More Aid, More Need: Pledges Still Falling Short

The US is not living up to its aid responsibilities despite growing concerns about global poverty after September 11, says this article in The New York Times. Though President Bush has drawn an explicit link between poverty and terrorism, and is substantially increasing aid to poor countries as a result, US aid remains restricted to specific counties and is still far less than aid from its European counterparts. Thus, at a recent conference on development aid in Monterrey, Mexico, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan put pressure on the US not only to increase its aid, but also to change certain policies that undermine the effectiveness of contributions. In particular, Mr. Annan addressed the US policy of subsidizing American agribusiness at six times the amount spent on aid. This policy floods world markets with cheap produce, undermining the marketability of products from developing nations and the US prescription for poor countries to trade their way out of poverty. As Mr. Annan said, “It is no good helping dairy farmers in a country, if at the same time you are exporting subsidized milk powder to it.” – YaleGlobal