Madam, - It is hard to argue against motherhood, apple pie, world peace or an end to world poverty.
However, to move beyond slogans to effective action it is imperative to be clear about the underlying problems one is trying to address.
The problems of Africa will not be solved by debt relief or more aid on their own. What African countries need, like countries in any continent, is good honest governance and the rule of law. It is as simple as that. Without good governance, debt relief or more aid will have little lasting impact on poverty, whereas with good governance they will.
This is acknowledged by the UK's Africa Commission which states, "without progress in governance, all other reforms will have limited impact".
Africa has a wealth of natural resources and has received billions of euro in aid over the years. Yet African poverty levels are probably worse now than ever. Unfortunately, the people of many African countries, rather than being ruled by people of the calibre of Nelson Mandela, have mostly been misruled by deranged despots and/or pillaging kleptocrats. Sadly, such misrule is all it takes to turn any country from a "bread basket" into a "basket case".
We are all members of a common humanity and it is right that we should be concerned for each other's welfare. However, ill-conceived "solutions" can sometimes be worse than useless. A renaissance for Africa depends primarily on the ability of African leaders to deliver good governance to the peoples they have the privilege to serve. - Yours, etc,
Dr LF LACEY,
Skerries,
Co Dublin.
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Madam, - Those who are calling for Sir Bob Geldof's head after his call for masses of people to convene on Edinburgh to protest at the G8 summit need a perspective check. I agree it is absurd that two aging Irish rockers (Bob and Bono) have become important voices for global justice and equality. But it must be remembered that if the politicians whom we elect to represent us truly believed in the equality of an African life to that of a Canadian (or German, or British, etc) life, we would not have to hear these calls to arms.
Edinburgh will certainly need to provide considerable safety measures, yet the alternative to protest is the inaction and continuing indifference that puts many more human lives at risk and prolongs the suffering of an entire continent. How much longer are people going to sidestep the issue and criticise these Irishmen without hearing the larger message of the universal equality of mankind? - Yours, etc,
FINBAR HEFFERON,
Montreal,
Quebec,
Canada.
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Madam, - Barbara Garson (Opinion, June 2nd) is right to challenge the focus of the World Bank under its new neo-conservative boss Paul Wolfowitz, on "creating an atmosphere in which private investment. . .is encouraged" as the route to poverty reduction. She is right because encouraging private investment is necessary but not sufficient.
The real solution to world poverty is world democracy. History and the evidence is all around us that without democracy nothing else will work. The World Bank should therefore make every offer of assistance dependent on, and released in proportion to, democratisation. Otherwise the tyrants will just continue to steal the money and the poor will remain poor.
I would be surprised if Mr Wolfowitz fails to articulate this in due course. Perhaps Bob Geldof and "Live 8" will also. - Yours, etc,
TONY ALLWRIGHT,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.