is poor, poor people need money => Throw money at the problem, that’s all it needs. Right?
Except that, for a start, the organisations which are soliciting your donations are ones I know to be primarily involved in development aid and the pictures they are showing look like they are from refugee camps, which is emergency/humanitarian aid: two very different beasts, each with their own set of problems.
Humanitarian aid provides food, shelter and basic services to a population at risk and is intended to be relatively short term in nature. Development aid for most International Non-Government Organisations (INGOs), is the long slow process helping people to help themselves. Within the confines of organisation wide policy and programs, agendas set in western capitals with no small influence of the INGOs largest contributors (usually Western governments). It will involve protracted negotiations with local NGOs on priorities – endless meetings, costing countless millions, with organisations who, for the most part, exist for the purpose of absorbing funds from INGOs. Then protracted efforts at capacity building in local organisation, and cajoling them into sensible planning and financial reporting. Finally, when the channels are set up, some money can be given to the projects, activities done by the poor for themselves. Then perhaps the INGO priorities are changed…no, sorry realigned…or their country rep moves on, or the staff at the local NGO move, in that endless circulation of local NGO staff looking to move up the ladder and maybe finally get the glittering prize of a job in somewhere like the UN…and the whole process starts again. Year after year after year.
This is the development industry, a sprawling parasitic monster that feeds on its own need for itself. Christ, in the West we now have full degrees in development studies ,what kind of madness is this? Western people qualifying solely to work in an industry which depends on others perpetual poverty. When our jobs start to depend on their misery, you can guess who’s going to win out.
That’s not to say that all of this merry-go-round achieves nothing. Over decades, the little victories are there and NGOs have helped millions of people to survive war and helped the poor to become just a little less poor. They also provide jobs for educated Africans in Africa, which also has benefits for the economies of richer nations. Still though, it smacks of false advertising to be using refugee camp images to collect funds for development. Why not try to educate the general public instead of hoodwinking them?
At home, when I railed against the adverts and the NGOs using them, pointing out that much of the operating funds are eaten up before they get to the poor, people often asked me where they should donate. Many showed me leaflets where X or Y NGO stated they had only 5% of administration costs. I countered that it depends on how you count admin costs, usually those figures relate to the costs associated with the NGOs operations in their “home country”(eg Ireland), which allows them to rate any costs related to a country office (eg Rwanda) as spending on development. However, whats not clear is how much of the operating fund for a country office is spent on salaries, meetings, logistics vs how much is donated directly to local NGOs. And then of course, you have another layer to the onion in considering how much of that donation is spent by the local NGO on their salaries, meetings, logistics as opposed to the amount going directly to their beneficiaries (ie the unfortunate fly-ridden, muck-rakers that you see on TV).
Some in the industry might worry that the complexity of the issues will not be understood by the public and that the net effect might just be to discourage them of donating. The public may not realise that as wasteful as the development system, it consists for the main part of people and organisations trying to their best to alleviate suffering within the present confines of that system. I say, it is upon those of us who do know to demystify aid and get the public, get the electorates involved. Let them know there are no quick fixes, let them know there is a lot of overhead, show them the mechanics of aid and let them decide based on full awareness, not cheap Poverty Porn. Hopefully it might get them off their arses to campaign for a better system.
To those who asked me about where they should put their 2 Euro, I asked them if they really cared about the kid on the advert. Like, really, really. Then they should find out about the trade tarrif structures made to protect our fat farmers at the expense of African producers and exporters. Examine EU over fishing off the coast of West Africa, literally taking food out of the mouths of the starving Africans, as seen on TV. Lobby the government and the EU and the US for change, put this shit on election agendas.
They should ask themselves why the conditions on the big bucks from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and other such institutions are tied to opening up developing economies totally, while our markets are closed to them?
While you’re at it, ask why the development agenda has been completely hijacked by the concept of economic development (ie higher GDP) over the need for growth and developing social systems at the same time. Ask why, most of the time the people who care least about the African poor, are the African rich? Ask if its any accident, that South Africa and Kenya are the economic powerhouses and cities like Nairobi and Jo’burg are essentially warzones?
They should look at big business practises in Africa (eg Shell in Nigeria) and put pressure on their important customers in the West to get them to force big business into more ethical partnerships with African nations. Failing that, lobby for supporting African nations (or regions) to organise themselves and stand up to big business…I’d love to see an OPEC for diamonds, gold, coltan, copper and any or all of the precious natural resources here.
They should find out how their government is spending their personal invisible contributions to international development, via their taxes. If a government screws up with an unwise or unpopular education policy or program, they will pay for it at polls and in the headlines – what happens if a Government fucks up on foreign aid? Does any western electorate know what a foreign aid fuck-up looks like? Who is holding your government to account for the billions of tax money they spend on your behalf in developing countries?
Find out if your government’s aid policies are empowering local governments to set their own policies and manage their own funds, rather then imposing our ideas, filling the civil service with our advisors and generally helping by domineering. Find out if local governments can compete with the army of high wage International organisations for bright locals to move developing countries forward. Find out if your government is supporting corrupt and/or repressive regimes, why they are supporting such regimes and what steps they are taking to try and mitigate this.
Oh? What? Did this all seem like a little too much effort?
Then the best thing you can do with your 2 Euro is frame it, put it beside the telly so that when the wide-eyed kid in the shit pit comes on, you can remind yourself that you don’t care about him. Not really, really.
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