Bush, Before G-8, Pledges to Double U.S. Africa Aid

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angelordevil

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Just got this online....Is this what Bono's looking for? I find it all utterly confusing and important at the same time. I hope this is good news...

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Bush, Before G-8, Pledges to Double U.S. Africa Aid (Update3)

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush pledged to double U.S. aid to Africa over the next five years, saying America's interests are ``directly at stake'' in ending poverty so terrorism won't take root on the continent.

``Africa is on the threshold of great advances,'' Bush said in a speech in Washington today, a week before he meets with other leaders of the Group of Eight industrial countries in Gleneagles, Scotland. ``As you seize this moment of opportunity, America will be your partner and your friend.''

Bush said he will ask Congress for $400 million during the next four years to train 500,000 teachers and provide scholarships to 300,000 young people, mostly girls; $55 million during the next three years to promote justice for women; and $1.2 billion on a five-year campaign to fight malaria.

U.S. development aid to sub-Saharan Africa reached $3.2 billion in 2004, which the administration says is triple the amount the U.S. spent in 2000.

``We're making a strong commitment for the future,'' Bush said. ``Between 2004 and 2010, I propose to double aid to Africa once again, with a primary focus on helping reforming countries.''

As he did in a speech Tuesday explaining the U.S. military's presence in Iraq, Bush said his campaign to boost aid for Africa's developing economies will combat terrorist threats against the U.S.

Roots of Terrorism

``Sept. 11, 2001, Americans found that instability and lawlessness in a distant country can bring danger to our own,'' Bush said. ``In this new century, we are less threatened by fleets and armies than by small cells of men who operate in the shadows and exploit weakness and despair.''

U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair has made African poverty and global warming the focus of the G-8 agenda.

Blair has called on the world's richest countries to double aid collectively to $50 billion by 2015 to help end decades of disease and starvation in sub-Saharan Africa, where about two- thirds of the people live on less than $2 a day and 3 million people die each year from AIDS and malaria.

Bush's aid plan ``is an important and welcome step and creates real momentum for a successful outcome at Gleneagles,'' Tom Kelly, Blair's spokesman, said in London. ``We welcome the president's focus both on governance and democracy.''

`Welcome First Step'

Bush's pledge means ``an extra $900 million each year for Africa and this is a welcome first step,'' said Chad Dobson, policy director for the aid group Oxfam America. ``We hope the announcement today is just the beginning of a much bigger U.S. commitment to fighting poverty.''

Earlier this month, after talks in Washington with Blair, Bush said the U.S. would provide $674 million in additional humanitarian aid to alleviate famine in the Ethiopia and Eritrea from aid funds already appropriated by Congress.

Bush's statements about the increase in U.S. aid is subject to debate. Susan Rice, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said in a study released earlier this week that the inflation-adjusted amount Congress has appropriated to the region for development assistance increased 33 percent in 2004 compared with 2000.

In Monterrey, Mexico, in March 2002, Bush pledged U.S. development aid spending in poor countries would rise to $5 billion by 2006, a commitment that hasn't been fulfilled.

Grants

The U.S. Congress dealt Bush's aid plans for Africa a blow this week in approving $1.75 billion for the Millennium Challenge Corp., compared with the $3 billion that the administration wanted. MCC is a newly formed government corporation designed to dole out development grants to poor countries that root out government corruption and remove barriers to economic growth.

``I expect the MCC to move quickly in the future'' to distribute aid, Bush said today, before urging Congress to ``fully support this initiative.''

On global warming, the other main topic on Blair's G-8 agenda, Bush said the solution shouldn't come at the expense of economic growth.

`Some have suggested the best solution to environmental challenges and climate change is to oppose development and put the world on an energy diet,'' Bush said. That would hurt poor countries, because ``blocking that access would condemn them to permanent poverty, disease, high infant mortality, polluted water and polluted air.''

Bush said good governance, energy development, debt relief and expanded trade ``will help African peoples live better lives and eventually overcome the need for aid.'' Africa can become ``a model of reform'' and ``a home to prosperous democracies,'' he said.
 
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aislinn said:
I can't believe I actually agree with what President Bush said...

There's a first time for everything! :wink:

I'm wondering how much impact Bono has had on Bush...being the big ass fan that I am, I'm guessing a great deal. Bono is, afterall, a man who made conservative Jesse Helms cry when he related the plight of Africa to the teachings of Jesus.


:bono: = :heart:
 
Bono was talking about eliminating poverty as the best way to eliminate terrorism during the 3rd leg of the Elevation tour in 2001. This isn't a new idea and it's not Bush's idea so he better not try to take credit for it. It ain't Bono's either but anyway it is a small step in the right direction. 1.5 billion over 5 years is a teensy amount for the size of the malaria problem. 500,000 future teachers will die of AIDS, malaria, water borne illnesses, and famine during this time period. I applaud the effort but like Bono said on Meet the Press , doubling the money sounds nice but it isn't much when you are starting off so low. The number of people dying needlessly is astronomical and his is why the campaign to eliminate poverty is trying to get serious committments from the G8, not band aid solutions. But hopefully it will benefit some people who can contribute to the growth of their communities in the parts of Africa which are in dire need.

I am not happy with Canada's position on this issue either. Our PM is a wuss for failing to take a stand. It seems that no one wants to LEAD their countries to do the right thing.
 
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financeguy said:
When he's not talking about war he's sounds quite reasonable.

you obviously havent heard him talk about social security :eyebrow:

but about the article, that seems like great news. of course, it could always be more, but we have a defecit and this is definitely a step in the right direction. just from this short article, the money appears to be put towards the right things. education, particuarly education for women as well, is really important. :up:

not just using Bono soundbytes, but I've read a lot on this in the past few weeks that makes the optimist in me think this might really be a turning point for Africa.
 
VertigoGal said:




not just using Bono soundbytes, but I've read a lot on this in the past few weeks that makes the optimist in me think this might really be a turning point for Africa.

Me too. I've been doing as much reading as I can on the subject, and I'm much more optimistic than I was before on Africa.

We've had people in Canada champion this cause for a long time...great people such as Stephen Lewis and others whose just meld into dreary academia, as far as the public are concerned.

It's kind of sad, actually, that a rock star has to be the one to transcend the reality of this important issue. He does this, and yet still takes so much flack for it.
 
:) I've been waiting for Bush to influence the Make Poverty History campaign. :up:

I hope the funds are spent sooner than later to get things going in the right direction.
 
Bush is evil...

[Q]REACTION TO PRESIDENT BUSH'S PRE-G8 AFRICA SPEECH

DATA REACTOIN TO PRESIDENT BUSH'S PRE-G8 AFRICA SPEECH

Today, President Bush pledged to double American assistance to Africa over the next five years. The president will ask Congress for $1.2 billion on a five-year campaign to fight malaria, $400 million during the next four years to train 500,000 teachers and provide scholarships to 300,000 young people, mostly girls; and $55 million during the next three years to promote justice for women.

REACTION FROM BONO, U2 LEAD SINGER AND CO-FOUNDER OF DATA (debt AIDS trade Africa)

“The president of the United States committed to working with African leaders to help overcome extreme poverty. We'll fight about the numbers , because of the need for even more children in school, even more malaria protection, but there's no denying the commitment here. This was a great speech by a man who means to understand the challenges in Africa and America's opportunity to help solve them as partners.”

REACTION FROM JAMIE DRUMMOND, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF DATA (debt AIDS trade Africa)

"Today, President Bush outlined a bold vision for partnership with Africa that’s in keeping with America's values, Africa's goals and his own conscience - and we need to make sure that these great new promises are not at the expense of the great old promises. The debt-aid-trade package announced today is exactly the sort of model that can now be taken to scale at the G8 Summit for an historic breakthrough.”
[/Q]
 
Don't forget Bono is on Charlie Rose on PBS tonight. It should be an excellent interview. Charlie Rose is a serious journalist, not a hack so it should be informative.
 
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