In a speech for delivery on December 10, 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz addressed the role of US development assistance and the prospects for Africa. View complete speech. Wolfowitz quotes on US Foreign Assistance and Africa - Measured as a percentage of total national income, US foreign assistance is only one-fifth of 1%. Some small countries such as Norway and Denmark give four to six times as much per capita as we do.
- We need to do better. Strong US support for foreign aid is particularly critical to help ensure that development assistance will be sensitive to issues important to Americans such as government transparency, anti-corruption, and civil society participation.
- It will be up to Africans most of all to bring about the momentous changes needed to conquer poverty.
- But as Americans we must be able to say that we did everything we could to give them the hand up, [that they need and deserve].
Wolfowitz quotes on Prospects for Africa - The one continent that has been conspicuously left behind by the promise of change is Africa. While so much progress was made against poverty in other parts of the world, the number of poor in Africa nearly doubled from roughly 160 million 25 years ago to 300 million today.
- But helping Africa is also in our self-interest. It’s simply not a healthy or safe world when so many people in an important region are allowed to fall behind. And it’s certainly not a world we want our children to inherit.
- Today we cannot walk alone on the path to prosperity. We cannot afford to turn our backs on the pain and poverty that consume entire nations and communities.
- You may have heard that the situation in Africa is hopeless…that aid to Africa is money wasted…or that if only African governments would be more responsible and accountable, they wouldn’t need our help at all.
- I’m here to tell you that none of those things are true, or at least they’re no longer true.
|
RSS