How to Tackle Most Frequently Asked Questions

Some words from Clint Borgen, founder of The Borgen Project, on how to answer the most frequently asked questions from critics about global poverty and foreign aid.  Addressing these issues will help enlighten those who are under the influence of the many misguided myths out there.  Aren't we already doing enough?  Has nothing been accomplished?  Will reducing global poverty help the economy?  What impact does it have on our national security?  What about the corruption in these countries?  Find more answers on borgenproject.org!  

- Georisa Chang

Religious Leaders Stand for International Aid

The battle over federal spending is far from over, in fact, it’s about to get ugly.  Religious leaders are coming at Congress with full force lobbying for the preservation of foreign aid.  Their approach, it’s a moral obligation.  “Part of the discussion centered on the importance of reminding the American people that hunger and poverty around the world has a human face – that we’re not just talking about statistics, but real people,” states Reverend John McCullough, Director of Church World Service.  It is much easier to sympathize to a face than it is to the idea of giving monetary aid to the poor.

The limited amount of the federal budget already allocated to foreign aid has proven to make a huge impact on millions upon millions suffering from sever poverty.  The United States should see foreign assistance as much more than “tangible benefits to the world’s poor,” but an investment for the growth of our own economy as well as raise our international standing among other wealth nations.  

Can we turn the other way and ignore these desperate people in this crucial time of need?  Allow them to starve?  Leave them to die because they weren’t able to receive the necessary medical care?  We simply cannot.

“We’re talking about lives – great numbers of lives that are saved with minimal input on our part.”

-Reverend Denis Madden

Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore and Vice Chair of Catholic Relief Services

-Georisa Chang

SOURCE: The Washington Post

Senator Graham Stands to Protect International Affairs Aid

With our current financial crisis, it is clear that foreign aid is the first of many programs to go on the chopping block.  Who is to say that the financial problems in the U.S. will be alleviated if international aid gets axed completely?  One thing is certain, the small percentage of the federal budget that currently goes to foreign assistance has made a larger impact on the world’s poor than we realize. 

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a military lawyer and an Air Force colonel, is going full force in advocating for the protection of foreign aid, despite going toe to toe with all the cynics who believe that U.S. resources should be focused at home.  With his current position as senior Republican, Sen. Graham is doing what he can to stall funding cuts, but with our current economic situation, more Americans are reluctant to spend money abroad especially when some are doing all they can to simply make ends meet.  To top it off, members from his own political party demonstrate their clear displeasure in having any funds at all allocated to foreign assistance.  At the presidential debate in Las Vegas last week, many GOP candidates made arguments defacing international aid and how it must be cut.  “I’m very concern about the direction my party is taking.  I’m a Ronald Regan Republican.  I would like to shape worldly events rather than watch the world fall apart.  That means you have to be engaged.” 

Early this year, Sen. Graham moved to the Senate Appropriations Committee and became the top Republican on its foreign operations panel.  Sure, Americans are a bit hesitant about helping countries in the Middle East after Afghanistan and Iraq, but Sen. Graham strongly believes that directing U.S. aid to those places could yield huge dividends for the U.S.  It is also important to note that there is a connection between U.S. defense and foreign aid efforts abroad.  The foreign aid allocated to these poor countries will reduce terrorism and drug cartel involvements, and in turn will help strengthen our own national security.

Sen. Graham believes the U.S. needs to be doing more for its foreign counterparts.  As a senator in the conservative state of South Carolina, he knows that his work will unquestionably hinder him politically.  Yet, the risk that he is willing to take to sustain foreign aid will change the lives of millions.

“It is a tough sell, but you can be pennywise and pound-foolish.”

-Senator Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.) 

-Georisa Chang

SOURCE: The State

Global Poverty & U.S. Jobs

Top business professionals and political leaders alike believe that allocating the necessary funds to help the world's poor will create potential consumers of U.S. goods and products. The assistance we provide for these growing economies will help the U.S. economy as well as create job opportunities domestically. The return on this investment certainly promises a high reward in more ways than one.

"Your future is in the global economy."

-Tom Donohue, CEO and President of U.S. Chamber of Commerce

-Georisa Chang

Real Aid Does The Magic!

This piece of information is for those who are skeptical about foreign aid. According to the recent report by international NGO ActionAid, some of the world’s poorest countries, including Ghana and Mozambique, have become less dependent on foreign aid in the past 10 years. The report that measures how dependent developing countries are on outside assistance comments that providing more “real aid” that “has few strings attached” puts developing countries “in the driving seat of their own development.” The organization explains that “to qualify as real aid, the aid must be targeted at the poorest and the recipient country must be given the space to own and lead its own development plans. Real aid is not tied, is administered efficiently and is used in the recipient country.” The NGO also praises the United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland for their focus on real aid.

There has been growing recognition among donors and other members of the international community for the need to change how aid is provided to some of the world’s poorest countries. The report also shows that the donors are focusing more on value for money now and getting positive results which are contributing to a reduction in developing countries’ aid dependency. But still there are some countries who have not adopted the real aid approach yet, such as, Germany and France. U.K. on the other hand has redesigned their aid structure in order to get better results. ActionAid’s head of economic and social development, Anna Thomas said, “Our research shows that more developing countries are becoming less dependent on aid and are able to rely increasingly on their own resources to deliver essential services. These results show we’re moving in the right direction — and means that good quality aid — real aid — is working.”

We all hope that real aid continues to work, and donor nations shift their focus more on real aid and less on substandard aid.

-Nisha Noor

SOURCE: DEVEX

GOP Presidential Candidates: Views On Foreign Aid

Foreign aid has always been a touchy issue in U.S. politics and it remains so in the 2012 Presidential campaign. While the Obama administration has emphasized the importance of foreign policy and diplomacy in order to strengthen America’s position globally, the GOP leaders have been less supportive of providing foreign assistance. The GOP Presidential Contenders for 2012 are not exceptions as well. Of all the declared candidates, only Mitt Romney has made foreign policy a somewhat important agenda in his campaign. According to Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, “The United States faces numerous challenges abroad. China is emerging, Russia is resurgent, and radical, violent jihadists seek our destruction. We must rise to these challenges to preserve our interests and promote peace. Mitt Romney believes that peace and prosperity around the world depend on a strong America. That requires a strong military, a strong economy, and a renewed diplomatic strategy that advances the cause of freedom, human rights, and opportunity.”

Among other declared candidates, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman and Newt Gingrich have sometimes talked about the importance of diplomacy and international cooperation in order to ensure national security, but have not provided any concrete agenda regarding foreign aid. While Perry believes that U.S. must strengthen its diplomatic relationships, and stand firm with allies against the common enemies, Bachmann is all for reducing the amount of generosity that Americans show toward other nations and focusing more on the national prosperity. Huntsman believes that the best long-term national security strategy is to rebuild the core at home, but Gingrich supports a unified grand strategy that will marginalize and defeat radical Islamists across the world in order to achieve victory for Americans.

All the GOP Presidential Contenders are up for maintaining peace and prosperity locally and globally, but the majority is doubtful about providing foreign assistance as a means for achieving stability.

-Nisha Noor

SOURCE: DEVEX

Republican Senator Calls For More Aid To Middle East And North Africa

When most of his colleagues are keen on reducing U.S. international affairs budget, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) feels that the United States should give more aid to North African and Middle Eastern countries that are currently undergoing political transition.



Sen. Graham, who was speaking before the Columbia Rotary Club in South Carolina said, “Foreign aid is a very complicated, controversial topic, particularly when you’re broke. But … it is good for the American people and the American government to reach out and help those who live in peace with us.”



Unlike the majority of Republican members of the U.S. Congress, particularly those in the House of Representatives, Sen. Graham, who is the ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on State, foreign operations and related programs, appears to be one of few Republicans who support an increase in U.S. foreign aid spending. Recently he said that he is preparing a reform legislation that would provide $1 billion worth of U.S. aid to Egypt.

-Nisha Noor

SOURCE: DEVEX

Hillary Clinton On Not Cutting Aid

On Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appealed for support for President Obama's embattled global farm aid-program. She stated that the reforms it promotes are the same preventive measures that are being used and getting results in East Africa.

Her appeal was in response to the potential steep budget cuts facing the administration's signature program "Feed the Future." The White House has requested $1.4 billion for the project in 2012. However, the House Appropriations committee has slashed several accounts, leaving the program with one-third less in funding.

Clinton stated that Africa has seen cyclical droughts for decades and that "it would be easy to throw up our hands." But, working with poor countries to provide things such as improved seeds and extension services is too important and saves lives.

Feed the Future is part of an international efforts to improve the productivity of small farmers in Africa and other developing areas.

"While some might say that this is a conversation for another time -- that we should worry about preventing food crises only after this one has passed -- I disagree," Clinton stated during a speech at the International Food Policy Research Institute.

"Right now, we must rededicate ourselves to breaking the cycle of food shortages, suffering and dislocation that we see playing out once again in the Horn of Africa."

Crises like these are completely preventable, and much less expensive for aid programs and the US government if preventative measures such as the Feed the Future program was implemented.

About 12 million people are starving in East Africa. Because of international agriculture programs, the number of Ethiopians that risk starvation has plummeted from 13 million in the 2002 drought to 5 million in the current disaster.

Still, 5 million people dying of starvation is atrocious. People do not realize how important these programs and how little we spend on them. And in addition, how much money would be saved if we actually invested in preventing these tragedies beforehand. Specialists knew for months that the drought was coming. But when did the world react? Not until after the shock had hit and millions were dying.

-Gabrielle Gurian

SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST

Obama Defends US Foreign Aid In Twitter Town Hall Meeting

In the much anticipated Twitter Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, July 7, President Barack Obama defended US foreign aid saying that this tiny amount can have a big impact on US foreign policy. When Twitter users were calling for trimming overseas help, President Obama said, “It’s something that, even in tough fiscal times, American needs to continue to do as part of our role as a global leader,”

Various opinion polls have found that the US public estimates foreign aid to be 20% of overall discretionary spending whereas in reality this amount is only 2% (1% if narrowly defined) of annual budget.

The President also said, “America, to be a leader in the world, to have influence, to help stabilize countries and create opportunity for people so that they don’t breed terrorists or create huge refugee flows and so forth — it’s smart for us to make a very modest investment in foreign aid.”

My unsent Twit to the President: let the 2% (if not more) aid flow and make a difference in the world.

-Nisha Noor

SOURCE: THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE