On June 30, the House International Relations Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations heard testimony on foreign aid to Africa, a topic scheduled for discussion at the G8 summit next week in Scotland.
Commenting that “the G8 nations have discussed these issues for decades,” Chair Chris Smith (R-NJ) stated, “It is now time for the discussions to produce concrete results.” Rep. Smith pointed out that “the United States provided $3.2 billion in official development assistance just to Africa last year” and that the president has “pledged to increase the funding of malaria prevention and treatment programs in sub-Saharan Africa by more than $1 billion over five years.” Acknowledging the need to do more, Rep. Smith said, “I have proposed an increase in spending of $5 million a year for the next two years to treat women suffering obstetric fistula, and I am about to introduce legislation calling for increased spending from the Global Fund on malaria and tuberculosis.”
Senior Advisor to the Office of Under Secretary of State Paul Reid described Africa’s crisis: “It remains the world’s poorest region; half of its 700 million people live on less than $1 per day; 4 million children under five years of age die each year of preventable causes; and 40 million children do not attend school.” Mr. Reid voiced his support for the Commission of Africa’s recommendation that more money be spent to fight HIV/AIDS and malaria, and reviewed U.S. health initiatives for Africa: “In 2004, African countries received nearly $800 million for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment from the United States; this figure will rise to $1.1 billion in 2005…The United States provided about $1.1 billion, 29.5 percent of total contributions, to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis. About 61 percent of the $43.3 billion in Global Fund grant funding goes to Africa.” Concerning humanitarian efforts, he stated, “PEPFAR [President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief] set a goal to support care for over 1.1 million HIV positive persons, AIDS orphans, and vulnerable children by June 2005, a goal we exceeded by September 2004…We also have programs in place to increase girls’ school attendance. Moreover, the United States funds a variety of programs to assist victims of conflict, violence and trafficking in persons. And our democracy and government programs assist women and other potentially disadvantaged groups [to] gain a greater voice in government and civil society.”
Stressing that “economic growth depends strongly on the domestic stewardship of good policies and institutions in developing countries,” American Enterprise Institute Resident Fellow Roger Bate applauded the success of “tailored aid to specific projects,” such as the Millennium Challenge Account. Describing PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis as “important and worthy projects that will save lives and should be carried out with the greatest possible care and efficiency,” he cautioned that they “cannot, on their own, lead to economic growth.” The role of humanitarian relief, he said, is “a minor one,” which “can be counter productive if not done carefully.”
American Friends Service Committee Africa Program Coordinator Imani Countess described the recent debt cancellation for fourteen nations in Africa, announced by the G8 nations on June 11, 2005, as “an important first step,” but argued that there are “34 countries on the Continent that deserve and need cancellation of their odious or illegitimate debt to meet the Millennium Development Goals adopted unanimously by the Millennium Summit of the UN General Assembly in 2000.” Ms. Countess asserted, “The fight to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic will continue to be undermined by the demands of debt repayment. By and large, the majority of Africans did not benefit from debt monies. Much of the debt was created by dictators or ill-advised and imposed economic adjustment plans. These same people will continue to be denied access to vital health, education, and other public services because their governments are using scarce resources to repay loans. Until the chains of debt are broken, African nations will be unable to mount any kind of response to the growing AIDS crisis.”
