Can we really become the generation that makes poverty history?

national | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Thursday June 30, 2005 18:05 by Mary Carroll mary.e.carroll at gmail dot com 087 2904902

'It might work and that's the point" - Bono

The G8 summit & the issue of aid to Africa is explored in an interview with an Irish missionary working in Uganda

According to the organizers of Live 8 the world leaders at the G8 conference will be presented with a ‘workable plan to double aid, drop the debt and make the trade laws fair. If these 8 men agree, then we will become the generation that made poverty history.’ Already the G8 finance ministers’ have agreed to cancel the debt of the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. July may see the G8 leaders go even further and commit to doubling aid and removing trade barriers. But even if the leaders agree will we really become the generation that made poverty history? And what about Ireland’s role in ending the abject poverty of many Africans?


John O’Shea, the CEO of Goal are critical of the West (including Ireland) and its effort to curb poverty in Africa. ‘The problem today is the same as it has always been. Greed. Selfishness. Self-interest. Today’s world leaders are just the same as their predecessors. They have no real interest in alleviating the suffering of the poorest of the poor. They just have a desire to imply an interest. To play a political game and then sit on their hands.’ Last year the Irish government contributed 480 million ( 0.41% of GNP) in aid to the 3rd World making Ireland the 9th largest per capita contributor of any country. But the government has failed to live up to the target of donating 0.7% of GNP in aid by 2007. O’Shea is skeptical of Irish government policies believing that millions of euros end up in the coffers of corrupt governments rather than going to those most in need.


Sister Maureen Carroll is a member of the Franciscan Sisters for Africa and working in Uganda. Uganda has been in the midst of civil war for 18 years. The Lords Resistance Army, led by the elusive Joseph Kony seeks to dislodge the government of President Museveni and establish a state based on the biblical Ten Commandments. The LRA has inflicts brutal violence on the people of Northern Uganda, raping and murdering civilians and abducting thousands of children. Those kidnapped are trained as guerilla fighters and many girls become sex slaves to the rebel commanders.


More than 1.5 million people in Uganda’s Gulu and Kitgum regions have been displaced by the fighting between the army and the LRA. They live in temporary refugee camps protected by the army. In June 2004 Sister Maureen was one of 30 religious who visited the Internal Displaced Peoples camp in Gulu. She describes conditions in the camp as pathetic and heartbreaking. Sanitation is poor and the inhabitants are vulnerable to disease. Thousands live in the IDA camp and every evening hundreds more ‘night commuters’ pour into the camp in search of a relatively safe place to sleep. But the camp is not safe. ‘Residents do not feel secure, both the ordinary people in the camps and government soldiers are at risk. The soldiers that are there to protect the camp are underpaid and under equipped. They too are scared and vulnerable to attack by the LRA.’


Recently a village 15 minutes from the IDA camp was attacked by the LRA. Residents were tortured, their lips burnt off, many were murdered. The army came only when the rebels had gone. Sister Maureen believes there is a lack of will on President Museveni’s part to bring an end to the war because the government would then lose the aid they receive to protect the Ugandan people from the LRA (aid that doesn’t always reach those most in need). The Irish missionary is despondent about the chances for peace. ‘War is a big business in Uganda. Missionary and NGO workers are mind boggled and disheartened by the recent breakdown of efforts to come to a negotiated settlement.’ She agrees that if a peace initiative is to succeed it will require increased support from Europe and a more engaged US.


So what does Sister Maureen think of Irish government policy in Uganda and Geldof’s plan to make poverty history? She has nothing but praise for the Irish charge d’Affairs in Uganda Mairtin O Fainin, who she describes as ‘very active and very involved’. Sister Maureen believes that President Museveni has done much for his country but that he has been corrupted by power, that he is now a dictator comparable to Mugabe in Zimbabwe. She is saddened by the political void in Uganda that means if Museveni, were to go there is no-one of ‘sufficient calibre’ to put the country back on track. She is happy that Uganda’s debt to the IMF and the World Bank has been cancelled and unlike John O’Shea does not believe that the Irish government should end all bilateral aid to Uganda. She is however adamant that this should be linked with a concerted effort to bring about good governance and promote a true democracy in Uganda.


But isn’t everybody – nuns, rock stars and politicians alike - singing from the same hymn sheet / preaching the same sermon? The Commission for Africa report (launched by Tony Blair and the basis of Live 8’s campaign) realizes that ‘weakness in governance’ is the central cause of Africa’s problems and that ‘without progress in governance, all other reforms will have limited impact.’ Geldof and Bono have condensed the message in an effort to convey the urgency of the matter and inspire the MTV generation. The resulting sound byte may have over simplified the needs of sub-Saharan Africa but no one can deny that they have succeeded in publicizing the issue. The danger is that once the Live 8 gigs have been played many will believe the fight to be over. Bono and Geldof face the difficult task of ensuring that the plight of sub-Saharan Africa remains to the fore front of the media but as Bono said (in an interview with The Village last week) ‘It might work and that’s the point.’