Thursday, January 17, 2008

Aid to Africa?

Stopping all aid to Africa certainly results in a worse situation for Africa then now; because people who try to survive in Africa seriously need those aids. According to statistics, more than half of Africa is now in need of food and almost 200 million people die of malnutrition. Level income differs between countries of Africa and north side of the continent is better than others. In Ethiopia, level in come per capita per year is not even 100$ in a year. It is only 90$ and people who live there are cureless. In this case, can stopping all aid help them? Absolutely not. If cause of poverty for Africa is considered, it is not hard to realize that people are innocent; problem is general government structure which needs radical solutions. People are not talented enough to cope with poverty and only hope for them is aid which comes from other governments. Solution of problem is depended on governmental reform and so it is not a solution to stop aid.
On the other hand, aid slightly decreases the number of people who die because of famine and some incurable diseases which are caused by HIV virus. According to statistics %30 of people suffer from HIV virus and this is a significant problem for citizens’ health condition. Aids to Africa contribute to this problem at least to some extent. Africa is in need of radical changes in government and economic policies; because it is known that Africa has valuable resources such as oil and diamond; but unfortunately it can not get benefit of those valuable resources because of bad policies.
Finally, I want to mention about general solutions instead of stopping aid. It is of course to give them opportunities to work and earn money to survive with the help of a well-structured government and giving them incentive to work and earn money. Additionally, it is a necessity to limit aid and supply basic needs not to make them lazy and addicted to aid. As a consequence, Africa has a chance to develop with the help of aids and life opportunities; so stopping aid brings them damage instead of help.