Message-ID: <199807101220.NAA18786@linux.lisse.na> Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 13:20:39 +0100 From: Dr Eberhard W Lisse <mailto:el@LINUX.LISSE.NA> Subject: Re: Come on! (was Re: Bad experiences etc..) To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
In message <mailto:35A5E5DF.71EBDD42@mail.ptl.com.mt>, vdimitroff@MAIL.PTL.COM.MT writes:> Dr Eberhard W Lisse went to a cynical extreme in his message. He wrote:
Cynical, extreme? Hardly.
I *LIVE* in a developing country. I *SEE* it daily.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine, a large, fairly conservative German newspaper carried an article about the EU mission to Kosovo in one of the latest editions that has reached us yet, figuring it out too (after some years of trying).
And with regard to my pet topic, USAID, have a look at their mission statement on their home page...
> > They idea behind donor funding is not to pump money
> > into the developing country, it is to pump government
> > money into the donor country (spend it better). And
> > in the case of USAID it is to open markets for
> > US companies.
Ever heard of the term: "Buy British"?
I can give you example over example (personally observed) from several countries, in the fields of Health, Informatics, Fisheries Management...
> I wouldn't say this is all untrue. Just too general; I don't believe
> ALL agencies do this (to the same extent). Well, the world is not a
> monochrome / bipolar place, there are in-betweens and alternatives
> to the 'bad' and 'good' guys (I know the latter MUST exist
> somewhere, though I never met them) in international development
> aid.
The multilateral agencies work totally different (huge bureaucracies, or rather employment agencies on quotas and nepotism).
Unless they channel specific grants from donor countries (siphoning off 15% for "Administration"...) which then results in "Buy <insert the donor country here>".
The only agency that I have ever seen supporting local initiatives is UNICEF. And I am not really impressed with a lot of their work.
> Even with scarce evidence of the positive we keep searching for it
> or trying to achieve it. Come on, Eberhard, don't campaign against
> our attempt to be constructive in this debate.
I am highly constructive. I am telling you from the trenches that what Dr J and others are posting is pure gospel.
> After all, you seem to be a <positive> man yourself apart from your
> postings I found you're a Linux user ;-)
Well positive or not, I have been putting in 10 years, District Hospital in Africa, Internet in Namibia and all...
> What if we try the Linux approach to development aid? I know there
> are outfits there who are trying it hard, can we hear their voices?
That's beside the point. There are a few decent outfits such as RINAF, IDRC, and others. But so what? They are usually small (too small to do any serious damage :-)-O)
> P.S. Consult your lawyer 'cause the World bank may jump on you for
> libel ;-)
Libel means it's wrong, doesn't it? I can tell you one thing, I'd really love to have a day in open court...
>> In the case of corrupt world bank advisors they usually get
>> promoted...
I do not read this as all of them are corrupt, or even many, I read (and wrote) it as that corrupt advisors get promoted.
Makes one see Wolfensohn's pleadings against corrupt practices in a totally new light.
el
-- Dr. Eberhard W. Lisse\ / Swakopmund State Hospital mailto:<el@lisse.NA> * | Resident Medical Officer Private Bag 5004 \ / +264 81 1246733 (c) 64 461005(h) 461004(f) Swakopmund, Namibia ;____/ Domain Coordinator for NA-DOM (el108)