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Treasury secretary promises more U.S. aid to poor countries who meet goals
Mon Jul 1,12:43 PM ET
By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
Photo courtesy of AP
The United States will boost aid to poor countries - as long as those funds bring concrete results, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told a United Nations ( news - web sites) gathering Monday.
Instead of funding vague "sympathetic themes," the United States will demand measured improvements in specific areas, especially clean drinking water, primary education and AIDS ( news - web sites) prevention.
"In the past, too much aid has been scattered into the winds of lawlessness, corruption and unaccountability," O'Neill said at the opening of the U.N.'s Economic and Social Council's high-level meeting. "For 50 years we have accepted and expected too little from development aid."
In March, U.S. President George W. Bush ( news - web sites) announced the United States would increase assistance to developing countries by 50 percent over the next three years, resulting in a dlrs 5 billion increase by 2006.
O'Neill said the aid initiative, called the Millennium Change Account, will be given to "countries that govern justly, invest in people and encourage economic freedom."
The United States is developing benchmarks to measure progress in these areas, O'Neill said to reporters after his address.
"We want to measure the number of 10-year-olds that can read, write and compute." O'Neill said. "We think the way to accomplish that is by being much more specific than in the past."
He did not say whether countries whose results didn't meet U.S. goals would be cut off.
U.N. Secretary-general Kofi Annan ( news - web sites) said the worst effects of the current worldwide economic slump were found among poor countries' economies, and that primary education was key to resuscitating those economies.
"Countries committed to universal education have been far more successful in combating poverty," Annan said. Education raises productivity, reduces infant mortality, improves nutrition and health, helps prevent AIDS and has a "positive impact on good governance and on conflict prevention and peace-building," Annan said.
The United States, long criticized by other rich countries for providing the smallest per-capita share of its national wealth to the developing world, is in the process of increasing funding for HIV ( news - web sites) and AIDS prevention efforts.
Bush announced in March that the United States would pledge dlrs 500 million to U.N. AIDS efforts, and a further dlrs 600 million to other international AIDS-fighting initiatives.
The U.S. government also pledged to provide dlrs 200 million to train 420,000 teachers, provide 250,000 scholarships for girls and supply 4.5 million textbooks to African children, O'Neill said.
"The goal is not more teachers or more scholarships or more books," O'Neill said. "The goal is children with full functional ability to read, write and compute by age 10."
Referring often to his recent travels in Africa with singer and activist Bono, of the Irish group U2, O'Neill said he said new U.S. priorities were clean water, education and reducing the spread of AIDS in Africa.
With an estimated 300 million sub-Saharan Africans without clean drinking water, O'Neill called for development of low-cost wells for rural communities. He cited a project in West Africa that brings clean water and basic sanitation for dlrs 17 per person, per year.
The U.S government and international donors "all want to see faster progress and more real results," O'Neill said.
Ultimately, he said, "the purpose of aid is to speed the transition to economic independence."
Last Thursday, the Group of Eight countries endorsed a similar proposal, the New Partnership for Africa's Development, or NEPAD, as part of a plan that offers billions of dollars in new aid to nations that show improvement.
Treasury secretary promises more U.S. aid to poor countries who meet goals
Mon Jul 1,12:43 PM ET
By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
Photo courtesy of AP
The United States will boost aid to poor countries - as long as those funds bring concrete results, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told a United Nations ( news - web sites) gathering Monday.
Instead of funding vague "sympathetic themes," the United States will demand measured improvements in specific areas, especially clean drinking water, primary education and AIDS ( news - web sites) prevention.
"In the past, too much aid has been scattered into the winds of lawlessness, corruption and unaccountability," O'Neill said at the opening of the U.N.'s Economic and Social Council's high-level meeting. "For 50 years we have accepted and expected too little from development aid."
In March, U.S. President George W. Bush ( news - web sites) announced the United States would increase assistance to developing countries by 50 percent over the next three years, resulting in a dlrs 5 billion increase by 2006.
O'Neill said the aid initiative, called the Millennium Change Account, will be given to "countries that govern justly, invest in people and encourage economic freedom."
The United States is developing benchmarks to measure progress in these areas, O'Neill said to reporters after his address.
"We want to measure the number of 10-year-olds that can read, write and compute." O'Neill said. "We think the way to accomplish that is by being much more specific than in the past."
He did not say whether countries whose results didn't meet U.S. goals would be cut off.
U.N. Secretary-general Kofi Annan ( news - web sites) said the worst effects of the current worldwide economic slump were found among poor countries' economies, and that primary education was key to resuscitating those economies.
"Countries committed to universal education have been far more successful in combating poverty," Annan said. Education raises productivity, reduces infant mortality, improves nutrition and health, helps prevent AIDS and has a "positive impact on good governance and on conflict prevention and peace-building," Annan said.
The United States, long criticized by other rich countries for providing the smallest per-capita share of its national wealth to the developing world, is in the process of increasing funding for HIV ( news - web sites) and AIDS prevention efforts.
Bush announced in March that the United States would pledge dlrs 500 million to U.N. AIDS efforts, and a further dlrs 600 million to other international AIDS-fighting initiatives.
The U.S. government also pledged to provide dlrs 200 million to train 420,000 teachers, provide 250,000 scholarships for girls and supply 4.5 million textbooks to African children, O'Neill said.
"The goal is not more teachers or more scholarships or more books," O'Neill said. "The goal is children with full functional ability to read, write and compute by age 10."
Referring often to his recent travels in Africa with singer and activist Bono, of the Irish group U2, O'Neill said he said new U.S. priorities were clean water, education and reducing the spread of AIDS in Africa.
With an estimated 300 million sub-Saharan Africans without clean drinking water, O'Neill called for development of low-cost wells for rural communities. He cited a project in West Africa that brings clean water and basic sanitation for dlrs 17 per person, per year.
The U.S government and international donors "all want to see faster progress and more real results," O'Neill said.
Ultimately, he said, "the purpose of aid is to speed the transition to economic independence."
Last Thursday, the Group of Eight countries endorsed a similar proposal, the New Partnership for Africa's Development, or NEPAD, as part of a plan that offers billions of dollars in new aid to nations that show improvement.
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