Madam, - Bono is clearly a well meaning, sincere and charismatic person, whose humanitarian spirit is to be admired. I also believe that he is completely correct in demanding that urgent action be taken to "make poverty history". However, to move beyond slogans to effective action it is imperative to be clear about the underlying problems one is trying to address.
The UK's Africa Commission identified good honest governance as the key issue holding back development and the elimination of poverty. The report states: "The issue of good governance and capacity building is what we believe lies at the core of all Africa's problems. Until that is in place Africa will be doomed to continue its economic stagnation."
Aid and debt relief will not address the core challenges facing Africa. Both have a part to play. However, I believe it is plain daft to expect that if hundreds of billions of euro in aid did not work in the past, thousands of billions will work in the future. The priority objective should be assisting developing countries to establish good governance and the rule of law. Once a country is on the path to good governance, improvements in trade and the harnessing of local entrepreneurship will generate wealth and development, with aid and debt relief contributing at the margins.
The sad truth is that bad governance - maladministration, ineffective institutions, corruption, repression - has a near-infinite capacity to waste resources. Worse, it can all too easily divert scarce resources to the purchase of weapons. It would be the greatest of tragedies if aid and debt relief to bad governments were to result directly or indirectly in the purchase of weapons of war or of repression.
The fates of developing countries lie primarily in the hands of their leaders. Those which seek to improve governance (Nigeria, for example) should be helped, with the expectation that aid, trade, inward investment, and local entrepreneurship will alleviate poverty in these countries. In contrast, aid to bad governments (other than humanitarian aid channelled through NGOs) can have unintended and very nasty consequences for their unfortunate citizens and neighbouring countries.
Lastly, as Goal's John O'Shea has demanded in relation to Darfur, I believe that the United Nations needs to have a more proactive, interventionist appro- ach in addressing the issue of failing states.
Waiting until states have completely collapsed before intervening is not in the best interest of the many millions of people living precarious vulnerable lives under anarchic conditions as, for instance, in Somalia.
In short, it will not be possible to "make poverty history" until the misrule of despots and kleptocrats is made history.- Yours, etc,
Dr LF LACEY, Skerries, Co Dublin.