AFRO-NETS> Public Policies and the Orphans of AIDS in Africa (2)

[Peter Burgess <Profitinafrica@aol.com>]

Public Policies and the Orphans of AIDS in Africa (2)
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Dear Colleagues,
 
John Kiwanuka Ssemakula (JKS) wrote:
 
>"While I agree with the overall thrust and conclusion of the article, 
>I think it ignores one important area; the social environment that 
>the CABA exist in. The major interventions inevitably are going to 
>fall on the shoulders of the extended family, a social construct 
>which is already creaking under the burden of AIDS, and the communi-
>ties that contain them. In some cases whole communities have been 
>wiped out, leaving the CABA with no one to teach them about social 
>knowledge that is not learned in schools such as teaching the chil-
>dren how to be farmers, or local knowledge of traditional remedies. 
>Some sort of social welfare programmes to help not just the families 
>but the communities for example providing money for sinking a well, 
>or a funding programme for procuring seeds by local farmers will help 
>in finding long term solutions to mitigating the problem of CABA."
 
JSK is thinking along very much the same lines as myself. But I want 
to go somewhat further in my concern for recommendations that put un-
earned money or other resources into communities without really thor-
oughly understanding the social interactions that are routine in the 
community.
 
My first concern relates to the delivery of economic resources to the 
people identified in the BMJ article. I have been involved in a num-
ber of the refugee and displaced person crises in Africa (and else-
where) over the years and it was enormously sad to see refugees liv-
ing in villages getting UNHCR food rations, and the people of the 
host community terribly hungry, especially the old people in the com-
munity. Yes, there was sharing. But the social and economic balance 
of the community shifted from the host community to the refugees, an 
unintended, unanticipated problem. Without careful consideration, the 
economic balance in the community will not be improved as much as it 
will be distorted, and the results are likely to be terrible.
 
My second concern relates to the simple question of where does the 
money come from? It is very easy to recommend more money gets given 
to needy beneficiaries, but who provides the funding? If it is the 
government, then exactly what is the government going to stop paying 
for? If it donors, what is the funding instead of?
 
JKS touches on another issue when he suggests that a small amount of 
money used to improve community production and community needs would 
be better than money directed straight at the needy. Development has 
failed in part because this simply reality has been missed in a lot 
of development planning and the disbursement of resources.
 
Thanks,
 
Peter Burgess
ATCnet in New York
Tel: +1-212-772-6918 
Fax: +1-707-371-7805
mailto:peterb@iitc.safe-mail.net
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