Topic: Mary Robinson on African Affairs
Mary Robinson: Working in Africa, I’m very conscious that there are 53 countries, and that they are moving at different speeds; and that you also have important Pan African and regional African institutions. There was a reform of the African union, and it has a commission like the Commission of the European Union. Half the numbers of that commission are women, so there’s a big commitment to gender in a lot of issues. In many of the countries now, there is a real sense that things are moving forward. There was a recent opinion or something taken, and most of the African countries sampled really felt there was a lot of room for improvement, but we’re on the right road – commitment to the millennium goals, better governance, tackling corruption. So I think there’s a tendency sometimes to sort of write off Africa in the sweep as being a basket case or something. Far from it. There are actually very interesting and very progressive things happening in many of the countries in Africa.
Recorded on: 7/25/07
Discuss
Bernard A. on January 13, 2008, 6:07 AM
Happening, yes, but by far not enough and not fast enough!
Bernard A. on January 13, 2008, 11:07 AM
Happening, yes, but by far not enough and not fast enough!
Bloodworth Badi on January 17, 2008, 4:09 AM
I don't understand how the video answers the question at all. It seems to imply that if there are positive steps being taken then we as western nations have no obligation to help out fellow human beings who are suffering
Bloodworth Badi on January 17, 2008, 9:09 AM
I don’t understand how the video answers the question at all. It seems to imply that if there are positive steps being taken then we as western nations have no obligation to help out fellow human beings who are suffering
Ossian Sweet on December 29, 2008, 1:13 PM
Ms. Robinson dodges the question…
To wit: Is aid from Western nations to Africa, and related philanthropic programs, actually counterproductive to the continent’s long-term well-being.
Evidence does exist that such aid fuels corruption and undermines private enterprise (the sine qua non for sustainable economic development).
“No one does so much harm as those who go about doing good.”
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