When celebs listen to themselves rather than those they seek to help...

A great article from the WaPost that plays on an issue I've addressed previously regarding poverty relief in Africa. A lot of 'grass roots' Africans understand what the old paradigm of aid means: more rich autocrats and little progress for the average African. Check this out:

On the world's poorest continent, however, feelings about debt relief and aid money are far more nuanced than many Westerners may realize. Africans interviewed this week, from farmers to artists to health workers, say they are grateful for the outpouring of sentiment, and glad to hear that glamorous musicians and actors are championing their cause and that college students are wearing bracelets with the slogan, "Make Poverty History."

But they also said there was a dangerous disconnect between what the industrialized nations see as solutions and what Africans believe they need. Instead of debt relief and more aid, many Africans said they wanted the G-8 to focus on ending corruption and on improving roads, courts, banking and secondary education.

Or how about this one?

"Anyone who has spent any real amount of time in Africa knows that corruption is the reality. It's a disservice to ordinary Africans to not be honest about that," said Rose Mucheke, 35, a Kenyan health care worker in Nairobi. While her salary is barely enough to meet her monthly bills, she said bitterly, "the aid money will go into the pockets of corrupt officials to buy their fully loaded Mercedes-Benzes."

I'll say it again. The old paradigm of aid doesn't work. More of the same will not work. Lowering trade barriers, fostering foreign direct investment, and demanding governmental transparency are the true ways forward in the fight against African poverty:

While international pop stars sing to promote relief of poverty and debt, African intellectuals and civil society leaders said they were lobbying hard to shift world attention to other issues, such as the need to link aid to a reduction in corruption and to decrease Western subsidies on agriculture.

Tags:

G8
Live-8
African poverty