By Sr. Elizabeth Kolmer, an AFJN Board Member and Sister of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ

Posted August 18, 2008

What’s happening in Liberia?  Is the war over ?  Is it safe to travel there? These are the most common questions I’ve been asked regarding the situation in the West African country of Liberia. My three weeks on the ground in post-conflict Liberia in June gave me a glimpse of the present position of the country as it tries to restore and rebuild itself after a 14-year civil war.  Certainly it would take much longer than 3 weeks to comprehend all that is going on in this restoration process.

The City       
What strikes one most in the capital city of Monrovia is the sheer number of people everywhere.  The recently completed census indicates that there are 3.48 million people in the country, with 1.14 million of them living in the confines of Monrovia. It is estimated that the infrastructure of the city is capable of sustaining a population of at most 350,000, so the strain on any kind of services is very obvious. There are people everywhere, many of them children. Due to conflict, disease, and poor nutrition, the median age of the population hovers around 15 or 16.

Unemployment is high. Some say 80 percent of the population does not work in the formal sector.  The small market-stands provide a meager and uncertain source of income for many. The World Bank estimates that over three-quarters of Liberia's population live below the poverty line of 1 USD per day.  Many others, among them young men returning from the war, have no employment and often resort to thievery, especially in the crowded market areas and on state and private properties.

In 2007, a short term poverty reduction plan was put in place with a primary aim of creating jobs.  This year, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf presented a more extensive proposal to the IMF and World Bank.  Also in place is a newly unveiled plan to relocate willing and qualified Liberians into rural areas by offering them jobs, benefits and good salaries. The Rural Incentives Pilot Program will focus initially on health, educational, and agricultural areas. Although we do not yet know the potential impact of these programs, it is clear that President Sirleaf is making an effort to address the extreme poverty in her country.

Still, there are many challenges for President Sirleaf.  The electrical and sewer infrastructure of the country must be rebuilt completely. Many people use generators for power at least for several hours after dark, and use wells which fill the private water towers they have erected.

By Beth Tuckey,  Posted August 18, 2008

When we’re told that U.S. attempts at development in the global south do not work, we respond, ‘it’s because true development has never been tried.’ For decades the U.S. has shipped money and supplies overseas only to see the levels of poverty and devastation remain largely the same. Between 1965 and 2006, USAID spent $516 billion in Africa, with few measurable returns. What will it take to procure smarter investment and attention to the needs of the world’s poorest, particularly those in Africa? What must happen in the next Administration to ensure that we are a responsible global leader – one that cares as much about the needs of the developing world as it does about maintaining a prosperous American economy?

It is time that the Executive Branch and the U.S. Congress do a major overhaul of the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA). The FAA, initiated in 1961 by President Kennedy, was created in reaction to the inefficient and piecemeal fashion under which international aid and development initiatives were being conducted. Unfortunately, the Act has not had a serious revision since its creation over 40 years ago. Congressman Howard Berman, now the Chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee, has said that foreign assistance reform will be one of his top priorities in 2009.

In conducting such reform, Congressman Berman should ensure that Congress has adequate oversight of all Executive agencies engaged in development work and should consider strictly moderating the capability of the Pentagon to acquire funds for certain international programs. Many of the governance requirements that exist under the FAA in terms of which developing countries receive U.S. development or military dollars have not been transferred to the Department of Defense (DOD) as they engage in training foreign militaries and providing humanitarian assistance.

Shockingly, under the current system, the DOD controls approximately 18 percent of all development assistance, among dozens of other branches and agencies who are also charged with distributing U.S. foreign aid. Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that USAID controls only 45 percent of U.S. aid abroad. This means that the long term foreign assistance goals necessary for true development are easily compromised by the short term national and security interests of the Executive. As such, in recent years, the President has sought to include development in military activities in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and dozens of countries in Africa. Though this is meant as a way of winning ‘hearts and minds’ and boosting America’s image around the world, it allows U.S. soldiers to act in a capacity that is above and beyond their call of duty. As many legislators have noted at hearings on AFRICOM, the Pentagon  should stick to what it knows best.

By Allison Burket ,  posted August 18, 2008

In recent years, important strides have been made in awareness and action on the issue of climate change, as the undeniable risks are coming more and more into focus.  Yet, while communities around the world are already bearing the burden of a warmer world, international support for adaptation and disaster preparedness as well as efforts for reducing carbon emissions have been insufficient.  It is important to recognize that climate change will not impact all nations and individuals in the same way, but will instead be felt disproportionately by the poor, ill, and vulnerable, and by developing countries – those in Africa in particular.

Global climate change means not only average global temperature increases, but global sea level rise, unpredictable weather patterns, and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, or hurricanes. These changes have important implications for the world’s poor, especially those in Africa: extreme and unpredictable weather put the most vulnerable at risk – those without the resources to invest in disaster preparedness – and can destroy crucial infrastructure and disrupt fragile food systems, harming productivity of both rural agriculture and coastal fisheries.

Small-scale farming is particularly susceptible to fluctuations in weather and temperature, which translates into vulnerability for the continent’s people: small-scale farming provides most of the food produced in Africa, employs 70 percent of the continent’s working people, and is heavily dependent on rainfall. Already, the Sahel region has experienced a 25 percent decline in rainfall and a greater degree of unpredictability since the 1960s, with more frequent droughts alternating with excessive inundations.  Yields from rain-fed agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa could be reduced by as much as 50 percent by 2020.

Posted on August 12, 2008

On August 6^th, the first democratically elected president of Mauritania, Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, was overthrown in a military coup lead by the head of his presidential guard, General Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz.  This happened after 48 lawmakers from the ruling party resigned and President Sidi decided to fire General Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz and another senior military officer.  So far, General Adbelaziz has formed a council of 11 members to govern Mauritania with the mission to reshape its democratic process and has promised free and fair elections in the shortest time possible.  His predecessors claimed to have this same mission, but none of them ever achieved it.

This coup is a setback in many ways even though it was peacefully carried out.   For example after President Sidi was elected, he honored his promise to enforce the laws against slavery . This practice continues despite the fact that it was banned for the first time by French colonists in 1905, the second time by the pre-colonial constitution of 1960 and third time by the military government of Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla in 1981.  

History of Military Coup in Mauritania 
Since its independence from France in 1960, Mauritania has had six military coups.  The first was on July 10, 1978 by Colonel Mustafa Ould Salek, who overthrew the first Mauritanian President, Mr. Moktar Ould Dabdah, a civilian put in power by French colonialists after independence in 1960.