£1 billion of UK aid to fight climate change in Africa

[ezzzekiel]

Of the billions poured into africa for as long as i can remember ( a good 30 odd years) what difference has it made.

This country is in a mess in every possible thing you can think of due to
Corrupt goverment and the do good brigade.

Im of the personal opinion now of stuff the lot and look after my own

 

[SolarCity]

Of the billions poured into africa for as long as i can remember ( a good 30 odd years) what difference has it made.

An absolutely colosal amount. It has saved millions and millions of lives and it HAS helped bring Africa on.

Obviously the place still has immense problems and a lot of the aid does get spent on temporary solutions but the aid that does get into the right hands does do an immense amount of good.

Im of the personal opinion now of stuff the lot and look after my own

And exactly who are your 'own'? Are African children not worth it?

Africa is one of the biggest problems that has ever faced mankind and the biggest tragedy in all this is that it really doesn't cost that much to feed, provide clean water and build infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa. It is about time that the rest of the world sorted out the corrupt governments and local officials.

 

[Solluva]

it seems that the government are more worried about other countries than our own.. our problems need sorting before anyone elses..

Do you rally think that all our problems will ever be sorted?
If we wait for that unlikely day do you think that the increasing poor, landless and hungry - partly because of climate change - will sit and wait?
They will be at our doors. Cynically foreign aid is partly an insurance against this.

 

[solarsavings]

naivety reigns

 

[ezzzekiel]

Un taking action against corrupt rulers would be good then were just left with the corrupt un.

People just dont get it mankind as an entity is a parasite that feeds on the misfortune of others always has and always will a eutopic society is a pure myth

 

[SolarCity]

Un taking action against corrupt rulers would be good then were just left with the corrupt un.

People just dont get it mankind as an entity is a parasite that feeds on the misfortune of others always has and always will a eutopic society is a pure myth

Thankfully, such a narcissistic outlook is not the norm in society although I am frequently surprised by it when it rears it's ugly head.

 

[telectrix]

just think how many euro bureaucrats could be assassinated with £1billion. i nominate phoney blair to be first.

 

[MorganPVI]

In most parts of the world having a tin roof on your shack makes you rich, from a local viewpoint.

The west spends 59billion on pet food every year, 32billion would provide clean drinking water for the whole of Africa.

 

[confounded]

In most parts of the world having a tin roof on your shack makes you rich, from a local viewpoint.

The west spends 59billion on pet food every year, 32billion would provide clean drinking water for the whole of Africa.

And that is the whole point of this thread, not so much about rights and wrong but more about putting things into context. Some people seem have very strong views on the subsidies renewable receive, putting these figure into context always helps.

 

[telectrix]

more likely provide tequila and mistresses for tin-pot dictators and their cronies.

 

[moggy1968]

How is it we push fair trade all the time yet expect out own farmers to sell meat and milk at a loss?

I have travelled extensively in west Africa and as above have seen those aid donations (clothing in this case) being sold on the markets and have taken school books and other stuff there myself.

I became totally disolussioned with it. The mentality was one of total dependance, a real 'cadeaux pour moi mentality' and now never give to African charities because very little of it ends up where it should be and none of it ever makes any long term difference. Until there is a sea change in attitude from the me first and our problems are everyones elses fault mentality and until they stop spending so much on fighting each other you might as well burn the money for all the good it will do.

Africa has some of the greatest natural resources and there is no reason why it should be so poor or corrupt. If you want an example look at Zimabwe/Rhodesia. It's may not be the fault of the people who are starving, but throwing money at the problem doesn't make it go away.

And don't rely on the UN for anything. They are a corrupt, useless impotent organisation with far too many memebers trying to protect their own vested interested. want an example, how about the Srebrenica massacre, 'you've all been very naughty and if you don't play nicely we'll pass another resolution!' 'ooh thats scary!'

 

[alarm man]

the uk cant afford to give 1 billion away on anything,the country is skint,if they have 1 billion lying around pump it back into the councils who are cutting services and jobs all over..

 

[SolarCity]

Frankly, I'd rather see the money spent on something of great importance in Africa than for paying bin men £50k a year to push wheelie bins around.

 

[alarm man]

Frankly, I'd rather see the money spent on something of great importance in Africa than for paying bin men £50k a year to push wheelie bins around.

our bin men push them to the back of a bin wagon and take all the rubbish away,id rather see a billion of our money spent on us,when the country is back up and running then we can afford to help other countries out ,you look after your own first

 

[Marvo]

I'm obviously biased, I'm not quite an African because I was born on Gibraltar but I did my military service in Africa, I worked for the UN for four years in five African countries and I've lived in Africa for 20 years.

There's a few things to bear in mind when it comes to Western donations to Africa.

With any donation it's usually engineered to provide employment or exports in the country of origin. It's very rarely a pure cash donation.

It's usually a back-scratching exercise, at the very least it's to stop an imminent event or disaster that might affect a particular African countries ability to service its debt. Often it's linked to trade agreements etc to allow preferential treatment of business interests for the Western country that like to hedge in an emerging market.

To this day Western countries have been practicing politics in and with the mineral rich countries of Africa. Charity is business and business is politics.

As they say in in Zaire; 'you don't get ought for nought'.