Objectives of Programme 4: Aid Effectiveness
Thursday May 15th, 2008
On this week's episode, former Minister Liz O'Donnell travels to New York to meet with some of the leaders in the area of development aid. Liz talks exclusively to Bono, economist Jeffrey Sachs, journalist Keith Richburg and author Robert Caldierisi about the role and impact of international aid.
Over the course of these interviews, Liz asks questions such as:
- Does foreign aid work?
- Is corruption a problem?
- Is government to government aid a good idea?
The controversial issue of government-to-government aid has often been divisive within the aid community. "It's a conundrum," agrees Bono. "Both government-to-government aid and NGOs are necessary. Without the support of governments and without making aid conditional we're not going to get anywhere. However there isn't always good governance in place so you have to improve the support through local NGOs or your own NGOs."
Back in Dublin, Liz asks the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern T.D. if Irish Aid is as accountable as it can be?
This episode sets out to demonstrate the complexity of overseas aid. Experts in both the developed and developing world have strong views about the future of Africa and the value of international aid. In this final episode of Far Away Up Close, Liz attempts to stimulate public debate about some of these complex issues.
Biographies of contributors:
Keith Richburg
Keith Richburg has been foreign correspondent for the Washington Post for the last eighteen years. From 1991 to 1994, Keith Richburg was based in Nairobi as the Africa bureau chief for the Washington Post. He travelled throughout Africa, from Rwanda to Zaire, witnessing and reporting on wars, famines, mass murders, and the complexity and corruption of African politics. For more information go to www.keithrichburg.com
Robert Caldierisi
After years of frustration at the stifling atmosphere of political correctness surrounding discussions of Africa, long time World Bank official Robert Calderisi wrote his book "The trouble with Africa - Why Foreign Aid is not working". He boldly reveals how most of Africa's misfortunes are self-imposed, and why the world must now deal differently with the continent.
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern
Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, T.D was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2004 - 2008. He oversaw the Irish Aid response to the 2004 Pacific Ocean Tsunami. He enabled Irish Aid spending to hit record levels of 0.54% of GDP. As Minister, he was responsible for the establishment of the Rapid Response Corps; a new initiative in foreign policy. Also the Minister travelled widely to witness the work of Irish Aid on the ground, visiting Darfur, Chad, Kenya and Timor - Leste.
Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs
Jeffrey D. Sachs is the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is also Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. From 2002 to 2006, he was Director of the UN Millennium Project and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals, the internationally agreed goals to reduce extreme poverty, disease, and hunger by the year 2015. Sachs is also President and Co-Founder of Millennium Promise Alliance, a nonprofit organization aimed at ending extreme global poverty.
Bono and DATA
In 2002, Bono, Bobby Shriver and activists from the Jubilee Drop the Debt campaign joined together to create a new advocacy organization called DATA (debt, AIDS, trade, Africa). DATA's mission is to address the issues that most adversely affect the African continent. In 2002 and 2003, DATA worked with the US White House and Congress to secure a pledge of $10 billion over three years for poor countries fighting corruption and poverty, to be delivered through a new mechanism called the Millennium Challenge Account, and an additional $15 billion over five years to fight AIDS in Africa through treatment and prevention programmes. Most recently, in 2007, DATA set up an office in Berlin to lead its work in Germany during the G8 year and beyond. For more information on this organisation go to www.data.org
