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4-07-2005 The Scotsman Nice concert. But can it really save millions from dying? By Gethin Chamberlain BOB GELDOF does not have time for people who question whether Live 8 and the Edinburgh G8 protests will have any long-term effect on the plight of Africa's poor. "I'm not interested in critics," he told the BBC, the broadcaster which invested so much time and money in backing Live 8. "Those critics are just being stupid." But even Geldof has had his moments of doubt. Before he decided to go ahead with the Live 8 project, he worried that if it did not work, it could create a generation of cynics. He must have been a happy man yesterday morning when he looked back at the television coverage and saw the headlines that his efforts had generated around the world. After all, 200,000 people packed into London's Hyde Park to listen to Bono and Dido tell them poverty was a no-no, and 225,000 wandered round in circles in Edinburgh. It was not nearly as many as marched against the Iraq war, but then at least that was an easy target on which to focus, with a single (potentially) achievable goal. But the cynics, too, will feel in some way vindicated. After all, a cynic is just another word for someone who questions the well-meaning actions that others take. Had Saturday's protesters and concert-goers all sat down and refused to move until poverty was history, or at least until the G8 leaders had promised to make it so, they might have made more impact. The world could have marvelled at what might have come to be known as The Tartan Revolution. But instead, the Edinburgh crowd settled for an attempt on the world record for the eightsome reel, then went home for their tea, satisfied that they had done their bit. "Wearing badges is not enough," Billy Bragg used to sing, "in days like these", but judging by the events of the weekend, a lot of people appear to believe that wearing wristbands just might do the trick. Did they know what they were protesting about? Well, yes, it appears they did. Those who had not simply turned up to massage the egos of a bunch of millionaire musicians assuaging their own consciences appeared to have a clear belief in the need for action with regard to Africa. They were protesting about trade injustice, a crippling debt burden and they were protesting, at the most basic level, because they believed it to be wrong that millions should die in abject poverty. But how would they achieve these goals? More aid, lots more aid, some said. Cancel the debts, said others. Abolish trade barriers. And who should do these things? The leaders of the G8, they chorused. As if they alone have a magic wand that can somehow right centuries of wrong. "Something must be done, even if it doesn't work," Geldof said in one recent interview, and in that one moment he came closest to capturing the collective middle-class angst of those who turned out this weekend. Nineteen years ago I dropped out of my first university course to work for Geldof on Sport Aid. Run the World, the T-shirts said, and I was swept along by the excitement of the event and the belief that we were finally doing something to change that world. We persuaded 20 million people to sign up to run, from London to Ouagadougou, and we raised dollars 100 million. We felt good about ourselves, just as those who attended the events of this weekend will have done. But we did not solve the problems of Africa. There is nothing wrong with being passionate about a subject, but passion alone is not guaranteed to come up with the right answers. Geldof might not like criticism, but he should be prepared to accept that it is not always possible to solve a problem by shouting louder than everyone else. If the G8 leaders accept that there is a genuine desire among their electorates for change and adopt the policies advocated by Messrs Geldof, Brown and Blair, and articulated in their Commission for Africa report, will it make the public happy? Possibly. Will it solve the problems that beset Africa? Probably not. African leaders have to play their part, or it will all be for nothing. Cancelling the debts of 14 nations is a worthy gesture, but it will only be effective if linked to strict anti-corruption measures. Geldof says that Africa is not mired in corruption, but the evidence is against him. Doubling aid sounds good, but there is no evidence that it works. Hundreds of billions of pounds have been poured into Africa and it is poorer now than it has ever been. The money is mopped up by leaders who use it to place more distance between themselves and their own people. If they know they can rely on western cash to prop themselves up, why worry about making themselves accountable to the people? But some people do not want to hear such arguments. When Ousmane Sembene - known as "the father of African cinema" - branded Make Poverty History and Live 8 as "fake", it went virtually unreported. "African heads of state who buy into that idea of aid are all liars," Sembene said. "The only way for us to come out of poverty is to work hard." Self-interest is hard to overcome. What if the G8 leaders address the question of the trade barriers that prevent Africa competing in the world's markets? Will the French agree to put aside the interests of their farmers? Will Britain stop buying its bananas from its former Caribbean colonies and switch to African suppliers instead? What about AIDS? And malaria? Tackle those two and you are well on the way to getting Africa back on its feet. The G8 can, and should, throw money at ensuring that anti-retroviral drugs are available to those infected with AIDS. Something as cheap and simple as a mosquito net will have a dramatic effect on the rate of malaria infection, and widespread condom use would have similar effect on AIDS transmission. But the powerful Catholic church in Africa will not tolerate that, preferring to preach abstinence, and attitudes are hard to change in rural communities where many believe that symptoms of the disease are the result of witchcraft. How would the marchers tackle that? What, too, about the influx of doctors into the UK from African countries? Should they be prevented from moving here to better themselves and earn money that they can send back to help their families? And if the answer to that is yes, what will the marchers say when they find that their scheduled operation has had to be cancelled? What Africa could do with right now is a massive programme of work on its infrastructure - on roads, electricity and water. Tackle those and everyone has a chance. What if you could really persuade the G8 to address those problems? Would all the demonstrators agree with the solution? Take electricity. Most African villages have no power source. Providing one would need a massive programme of power- station construction. Nuclear? Many of Saturday's protesters would blanch at the prospect. Coal-fired? The climate change lobby would not be happy. Oil? The Chinese are already working overtime to get their hands on as much of the continent's supplies as they can. What about investment in African business? Bill Gates was rewarded with a big cheer when he appeared on stage in Hyde Park but to the anti-globalisation demonstrators, Microsoft rivals McDonald's as public enemy number one. If he invests in Africa, is he helping, or exploiting, its people? What about education? Aid can pay for a pencil and paper for a child to go to school (and without those ludicrously cheap basics, they have no chance), but it is the government of their country which must establish the network to deliver more pencils and paper when the first ones run out, or the child's education is over. And in many African countries, if that child beats all the odds and achieves a qualification, it helps to be a member of the ruling party if they want to use it to get a job. There are no easy answers and no magic wands. In Africa, the events of this weekend did not inspire much enthusiasm. "I hope it's going to help us Africans," Jane Waisaka, a hairdresser in Nairobi, said, "but I really don't know how." Those who marched and partied this weekend can tell themselves that they have made a difference, that the world has changed. But we said that after Live Aid, and Sport Aid too, and it did not do so then, though the will was there, because the wrong solutions were adopted, because doing the wrong thing was considered better than doing nothing at all. Geldof may not like critics, and he is very good at shouting down those who voice their doubts. But sometimes it pays to listen, too.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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