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July 14, 2003
aid to Africa
I believe in asset-based development, which means that I am loath to itemize deficits and problems without putting at least as much emphasis on the assets that any human community or nation possesses as the basis for its own development. I am certain that Africa has tremendous assets: cultural, social, and natural. Unfortunately, I lack the detailed knowledge necessary to list the main ones. In lieu of an asset inventory, we ought to pay attention to the following gaps or problems on the occasion of President Bush's African tour:
- life expectancy at birth: Sierra Leone = 34.5 years; USA = 77.1 years
- adult literacy rate: Niger = 16.5%; Estonia = 98.8%
- population earning less than $1/day: Ethiopia = 81.9%; USA = 0% (reported)
- probability at birth of not surviving to age 40: Mozambique, 56%; Japan = 7.5%
- population without access to improved water source: Ethiopia, 76%; USA = 0%
- physicians/100,000 people: Mali = 1; Italy = 567
- health spending/capita: Guinea-Bissau = $12; USA = $4,499
- undernourished people: Burundi = 69% of population; USA = 0% (reported)
- percent of adults with HIV/AIDS: Zambia = 21.52%; USA 0.16%
- official development aid received, per capita: Dem. Rep. of Congo = $5; Israel = $172.4 (The new European Union members get more aid than Israel, but their assistance comes with club membership in the EU.)
All these statistics come from the "Human Development Indicators" section of the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report 2003.
Posted by peterlevine at July 14, 2003 11:26 AM
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