Why does poverty still exist when the money is spent to help people be self sufficient?

Question

Over the years millions have been spent and live aid highlights how much it has helped, but why has it not been enough? How come these countries are still laden with aids and HIV. Surely by now the simple fact of safe sex would have been taught and what the concequences would be to their future generations. I am a great believer in teaching people how to fish so they can provide for themselves, but why isn't it working?

Answer 1

it is because the inequality structural adjustment.. the current structure are made so the 'rich get richer, poor get poorer'..

it is rooted in greed and ignorance..

* Half the world — nearly three billion people — live on less than two dollars a day.
* The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world’s countries) is less than the wealth of the world’s three richest people combined.
* Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
* Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.
* 1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5.

Consider the global priorities in spending in 1998
*Global Priority$U.S. Billions*
Cosmetics in the United States8
Ice cream in Europe11
Perfumes in Europe and the United States12
Pet foods in Europe and the United States17
Business entertainment in Japan35
Cigarettes in Europe50
Alcoholic drinks in Europe105
Narcotics drugs in the world400
Military spending in the world780

And compare that to what was estimated as additional costs to achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing countries:
*Global Priority$U.S. Billions*
Basic education for all6
Water and sanitation for all9
Reproductive health for all women12
Basic health and nutrition13

Answer 2

Some of the reasons poverty still exist is because the aids money gets into the wrong hands. The official of the governments uses the money to buy themselves posh cars, have all sorts of allowance for the ministers and govt. officials. Send their children and families and friends to study abroad. In short a scanty part of the aide's money is used for the purpose. My suggestion is that those who donate these monies should go and administer it there where help is needed. Corruption and mismanagement is the biggest curse of these countries. And these are done in the name of the colonial masters. They blame everything on colonialism that took place some decades ago.

Answer 3

Damn good question. I assume youre referring to the continent of Africa. It is widely believed the HIV/AIDS originated in Africa when competing scientists were in a race to come up with a cure for Polio. Millions of people in the Congo region of the country were injected with test vaccines that were prepared with chimp organs that were infected with the primate version of HIV.

Not to babble too much, but this plays a big part in the overall issue. We must also speak to the political and cultural issues going on in Africa. Corrupt governments soak up most if not all of the humanitarian aid that flows into the country. In addition, there are practices that take place such as requiring a woman to be a virgin b4 marriage or even more specific, requiring her to be "dry" during intercourse with her husband which inevitably causes injury to the vaginal area. This makes the possibility of spreading the virus greater.

Ok, this is getting long...i'll put it this way. Individual citizens of America and the rest of the world donated close to 6 billion dollars to the victimes of Hurricane Katrina. The storm hit more than 10 months ago and the lower 9th ward looks like the storm hit last week. The big problem? The government. They don't know what to do. Either that, or they know exactly what they are doing and they are waiting the people out so that luxury properties can replace the low income areas.

*out of breath* To your point about safe sex, people in Africa are starving, they are at war, there is genocide, Muslims and Christians are killing each other, there are millions of evacuees, clean water is not abundantly available, genocide is taking place, their natural resources such as oil and diamonds are being stripped away by foreign corporations, children's hands and army are being chopped off by "blood diamond" rebels, women are being gang raped by local soldiers, etc...

All of that is going on and to top it off, people are dying everyday from AIDS.

You can teach people how to fish all day, but if im gonna get my hands chopped off everytime I go to the lake, you can keep your fishing rod, i'll stick with my rice and water.

Answer 4

AIDS is a racket, like prostitution and gambling. The fact is that most of the money sent to Africa to end the AIDS, is stolen by corrupt African leaders, not to mention the price of AIDS medicine sky rockets everytime they actually do make a large purchase, effecting everyone and the pockets of big pharmacutical companies (they love the AIDS racket). It's all a game. Think about the baby formula companies that give out free formula to feed the infants, knowing that it will make the mothers stop producing milk.

Answer 5

Studies show the more money we give, the more debt we forgive, and the more lenient we become, the worse things get in third world countries.

For one, we write them a check and don't hold them accountable for how the funds are spent. We allow dictatorships and other corrupt governing bodies to continue their policies.

My suggestion is this:
Cut foreign aid in half. Then take half of that and work on infrastructure projects in these countries, like for instance water wells, energy production, agriculture, sewer, education facilities, health facilities. Then pressure nations which accept help from us to implement land ownership rights within their country.

If we spend our money building facilities and pressuring government change, I believe we will get a better reaction.

Answer 6

What they need is Fair trading in the world market, where they can work and produce and sell in the world market at fair price.
No point in teaching them how to catch fish if they can't sell it, hitherto they are getting cheap western government subsidised fish and whole host of other products. Local fishermen have no incentive to catch fish because his fish are far too expensive. Locals only purchase if cheap and if they have money. What they need open free trading markets. Western world don't want liberalise world trading because likes of you will be out of work. We don't want that now do we?

Answer 7

A lot of people just want handouts without having to work for it. I know of a lot of people that depend on the government for support when they can easily qualify for a job. Also, most of the money collected by charities is rarely used on the people that need it. Most of it goes to administrative use and the like. Sad but true.

Answer 8

because the problem is to large the earth most povety stricken people have to plant their food isn't good enougt and they never get rain their crop fails most years and the famine continues, think of this one, we tell teenagers all the time in this country about safe sex even provide them with condoms explain to them that it's not right to bringing children into this world that are not wanted but still they do it all the time and they have all the informatin that they could possibly get,

Answer 9

the only way to eliminate poverty in north and the south in east and the west is to equip people with the tools to be productive. if we some how are of the view that poverty in Africa is endemic, we are mistaken. the problems created by immigrants, legal or illegal, organised crime, drugs, social disparity in the west can only be treated by helping the poor feed themselves and be productive, not by feeding them constantly as it will not improve the situation.

Answer 10

Greed