I am an African woman who has lived, interacted and worked with poor communities for well over 35 years now. I have seen the shift in Aid generally to the more targeted Aid for specific programmes such as Aid to poverty alleviation which has been given to better-governed countries since the late 1990s. There is no doubt that without this development, the situation for most of Africa would have been worse. 

 

 

The suggestion to cut Aid could not have come at a worse time. The unfolding credit crunch with all its devastating consequences compounded by the effects of climate change means that African countries will find it extremely difficult to attract foreign investments. The effects of climate change will be devastating to most countries’ attempts at diversifying their economic activities to exploit the rich agricultural potential they have. Of course, the long term aim for African countries is to move beyond Aid, but in the short term and in the face of the global economic crisis and climate change, cutting aid is totally unthinkable. 

 

Most of Africa, especially the Sub-Saharan Africa is at the epicentre of three devastating epidemics. There can be no illusion that Africa can, even with the most ideal governance structure and transparency, generate from domestic resources enough or near adequate resources to mitigate the impact of these epidemics.

 

In an Africa with AIDS/TB/Malaria there can be no moral justification to cut Aid. There is an attempt by many African Governments to increase domestic spending on health to achieve positive outcomes on all diseases, BUT the burden of these diseases makes cutting Aid totally unthinkable – on the other hand, there is an urgent and compelling need to INCREASE Aid to Africa.

 

The battle against HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa has largely been funded by aid. As a direct result of increased aid, the number of people in Africa on life-saving antiretroviral drugs increased from 50,000 in 2002 to 2.1 million in 2007.1 Largely because of newly effective smart- aid, several countries have achieved even more dramatic progress. In Senegal and Rwanda, over half of the people in need of antiretroviral medication are receiving it, and in Botswana and Namibia, these coverage rates are above 75%.2 There is clearly much more that has to be done, but in 2002 the percentage of Africans in need who were receiving treatment was only 1%.3 AIDS used to be a death sentence, but today two pills costing less than 50 cents a day can bring someone who was on death’s door back to life, to his or her family, job and community. To deny the poor access to these drugs is to literally sentence them to death.

 

Aid alone will never be enough to end the AIDS pandemic in Africa – better health systems, more health workers and proper program management are critical elements too – but the simple truth is that aid to Africa is saving millions of lives every year that would otherwise be lost to AIDS .

 

Africa has and continues to see the positive impact of Aid on the health status of her people. The contribution of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS/TB/Malaria, PEPFAR, Private Foundations, the Private Sector, Bilateral Aid and efforts of concerned persons such as Bono and Bob Geldof has and continues to be appreciated by people whose lives depend on these drugs and by people who continue to receive the necessary information and tools to avoid HIV infection and the millions of mothers who have been helped to avoid passing HIV to their unborn babies.

 

I have personally worked with people living with AIDS who could not afford life saving ARVs. I have seen firsthand the remarkable restoration of their health upon commencing treatment – thanks to Aid.

 

I have seen people going back to work as a result of treatment. I have seen them make meaningful contributions to the development of their countries, as we all know; AIDS poses one of the greatest developmental challenges of our time – thanks to international Aid.

 

It is undeniable fact that African families and communities have been severely devastated by the effects of the AIDS epidemic. Many, many children have lost their parents and other guardians to AIDS, this meant that they lost the opportunities for education, access to health facilities, personal development and worse still access to food and nutrition. Without Aid, these children had no hope for tomorrow but now, thanks to Aid. Many countries are now supporting and giving these children a chance of a better tomorrow.

 

Now, let me turn to the issue of corruption, which is an evil we must all fight with renewed vigor.

 

Corruption is always an issue of concern in Africa as in other parts of the world. It disproportionately hurts the poorest people. But the strongest correlations can be found between levels of poverty and corruption – not between levels of aid and corruption. Even if African countries relied solely on private investment, trade flows, and capital markets for economic growth, corruption would still be a factor. As we have all seen, corruption is no stranger to the private sector either.

 

The effective management of funds – whether aid or from private sector sources - comes down to the quality of governance in any particular country. Sub-Saharan Africa is made up of more than 47 independent countries, each with its own record on this issue. In some countries, corruption continues to slow development and progress. But in others, good governance is on the rise and citizens – community leaders, journalists, church volunteers and parents of schoolchildren – are increasingly holding their governments to account for how they spend their aid and other funds. A number of these citizen efforts are partly financed by development aid. This kind of ‘bottom-up accountability’ is something that aid is supporting as part of a general drive by donors to improve the way aid works. In September 2008, more than 100 countries signed up to the Accra Agenda for Action, a blueprint overseen by the OECD for making aid more accountable to citizens of poor countries, more transparent, coordinated and efficient.4

ELIZABETH N MATAKA (MRS)

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR – ZAMBIA NATIONAL AIDS NETWORK

VICE CHAIR OF THE GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS/TB/MALARIA BOARD

UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL’S SPECIAL ENVOY ON AIDS IN AFRICA