Global+Collaborations+to+Alleviate+Poverty



From Concord, a European NGO ; Unicef, an NGO of the UN  Introduction: As the globalization becomes more prevalent and the world seeks transnational alliances many questions have risen pertaining to responsibility. The U.N. was created in 1945, after the failure of the League of Nations, with the intention of creating a united world working towards the good of mankind. Today the U.N. stands as the pinnacle of international cooperation, but critics are skeptical of an organization's ability to conquer global problems. The question still remains what does each nation owe to another? When does humanity put aside its differences to achieve the common good? The U.N. and NGOs alike have made great strides in the fight against poverty but is each nation doing enough and are our organizations fighting poverty efficiently? Problem: Nations have been cooperating under the UN and have been giving money to NGOs like Unicef for years, but the criticism of the nations' struggle to end world poverty is doubt in the efficiency of the spending of government donations and the lack of willingness from nations to donate to NGOs. At the conclusion of the earth summit in 1992, each nation present had promised to donate a certain amount of its GDP to the UN, but many including the U.S. have failed to meet those goals over the years. One cause of the shorted donations could be the criticism that the NGOs give their money to wasteful projects. Money given to nations with dictators has been shown to be significantly less productive than money going to democratic nations. With NGOs that have larger budgets than many governments in the world, it is no surprise that nations are afraid to funnel their money into a large bureaucracy. The problem is not necessarily lack of nation’s willingness to work together but lack of effort from each nation to do their part in ending poverty. Nations have for too long looked at poverty as an economic issue on a national level as opposed to a human rights issue on a global scale. Also we must look at the cooperation between the nations giving aid and the nations receiving aid. There is a large disconnect between the developed nations and the nations receiving the aid. Only when there is cooperation between developed and developing nations and commitment to ending poverty can there be true progress.

Solution: - Will and Commitment: There must be a will and commitment to donate to the UN and other aid organizations the amounts outlined by the various summits. Recession can be hard but funding for aid needs to still be a priority for the developed nations.

Net ODA in 2007 as percent of GNI||~ Country ||~ Aid amount by GNI ||
 * Source: [|OECD Development Statistics Online] last accessed Sunday, April 27, 2008
 * If you are viewing this table on another site, please see [] for further details.** ||
 * Norway || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-green.png width="317" height="16" caption="external image bar-green.png"]]0.95 ||
 * Sweden || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-green.png width="311" height="16" caption="external image bar-green.png"]]0.93 ||
 * Luxembourg || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-green.png width="301" height="16" caption="external image bar-green.png"]]0.9 ||
 * Denmark || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-green.png width="271" height="16" caption="external image bar-green.png"]]0.81 ||
 * Netherlands || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-green.png width="271" height="16" caption="external image bar-green.png"]]0.81 ||
 * Ireland || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="181" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.54 ||
 * Austria || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="164" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.49 ||
 * Belgium || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="144" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.43 ||
 * Spain || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="137" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.41 ||
 * Finland || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="134" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.4 ||
 * France || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="131" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.39 ||
 * Germany || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="124" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.37 ||
 * Switzerland || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="124" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.37 ||
 * UK || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="121" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.36 ||
 * Australia || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="101" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.3 ||
 * Canada || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="94" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.28 ||
 * New Zealand || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="91" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.27 ||
 * Italy || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="64" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.19 ||
 * Portugal || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="64" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.19 ||
 * Japan || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="57" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.17 ||
 * Greece || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="54" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.16 ||
 * USA || [[image:http://www.globalissues.org/i/bar-red.png width="54" height="16" caption="external image bar-red.png"]]0.16 ||

- Change in mindset: Poverty needs to be viewed as a humanitarian issue. As the world becomes interconnected and nations look beyond their borders, the view that each nation should do what it can for itself needs to be left behind in history. Nations must look beyond national gains and think in terms of global gains. Living comfortably and having basic needs met must be seen a human right. Competition has to be a thing of the past; there must be a shift in priorities to cooperation between nations. Each nation must take a humanitarian approach to foreign policy. It is a nation's duty to help everyone including citizens of other states. A change in thinking must be made about giving aid to a country. Each country must be viewed as an equal in the fight against poverty. All nations involved in the aid process must be heard in order to reduce the notion of one nation giving aid to another. If the nations view each other as those who give and those who receive there will be a large disconnect that will inhibit cooperation. Hierarchical institutions cannot address the growing economic disparities effectively. Instead, what is required is a global partnership and commitment to alleviate global poverty. Thus, it is imperative for the nation looking for help to communicate with the developed nation because two-way communication will create a more inclusive and equal environment. Also, there must be suggestions from the nation in need concerning how much aid should be given and where the aid should go. Only the nations themselves know what they need the most. In conclusion, when each nation thinks of another as equal and looks to help one another there will be the right atmosphere for looking beyond petty differences and see what is really important: human life. It would also behoove each nation to recognize stability throughout the world and investment in foreign nations will be beneficial. Helping those out of poverty is an economic investment that will provide a return through making the world more equitable.

- Regional cooperation: Nations of each region need to provide aid for surrounding nations if needed. One rich nation in a destitute region will struggle compared to a nation in a stable wealthy region. Helping neighboring countries will be beneficial for everyone involved. Southeast Asia has recently banded together to end poverty in the region and the nations have made great strides toward their goals. China has reduced its amount of people in extreme poverty by millions in the past couple of years with the help of surrounding nations. Another example of regional cooperation is the European Union. I think the EU has the capabilities to end poverty in Europe but the EU is too exclusive and has too many other goals on its agenda. An organization that connects nations with similar geography, climates, and cultures will be able to combat poverty on a local level much more effectively than a global organization. With smaller groups more specific problems can be identified and taken care of with less debate from nations on the other side of the world. The regional group would be able to keep tackling individual problems and keep the focus local.

-Oversight agencies for the NGOs: The UN has already created branches to oversee the work of the IMF and the World Bank so this is not as pertinent an issue, but nations still donate to other NGOs, the largest of which being World Vision. It would benefit the nations to have organizations to oversee the process and make sure donations are going where they will be most effective. As stated earlier money sent to dictatorial governments is considerably less effective than money given to democratic nations. Although trivial, the type of government matters when giving aid. There needs to be some way to make sure the money is spent in the most beneficial way by each nation.

"Oxfam and ActionAid, in a joint report say up to 40% of aid is "tied", forcing developing countries to buy overpriced goods from donor countries."

There needs to also be a connection between the NGOs and the nations who are receiving money. This connection should include NGOs, private investors: anyone who gives aid to developing nations. There must be input from the nations receiving the aid. J.F. Rischard, the World Bank Vice President, states nations need not have an aid donor and receiver mindset, but must view each nation as equals fighting for a common goal. When each nation views the other as an equal combating poverty, there will be more fluid and better cooperation. Also with input from the developing nations the money will be spent where it is needed most. The agency must also oversee how the government uses the aid, making sure the aid is going where it was originally deemed to be needed.

- Micro Credit: Micro credit should be the focus of aid from NGOs. Micro credit has been proven to elevate individuals out of poverty, and provide return for the investor. If we can raise each person singly out of poverty, why bother pumping money to governments who might not spend the money how it should be spent. Micro credit gets to the root of the problem as aid should. Money needs to be spent on infrastructure and health care yes, but helping individuals gain self sufficiency is what will really be the end of poverty.



UN Stand Up and Speak Out


 * Sources/Further Reading:**

( [|www.iprcc.org.cn/ppt/07/en/0709ouqp.ppt] China has made some of the largest strides. China has over 55% of the worlds people living off under a dollar a day  ([]) An article on southeast asia's success against poverty

([] a bbc article criticizing efficacy of international aid to poor nations

[] An Article outlining the success of The World Bank's Microcredit in Bangladesh

[] Unicef, a contingent of the UN proposes 4 steps to save 20,000 children's lives each day

[] Information about the earth summit, one of the largest collaborations between nations to end poverty and save the environment. Programs like the IMF, World Bank, and Unicef all were revamped as a result of the summit.

[] Information about the UN's goals for combating poverty [|**http://www.concordeurope.org/Files/media/Logos/GCAP_Logo_English.jpg**] [|**http://www.papermag.com/blogs/UNICEF.jpghttp://kenvironews.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/suso_logo_eng_mdg_red.jpg**]
 * Picture Citations:**

Links to other MDGs Eradicating Hunger Achieving Universal Education Empowering Women Poverty and Health Insuring Environmental Sustainability Developing a Global Partnership for Development Basic Costs Demographics