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Tom Arnold was previously Assistant Secretary General with the Irish Department of Agriculture and Food and was Senior Economist with ACOT, the Farm Advisory Service.At an earlier stage of his[…]

The CEO says developed countries do have an obligation to less developed countries.

Question: Does the North have moral duty to improve living conditions in the South?

Arnold:    I do think there’s a deep moral responsibility that, you know, as the Good Book says, I am my brother’s keeper.  I think, to some extent, there is that.  Of course, the developed world can only do so much.  At the end of the day, developing countries have to take their own responsibility, their political leaders.  They have to be the ones that set the standards, that implement the policies, and I think what has happened over recent years, particularly since the Millennium Development Goals have been agreed, there’s been a greater sense of interdependence of responsibility.  The primary responsibility and the primary ownership for development has to rest with the countries themselves, with the politicians and the people of those countries.  But then, we do need to help those countries in structured and sustained way in order to, you know, in order to achieve development.

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