Aid - Is it fast and effective enough? - [Closes 24/06/07]

[---MAD---]

Many countries these days are in need of some sort of Aid. Whether its food or shelter, the population is dependent on the aid given to the countries and set up by organisations.

Is aid getting to places in need fast enough? Is it doing the job properly and efficiently? How can it be improved?

Enjoy the debate :).

[Luke`]

I'm not 100% sure on this but, i've been out to Uganda and compared to alot places, where i went was fairly well off, but i heard alot about corrupt goverments, and it is something you hear about, so personally I think It's down to the goverments, but getting rid of them would be difficult, cos it may start conflicts.

[Jamie!]

depends what type of aid it is.. cause sometimes if the large countries give aid, they always want something in return.

so sometimes it can be effective, but sometimes it can damage a country in the long run.

[:Hazel]

it can be effective if worked properly but when food etc. leave this country how do we know where its going and if it gets there?

[le harry]

Very little countries need country-wide aid nowadays, it is mainly villages in Africa, parts of South America that are in need of real aid. For shelter, food & education. The main problem in places like South Africa is domestic fighting, with militant camps that take villages hostage and stuff, you know how you see out of the movies a truck full of armed men goes through the village and shoots people / takes them away to join the camp. That causes a lot of problems in places like these, but that's only the first problem.

In my opinion the Governments should be focusing on local terrorists / militants to get rid of, do this & we are a step closer to actually being able to help them Aid wise. Our family sponsers 2 childen via World Vision, we've had quite a few in the past but unfortunatly they were little children who passed away because of lack of food etc. Aid is extremely helpful, I don't think it's very fast though, look at Indianesian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, Inisfail Hurricane, all these were mass disasters and yet still some of the situations it took weeks and months till the Government knew what it was doing.

[---MAD---]

Very little countries need country-wide aid nowadays, it is mainly villages in Africa, parts of South America that are in need of real aid. For shelter, food & education. The main problem in places like South Africa is domestic fighting, with militant camps that take villages hostage and stuff, you know how you see out of the movies a truck full of armed men goes through the village and shoots people / takes them away to join the camp. That causes a lot of problems in places like these, but that's only the first problem.

In my opinion the Governments should be focusing on local terrorists / militants to get rid of, do this & we are a step closer to actually being able to help them Aid wise. Our family sponsers 2 childen via World Vision, we've had quite a few in the past but unfortunatly they were little children who passed away because of lack of food etc. Aid is extremely helpful, I don't think it's very fast though, look at Indianesian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, Inisfail Hurricane, all these were mass disasters and yet still some of the situations it took weeks and months till the Government knew what it was doing.
Yeah thats very true. In America, it took the goverment ages and ages to do anything about the cities and towns that were hit and they may still have done very little. Just shows how much they care about their own citizens.

[le harry]

It's not as they didn't care, just the fact they didn't think it was a crisis. The army was there, but not under George W Bush's orders, he rocked up 2 weeks or so after the disaster happned. Half the damn people were still in the Superbowl waiting for rescue.

[Mentor]

I dont really know how this can be deabated since is a very wide issue, sometimes alot of aid gets places fast and works well, othertimes its to slow, unabale to reach where it needs to, and completyely ineffective. It chanegs depending on the situation.

[-:Undertaker:-]

No we need to train them mostly so they can stand on their own two feet but as I strongly believe, our country should be sorted first.

[Tom H]

Aid is such a controversial subject. There are so many ways you can speak about it. There are such branches like Christian Aid which helps the poorest communities. I believe that is effective.

[Shawnstra]

Depends on the scale. Usually large scale, it isn't fast enough. Take the 2004 tsunami and Hurricane Katrina as an example.

[-Soph-]

Well we're only human, I think we do well enough for what we can do when it comes to aid.

[Dan2nd]

No matter how much Aid we give out to people there will always be people somewhere in the world that are in poverty.

[Catzsy]

Yeah thats very true. In America, it took the goverment ages and ages to do anything about the cities and towns that were hit and they may still have done very little. Just shows how much they care about their own citizens.

This is a sweeping generalised statement. To say the the American Govenrment dont care about their own citizens is a very subjective statement and a little unworthy of the FM.

It is all very well to have an opinion about things that have gone wrong in hindsight when we can all be experts. Something like the New Orleans disaster has got to be a logistical nightmare that hasnt really happened before in the USA and Im sure lessons have been learned. However the situation is so complicated and I am sure we do not have all the facts to hand and indeed media manipulation comes into it as well as they are always focussing on the worst possible cases and situations.

Using that example you could say that in even in this country you could say the government doesnt care with families in North Wales still not back in their homes after 12 months due to freak flooding. This has more to do with people not having insurance to cover their homes though, in some cases. People of the world have their own responsibilities as well. It is not always the fault of the government.

Corruption was the main problem with aid not getting through. Goverments in the past have given millions to countries where those in charge and those in authority have lined their pockets or diverted the money to buy arms and weapons.

Direct help seems to be more popular now with aid given as drugs for Malaria, aids and HIV but the G8 countries really should concentrate on having a unified strategy in making sure that the billions of aid yearly are spent wisely and to help the citizens of those countries be encouraged to help themselves. Ex President Clinton I know has brokered a deal with the major drug companies that make huge profits to supply affordable drugs to the third world particularly to help with HIV and Malaria. The worldwide aids statistics make very grim reading though and this is something only the citizens of those countries can do anything about.

Link:
http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm

Most of the 'civilised world' does help to fund poorer countries but it is not a never ending pot. The governments of those countries have to be more proactive and less tribal in helping and educating their citizens. As far as unseen disasters are concerned I am sure that everybody does their utmost to help in the circumtances and I am not sure you can really plan for an event like that.

[le harry]

This is a sweeping generalised statement. To say the the American Govenrment dont care about their own citizens is a very subjective statement and a little unworthy of the FM.

It is all very well to have an opinion about things that have gone wrong in hindsight when we can all be experts. Something like the New Orleans disaster has got to be a logistical nightmare that hasnt really happened before in the USA and Im sure lessons have been learned. However the situation is so complicated and I am sure we do not have all the facts to hand and indeed media manipulation comes into it as well as they are always focussing on the worst possible cases and situations.

Using that example you could say that in even in this country you could say the government doesnt care with families in North Wales still not back in their homes after 12 months due to freak flooding. This has more to do with people not having insurance to cover their homes though, in some cases. People of the world have their own responsibilities as well. It is not always the fault of the government.

Corruption was the main problem with aid not getting through. Goverments in the past have given millions to countries where those in charge and those in authority have lined their pockets or diverted the money to buy arms and weapons.

Direct help seems to be more popular now with aid given as drugs for Malaria, aids and HIV but the G8 countries really should concentrate on having a unified strategy in making sure that the billions of aid yearly are spent wisely and to help the citizens of those countries be encouraged to help themselves. Ex President Clinton I know has brokered a deal with the major drug companies that make huge profits to supply affordable drugs to the third world particularly to help with HIV and Malaria. The worldwide aids statistics make very grim reading though and this is something only the citizens of those countries can do anything about.

Link:
http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm

Most of the 'civilised world' does help to fund poorer countries but it is not a never ending pot. The governments of those countries have to be more proactive and less tribal in helping and educating their citizens. As far as unseen disasters are concerned I am sure that everybody does their utmost to help in the circumtances and I am not sure you can really plan for an event like that.

Yes, but it doesn't matter if they weren't prepared. They new a cyclone was coming, they did not know how bad it was. But even so to take that long for a city evacuation & something to be done about it is not acceptable, doesn't matter about the circumstanced. We don't know all the facts but the government should of taken more action instead of them just telling the army "yeah go in and rescue people". They try and help the most but situations like that need more attention then other things that are happening at the time.

[Catzsy]

Yes, but it doesn't matter if they weren't prepared. They new a cyclone was coming, they did not know how bad it was. But even so to take that long for a city evacuation & something to be done about it is not acceptable, doesn't matter about the circumstanced. We don't know all the facts but the government should of taken more action instead of them just telling the army "yeah go in and rescue people". They try and help the most but situations like that need more attention then other things that are happening at the time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Hurricane_Katrina_on_New_Orleans

and exerpt from the above link:

Ninety percent (90%) of the residents of southeast Louisiana were evacuated in the most successful evacuation of a major urban area in the nation's history. Despite this, many remained (mainly the elderly and poor). The Louisiana Superdome was used as a designated "refuge of last resort" for those who remained in the city

It seems many remained at their own risk but the Mayor issued a mandatory warning on the day before for everybody to evacuate. The whole publicity issue though appears to have been focussed on the 20/25,000 who sought refuge in the Super Dome where conditions were said to be horrid and yes perhaps these people could have been looked after better although they were evacuated on the 31st May only 2 days after the storm. I am sure lessons will have been learned about this.

[le harry]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Hurricane_Katrina_on_New_Orleans

and exerpt from the above link:

Ninety percent (90%) of the residents of southeast Louisiana were evacuated in the most successful evacuation of a major urban area in the nation's history. Despite this, many remained (mainly the elderly and poor). The Louisiana Superdome was used as a designated "refuge of last resort" for those who remained in the city

It seems many remained at their own risk but the Mayor issued a mandatory warning on the day before for everybody to evacuate. The whole publicity issue though appears to have been focussed on the 20/25,000 who sought refuge in the Super Dome where conditions were said to be horrid and yes perhaps these people could have been looked after better although they were evacuated on the 31st May only 2 days after the storm. I am sure lessons will have been learned about this.


Officers warned a CNN crew to stay off the streets because of escalating danger, and cautioned others about attempted shootings and rapes by groups of young men.

"This is a desperate SOS," New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said in a statement Thursday afternoon, with thousands of people stranded at the city's convention center with no food, water or electricity -- and fading hope.
Residents expressed growing frustration with the disorder evident on the streets, raising questions about the coordination and timeliness of relief efforts.
"Why is no one in charge?" asked one frustrated evacuee at the convention center. "I find it hard to believe."
Government officials insisted they were putting forth their best efforts and pleaded for patience, saying further help was on the way.
One displaced resident at the Louisiana Superdome issued a warning to authorities who may be headed to the stadium, where up to 30,000 people sought refuge after Monday's Hurricane Katrina and now await evacuation to Texas by bus.
"Please don't send the National Guard," Raymond Cooper told CNN by telephone. "Send someone with a bullhorn outside the place that can talk to these people first."
He described scenes of lawlessness and desperation, with people simply dragging corpses into corners.
"They have quite a few people running around here with guns," he said. "You got these young teenage boys running around up here raping these girls."
Elsewhere, groups of armed men wandered the streets, buildings smoldered and people picked through stores for what they could find.
Charity Hospital, one of several facilities attempting to evacuate patients, was forced to halt the effort after coming under sniper fire. (Full story (http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/01/katrina.hospital.sniper/index.html))
Recovery efforts also continued Thursday in Mississippi, where Katrina smashed entire neighborhoods and killed at least 185 people.
"We got hit by the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States," Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour told CNN Thursday.
'Thousands' dead

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco gave the grim news that "thousands" of people died in the hurricane and its aftermath in New Orleans and surrounding parishes, though she said no official count had been compiled.
Brown said those who ignored the city's mandatory evacuation order bore some responsibility.
"I think the death toll may go into the thousands and, unfortunately, that's going to be attributable a lot to people who did not heed the advance warnings," he told CNN. (Full story (http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/01/katrina.fema.brown/index.html))
Stranded people remained in buildings, on roofs, in the backs of trucks or gathered in large groups on higher ground, with little knowledge of when -- or if -- help would come.
Despite the deteriorating conditions in the city, hurricane survivors from neighboring Plaquemines Parish have started streaming into the city, according to Nagin.
"We are overwhelmed and out of resources, but we welcome them with open arms and will figure this out together," the mayor said in a written statement.
Police officers told CNN that some of their fellow officers had simply stopped showing up for duty, cutting manpower by 20 percent or more in some precincts.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday that 4,200 National Guard troops trained as military police will be deployed in New Orleans over the next three days, which he said would quadruple the law enforcement presence in the city.
Pentagon officials said the first contingent of 100 military police officers would arrive at Louis Armstrong International Airport at 10 p.m. (11 p.m. ET) -- combat-ready for immediate deployment in New Orleans.
'Unsanitary and unsafe'

Blanco said Thursday she has requested the mobilization of 40,000 National Guard troops to restore order and assist in relief efforts.
A humanitarian catastrophe unfolded at the convention center, where thousands of increasingly frustrated people waited for help amid dead bodies, feces and garbage.
Numerous bodies could be seen, both inside and outside the facility, and one man died of a seizure while a CNN crew was at the scene.
A National Guard helicopter dropped food and water Thursday afternoon, although the amount was far short of enough to meet the needs of the throngs that had gathered.
Nagin advised those gathered at the center to march over the Crescent City Connection bridge to the west bank of the Mississippi River to find relief in neighboring Jefferson Parish.
"The convention center is unsanitary and unsafe, and we are running out of supplies," said Nagin, adding that officials did not expect to have enough buses for evacuations.
Brown told CNN Thursday evening that federal officials only found out about the convention center crisis earlier in the day, and that he had since directed that "all available resources" be made available there.
Boat rescue teams looking for Katrina survivors told CNN they had been ordered to stand down Thursday by FEMA officials concerned about security.
However, FEMA issued a statement from Washington denying it had suspended operations, though the agency conceded there had been "isolated incidents where security has become an issue."
Homeland Security Secretary MichaelChertoff said that the Coast Guard has rescued about 3,000 people from flooded areas in New Orleans and the surrounding parishes.
At the city's airport, a field hospital set up by FEMA was "overwhelmed" with patients, a medical team commander said.
Equipment normally used to move luggage was instead ferrying patients to a treatment center and to planes and buses for evacuation.
"I do not have the words in my vocabulary to describe what is happening here," said Ozro Henderson. "'Catastrophe' and 'disaster' don't explain it."
Outside the Superdome, throngs of people waiting for a bus ride to Texas completely covered an outside plaza, where they waited in the heat and rain.
Buses ferried displaced residents to Houston's Astrodome, which will serve as a shelter until FEMA can come up with more permanent housing.
"We're finding more and more people coming out of the woodwork," Brown said. "They're appearing in places we didn't know they existed."
Blanco said more school buses would be brought in from across Louisiana to increase the pace of the evacuation.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it expected to complete the sealing off of the 17th Street Canal, where a flood-control levee breached.

Seems liky the did a good job didnt they. The whole rape issues with the teenagers was terrible as well, alongside the unclean conditions and all that sort of stuff. I can't begin to explain how bad the conditions were and how little the Government reacted. Catzsy you say that it was a good evacuation. But the government did literally NOTHING. It was all the Army doing it for themselves.

[Catzsy]

Well I didnt say it was a good evacuation just quoted what was on wikipedia but I really do not have an indepth knowledge but it seems from that the Mayor was involved so that is goverment. The handling of the people left behind seems to have been badly handled though.

[le harry]

Wikipedia is usually crap since anybody can update it and make up stuff I assume but yeah :) I would class Mayor as local government, so he didn't have much of a say.