the ol' aid shuffle

Ten years ago we were made a promise by world leaders that in 2015, poverty and its fellow demons like infant mortality would be eradicated. With only five years left to the Millennium Development Goals and the recent end to the 2010 G8 summit, that promise is looking pretty bleak.

Oxfam International's Mark Fried has reported:

“This year the headline is maternal health, last year it was food. With overall aid frozen, the G8 are just shuffling the same money around to different pots,” said Fried. “The only promise that counts is the Gleneagles one to increase aid by $50 billion by 2010 and that is the one they have abandoned today.”

At the last G8 Summit, donors pledges $22 billion over three years to support agriculture in developing countries, but Oxfam calculates that at most $6 billion of this is new money and they are double counting it to pay for other initiatives, such as helping poor countries cope with climate change.

“There are a billion hungry people in the world but it seems the G8 are out to lunch. Instead of new money for old promises, we got old money, re-pledged, recycled and renamed.”

I find it extremely troubling how aid is shuffled from one project to another, depending on what the "hot" issue is this season. This year, it's maternal and child health. Ideally, initiatives for this cause would start right now, but if there's one thing that aid agencies never fail to produce, it's bureaucracy, which is let's be honest, necessary most of the time. But what happens when 2011 rolls around, and these projects for maternal and child health, which have probably just gotten off the ground, haven't yet "solved" the problem? The process starts all over again.

If none of these vague, overly-ambitious projects like "ending world hunger" is seen all the way through, no amount of billions of dollars will be enough.

And double counting aid? That's like writing bad checks to the world's poor.

With the financial downtown in Europe and the US and the Gulf Coast spill, can we expect our president and other leaders to fulfill their commitments?

[marketplace] fair trade Haitian mangoes

The last post got me thinking about mangoes from Haiti. As their main cash crop, with the most potential for market growth, mangoes present a way for farmers to rebuild their country's economy.

Most mango farmers in Haiti have a couple of trees, but as illustrated in the podcast from the previous post, there just isn't enough profit to help them expand their production. What they need is pretty simple like washing stations, irrigation, and plastic bins to keep the harvested mangoes from being bruised.

A huge fan of fair trade, I came across TransFair mangoes. TransFair USA has teamed up with Whole Foods to get those Haitian mangoes certified. By helping these farmers sell their goods "fair trade," those mangoes sell at a premium in exchange for organic, higher quality fruit (just like fair trade coffee), which helps to buffer the prices against volatile markets. Additionally, those farmers are able to organize themselves into democratic co-ops, essentially cutting out the middle-men. (No need to worry about those guys though, they usually get absorbed into the chain some other way, often even becoming farmers themselves).

In the end, the farmers benefit by having more funding to improve their business, the communities benefit through projects created from the premiums like new clinics or schools, and the consumers in the US benefit with higher quality goods and more importantly, knowing where our products come from.

Sometime in the near future, I'll definitely devote a whole post to what fair trade is (not free trade, that's something very different). In the meantime, a photo of just-harvested Haitian mangoes from TransFair USA:

what's going on with Haiti now?

A more serious post today.

I was revisiting an episode of This American Life that aired on May 21 called "Island Time," and it reminded me of a question that always seems to plague international aid. Simply: why isn't it working?

It seems that the more aid that is being pumped into so-called "developing" nations, the worse off they are.

Haiti has long been that sort of nation in the Western Hemisphere, becoming increasingly worse off within the past fifty years. Now, with the incredible influx of aid due to the earthquake, there is potential to do great good, but how? For example, one of several dilemmas: a lot of the aid money right now is going to food aid since many people are still stuck in displacement camps. But this means that it is no longer profitable for farmers to begin growing food since they will be competing with aid. Is it more acceptable to stop destabilizing an already poor country's economy, but at the same time stop providing food to people who desperately need it and make them buy it instead?

This podcast tells an amazing story of how these questions coupled with bureaucratic issues hinder the path between idea and implementation through a woman in the mango-growing town of Casale (shown below on google maps). All she needs is a small irrigation canal, but instead years go by, organizations (10,000 of them!) eat up money in negotiations, and nothing.

What spoke to me the most, having worked at USAID, is just how fickle aid agencies are. They want to see results quickly. They want success stories to put into newsletters and websites. But the fact is, real lasting success takes time. It takes building up community and allowing them to take ownership of their successes, but it's often just quicker to have foreigners in NGOs dream up projects in action memos but never have enough funding to see them through. I've seen USAID answer to the whims of Congress in ways that open and close projects, moving around funding from country to country, like a capricious child. No wonder aid doesn't work.

I hope that doesn't happen in Haiti. So many households in the US, even in this recession, gave money due to the recent tragedy. Let's not see that squandered. We might not see quick success stories, but we should let our congressman know it's the long term, community built success that counts.

a ghanaian soccer game

In honor of Ghana's win against US today, a favorite photo from when I visited Ghana's Ada Foah region. We had just arrived by boat to a secluded strip of land. To the left was the river and to the right, the ocean. We were treated to this pick up game and some fufu. 

By nightfall, we stayed in the huts, under a mosquito net, but I remember it was so hot inside that we finally fell asleep on the beach under the stars. 

[marketplace] tam tam and afropunk

This weekend. 2010 Afropunk Festival.
Commodore Barry Part, Fort Greene, Brooklyn.
There will be skateboarding, BMX, fashion and art booths, DJs, and live music.
get your tickets here.

I missed it last year, but hopefully I'll make it this time around. Sunday's music lineup includes Mos Def and K-OS!

This African wax print Tam Tam dress $315, from Boxing Kitten definitely gets me inspired for the festival.

Here's the beautiful Solange Knowles looking absolutely adorable in it.

And here's why I love Mos-Def, from GOOD Magazine: if Mos Def were president.
" If you have more, you should do more."

[marketplace] burmese refugee crafts

In celebration of yesterday's World Refugee Day, I'm taking a look at crafts and handiworks created by refugees, and I'd like to highlight the Kachin Women's Association Thailand, a women's refugee group at the Thailand-Burma border.

These pencil cases have a beautiful design, and I love the jewel tone colors. They are also fair trade and directly support anti-trafficking, which is such a huge issue in that region.

And to go along with your pencil case, these really sweet pencils exhibiting traditional Burmese dress.

I think these crafts remind us that even in the face of displacement, the lives of refugees go on. They find ways to make a living and try to improve their situation and that of their community.

You can find these products and learn more about these group of craftswomen at http://www.globalgoodspartners.org/cbo/KWAT/.

redlight

From the Redlight Children Campaign, an awesome organization focusing on human trafficking:

World Premiere Red Carpet Screening of REDLIGHT

Monday, June 21, 2010 at 6:00 PM (ET)

New York, NY

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu produced and narrated REDLIGHT, an inspiring and powerful feature documentary about child sexploitation.  Filmed over a four year period, REDLIGHT focuses on the personal stories of the victims and two remarkable advocates for change: grass-roots activist Somaly Mam and politician Mu Sochua.  Both have since been nominated for the Noble Peace Prize and won other numerous human rights awards around the world.  For more information about the film, visit http://www.redlightthemovie.com

Get your tickets for this Monday at http://redlightthemovie.eventbrite.com/

You can also read an interview I conducted with the founder of Redlight Children, Guy Jacobson at  http://dowser.org/dowser-interview-guy-jacobson-of-redlight-children-campaign/

contemplating mo gan shan road

My birthplace, Shanghai is currently all abuzz over the World Expo. Although I commend it for bringing together this sense of international friendship while highlighting this amazing city, it's a bit of a tourist trap. Unbearably long lines. Noisy people on their cell phones. A bit underwhelming, and sadly, because of the expo much of the city's old world flavor has now been lost to Western commercialization--such as the charming bargaining and bustle at Chen Huang Temple now replaced with... Dunkin' Donuts.

An alternative to the expo is Mo Gan Shan Road, a Shanghai's version of the Meatpacking District. What used to be rundown factories and warehouses are now artist havens. The tiny street surprisingly opens up to a complex full of nooks and crannies of studios and galleries. The forefront of China's contemporary art is located here, and the atmosphere is still strangely serene, tucked away from the high rises.

  (graffiti lined entrance, that's my mom looking hip)

Here's a favorite of mine, Korean artist Bon-A KOO, featured at Shun Art Gallery, Rm 103/208 Building 3
No.50 Mo Gan Shan Rd.