President Sirleaf is in New York this week where on Tuesday she addressed the UN General Assembly. In her speech she argued that significant progress is being made in Liberia but that more time is needed for the full implementation of the 'Lift Liberia' development initiative that is currently underway.
I wonder what the assembled ranks of world leaders would make of the fact that, in the same week, she granted clemency to fourteen people accused of murder using the practice of Sassywood (see below) as well as two people found guilty of beating a woman to death for allegedly practising witchcraft. This hardly seems to support the notion that Liberia's justice system is on the road to recovery.
Madam President, I beg you, please reconsider this decision!
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Monday, 25 August 2008
Rough justice
When Liberia was colonised by freed slaves in the late 1800s they took a leaf out of the Europeans’ book and settled on the coast, not wanting to venture too far in land for fear of what savage tribes might lie in wait. When an independent state was officially declared in 1847 they went one step further and adopted a two-tiered approach to rule of law in the country. The coastal settlements were governed by a formal constitution (written by Harvard academics) with an imaginary line drawn at some distance from the coast to demarcate the ‘Hinterland’. This was the realm of uncivilised natives - a sort of "here be dragons"-approach to nation-building - and separate Hinterland Regulations were drawn up in an effort to instil some form of order there.
The unbelievable thing about the Hinterland Regulations is that, although they have been revised a few times since 1847, they still exist. In a somewhat un-ambitious PR move they’ve been re-branded as the ‘Interior Regulations’ but are still used by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a council of traditional leaders as guidelines for the rule of law in these regions.
One of the most interesting (and frightening) aspects of rule of law in the interior is the practice of ‘Sassywood’, a form of trial by ordeal. Although it has now been outlawed it’s still thought to be widely practised in some areas of the country. To a certain extent this is understandable given the limited reach of more formal justice systems. However, a concerted effort is now being made to raise awareness in rural areas that new laws have been passed and crimes should be reported to the police rather than the local Ministry-certified shaman.
So how does Sassywood work? Let’s say one of my goats dies. The cause of death could probably be scientifically investigated but that would take a long time and require skills that might not be readily available. The sudden death of the poor creature could of course also be the work of a curse. And, once the potential source of the curse has been identified, Sassywood is a very effective tool for determining whether the defendant is guilty or innocent. If the accused protests their innocence a potion is concocted from the bark of a type of poisonous tree and administered orally. After this a number of things may happen:
- Defendant dies – this means the person was guilty and hence justice has been delivered.
- Defendant vomits out the mixture and survives – this means they are innocent, a similarly just outcome.
- Defendant passes out – depending on the shape they make when they hit the ground the qualified Sassywood practitioner will be able to determine the degree to which they are guilty and how the matter should be settled.
The above is a somewhat vulgar interpretation of how things may play out but the general idea should be clear. Other trial by ordeal-variants include rubbing said potion into the eyes of the defendant to see if they remain clear (innocent), go red (partially guilty) or even blind (definitely guilty) as well as pressing a red-hot metal implement against the flesh to see if they burn. Admittedly people have a tendency to admit their guilt before suffering any of the above ordeals, in which case the affair can be resolved through the payment of a fine – not unlike a more conventional plea-bargain you could say.
While there are obvious pitfalls in such a system of justice it is certainly efficient. However, Sassywood is just one of a number of ‘harmful traditional practices’ that the Liberian government and NGOs are currently trying to address. The problem is that failing to show respect for these deeply-ingrained forms of culture can seriously derail development interventions. My colleague who works with Women’s Rights issues recounted to me how she was once ‘chased’ out of a village by members of a local secret society who saw her as a threat to their culture (a culture that includes FGM – female genital mutilation – which many organisations are trying to advocate against).
Women have also traditionally been considered as property and hence can be ‘inherited’ by their deceased husbands’ brothers or fathers. Another issue is early marriage. The law says that the age of consent is 18 but it is not uncommon, especially in rural areas, for girls to be married off at 14 or even younger, often to much older men. As a result of this and other factors there is a high level of teenage pregnancy and a low level of school attendance among girls which effectively denies them their right to education.
We are currently working on a proposal for a project that addresses some of these forms of violence against women and seeks to strengthen the implementation of national laws (such as those on rape, inheritance and domestic violence) in the rural south-east of the country. I have just returned from a field assessment there accompanied by my aforementioned colleague and a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Ministry representative was there to beef up our traditional credentials and in one village we got to utter that classic African cliché; “take me to your leader”. I literally had to pinch myself.
It seems fairly evident that simply telling people to abandon their cultural practices will not work. As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. We will need to adopt a softer and more sophisticated approach to avoid being seen as a threat by traditional leaders and this can be hard to align with the agenda ActionAid wants to push. There are no prizes for guessing what I’ll be working on over the next couple of weeks…
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
UN-flation and INGO-nomics
OK so I’ve indulged in yet another mini-break on the blogging front. Since my last post I’ve been back to my adopted home of Sweden, to a rock festival on a farm in Norway, visited a friend in Belgium and attended a regional meeting for my organisation in Kenya. Oh, and after all my years of trouble-free flying I finally got to test my knowledge of airline safety procedures by jumping down an aeroplane evacuation slide in the wake of an aborted take-off from the Ivory Coast. But don’t worry. I removed my high-heeled shoes first.
Anyway, I will now attempt to once again gather my thoughts and write something for your reading pleasure. Well, mainly for my own reading pleasure in a few years’ time when I look back on this experience but still, if other people are reading, all the better.
Today’s topic: the price of rented accommodation. I gasped when I found out that the hole in which I had been residing up until about a month ago was costing US $600 per month! I gasped even harder when I learned that the new place I’ve now moved into is costing US $1000 per month! It’s definitely not luxurious but I have a flatmate for company and it’s a marked improvement on what I was enduring before. For starters it’s connected to Monrovia’s small electricity grid so I don’t have to spend half the evening fumbling about in the dark. I even have 24-hour running water which is occasionally hot if the boiler is behaving itself. There’s also a living room and a proper kitchen as well as an air-conditioning unit that doesn’t sound like it’s about to blast off to the moon when I switch it on. However, the price of rented accommodation in Monrovia is comparable to most European capitals. I thought Africa would be cheap. Why isn’t it so?
In some senses you get what you pay for. Anywhere foreigners reside in this city is normally guarded and that security costs money. What’s more, water has to be driven in by a truck and electricity comes from petrol-powered generators so the high fuel prices also add to the tab. However, this really doesn’t explain why rent should be so high. But then when you think about it it’s quite simple. Most of Monrovia’s buildings were either severely damaged or totally gutted during the war. A couple of years later there’s a massive influx of foreign aid workers and there you have it – what I like to call UN-flation. UN missions typically bring in tens of thousands of ex-patriot workers with tax-free salaries who need a relatively comfortable place to live. On top of this you have the international NGOs (INGOs – development charities such as the one I work for) and all of their foreign staff putting upward pressure on rent levels. It’s basic economics: Limited supply and a sudden spike in demand meaning that we’re all paying the same (or much more in my case) as we would back home.
I’m not expecting any sympathy of course. I read in the newspaper today that 30,000 local residents were made homeless this weekend after heavy rains. That’s what happens when you live in a house made out of scrap metal and wicker in a country with the highest rainfall on the continent I suppose. Still, it is a curious phenomenon. There’s a dual economy, espeically when it comes to the housing market. Loads of new residential buildings are going up all over the city but who are they being built for? Not your average Liberian that’s for sure.
Of course, it would be nice if this newly established foreign wealth was being transferred into the pockets of local people somehow. Sadly that doesn’t seem to be the case. It’s true that the development aid money is financing a lot of things that wouldn’t be happening otherwise but it is hard for Liberians to tap into the bulk of the disposable income that ex-pat workers are spending on a daily basis.
One of the reasons for this is that most of the places where we foreigners spend our money are not owned by Liberians. For some reason unbeknown to me there is a thriving Lebanese population in Liberia (and indeed throughout West Africa). What’s more, the Lebanese own all of the hotels, bars, restaurants and supermarkets where the majority of people like me spend our money. However, I should point out that the Lebanese haven’t simply moved in to profiteer from the greenbacks that are now gushing in. They stuck it out through both periods of civil war and are now making substantial investments in an environment which most foreign companies would deem far too volatile. If they weren’t here then I’m not exactly sure who would be providing those services in their place. Most Liberians would have neither the capital nor the know-how to start-up and run these businesses. And even if the owners are foreign, they employ quite a substantial local workforce which is definitely a huge plus. Nevertheless, there are certainly a number of these risk-loving entrepreneurs who are making a tidy little earning (I’ve seen a couple driving around in Hummers for example).
Many of the proposals I have submitted recently have contained an element of skills training and support for income generating activities for the target beneficiaries. The recently ‘completed’ process of demobilising and rehabilitating ex-combatants also aimed to do just this but the question is how well equipped to earn money these people are after they receive such assistance. Many would argue that the training is typically too short to make much of a difference – we’re talking about a matter of months rather than years. Even if people do manage to gain some marketable skills there’s a very limited market to use them in. Another issue is the fact that huge numbers of people are being trained in the same thing e.g. carpentry. This may explain why the main street into downtown Monrovia looks like one long furniture showroom! Whether or not there is sufficient demand to absorb all of these sofas and armchairs is another question, apparently one that isn’t asked often enough though.
You might think that going back to school would be a better bet? Unfortunately even if you have a family that can support you while you do this there’s very little incentive to receive a formal education in Liberia. The public sector is more or less the only employer of educated people in the country and entry-level civil service jobs pay about US $50 per month. A security guard working for a development charity like mine can earn over three times that much without needing to hit the books. Yet another unintended side-effect of INGO-nomics.
Anyway, I will now attempt to once again gather my thoughts and write something for your reading pleasure. Well, mainly for my own reading pleasure in a few years’ time when I look back on this experience but still, if other people are reading, all the better.
Today’s topic: the price of rented accommodation. I gasped when I found out that the hole in which I had been residing up until about a month ago was costing US $600 per month! I gasped even harder when I learned that the new place I’ve now moved into is costing US $1000 per month! It’s definitely not luxurious but I have a flatmate for company and it’s a marked improvement on what I was enduring before. For starters it’s connected to Monrovia’s small electricity grid so I don’t have to spend half the evening fumbling about in the dark. I even have 24-hour running water which is occasionally hot if the boiler is behaving itself. There’s also a living room and a proper kitchen as well as an air-conditioning unit that doesn’t sound like it’s about to blast off to the moon when I switch it on. However, the price of rented accommodation in Monrovia is comparable to most European capitals. I thought Africa would be cheap. Why isn’t it so?
In some senses you get what you pay for. Anywhere foreigners reside in this city is normally guarded and that security costs money. What’s more, water has to be driven in by a truck and electricity comes from petrol-powered generators so the high fuel prices also add to the tab. However, this really doesn’t explain why rent should be so high. But then when you think about it it’s quite simple. Most of Monrovia’s buildings were either severely damaged or totally gutted during the war. A couple of years later there’s a massive influx of foreign aid workers and there you have it – what I like to call UN-flation. UN missions typically bring in tens of thousands of ex-patriot workers with tax-free salaries who need a relatively comfortable place to live. On top of this you have the international NGOs (INGOs – development charities such as the one I work for) and all of their foreign staff putting upward pressure on rent levels. It’s basic economics: Limited supply and a sudden spike in demand meaning that we’re all paying the same (or much more in my case) as we would back home.
I’m not expecting any sympathy of course. I read in the newspaper today that 30,000 local residents were made homeless this weekend after heavy rains. That’s what happens when you live in a house made out of scrap metal and wicker in a country with the highest rainfall on the continent I suppose. Still, it is a curious phenomenon. There’s a dual economy, espeically when it comes to the housing market. Loads of new residential buildings are going up all over the city but who are they being built for? Not your average Liberian that’s for sure.
Of course, it would be nice if this newly established foreign wealth was being transferred into the pockets of local people somehow. Sadly that doesn’t seem to be the case. It’s true that the development aid money is financing a lot of things that wouldn’t be happening otherwise but it is hard for Liberians to tap into the bulk of the disposable income that ex-pat workers are spending on a daily basis.
One of the reasons for this is that most of the places where we foreigners spend our money are not owned by Liberians. For some reason unbeknown to me there is a thriving Lebanese population in Liberia (and indeed throughout West Africa). What’s more, the Lebanese own all of the hotels, bars, restaurants and supermarkets where the majority of people like me spend our money. However, I should point out that the Lebanese haven’t simply moved in to profiteer from the greenbacks that are now gushing in. They stuck it out through both periods of civil war and are now making substantial investments in an environment which most foreign companies would deem far too volatile. If they weren’t here then I’m not exactly sure who would be providing those services in their place. Most Liberians would have neither the capital nor the know-how to start-up and run these businesses. And even if the owners are foreign, they employ quite a substantial local workforce which is definitely a huge plus. Nevertheless, there are certainly a number of these risk-loving entrepreneurs who are making a tidy little earning (I’ve seen a couple driving around in Hummers for example).
Many of the proposals I have submitted recently have contained an element of skills training and support for income generating activities for the target beneficiaries. The recently ‘completed’ process of demobilising and rehabilitating ex-combatants also aimed to do just this but the question is how well equipped to earn money these people are after they receive such assistance. Many would argue that the training is typically too short to make much of a difference – we’re talking about a matter of months rather than years. Even if people do manage to gain some marketable skills there’s a very limited market to use them in. Another issue is the fact that huge numbers of people are being trained in the same thing e.g. carpentry. This may explain why the main street into downtown Monrovia looks like one long furniture showroom! Whether or not there is sufficient demand to absorb all of these sofas and armchairs is another question, apparently one that isn’t asked often enough though.
You might think that going back to school would be a better bet? Unfortunately even if you have a family that can support you while you do this there’s very little incentive to receive a formal education in Liberia. The public sector is more or less the only employer of educated people in the country and entry-level civil service jobs pay about US $50 per month. A security guard working for a development charity like mine can earn over three times that much without needing to hit the books. Yet another unintended side-effect of INGO-nomics.
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Food for thought
I got an unexpected call from our Swedish office today ("Monrovia, this is Stockholm calling. The results of the Swedish jury are...." Oh nevermind.) Swedish Radio had been in touch and wanted to talk to somebody in Africa as part of a programme about the ongoing food crisis. As the only Swedish-speaking member of ActionAid staff in Africa they picked me, albeit by default, to do the interview. I very excitedly dropped what I was doing and went about formulating some talking points in consultation with my colleagues. The interview was to be broadcast live and I wanted to make sure I was well prepared.
I nervously answered the phone at 2pm. It was the producer. I told him I was expecting the call and launched into the usual pleasantries. He then politely informed me that they wouldn’t be using me after all. Apparently I’d been a stand-by but in the end they got the head of UNICEF in Ethiopia to comment instead. I can’t imagine what possessed them to choose him/her over me. In any case, I thought the information I assembled in vain during the day might make an interesting blog post.
As you may or may not know, world leaders are currently assembled in Rome discussing the steep rises in global food prices that have occurred of late. Liberia was identified in a speech by UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon as one of the countries most at risk from the price hikes.
As you should already have gathered from my previous posts, Liberia still has a long way to go on its road to development. However, any gains being made with the current influx of aid money and support could be wiped away in one foul swoop if the food crisis deepens any further. The World Bank recently estimated that approximately 50% of typical household expenditure in Liberia is on food and that about half of this is on rice alone. The Liberian agricultural sector is in a pretty sorry state. Although the climate and terrain are ideal for growing rice, not to mention all manner of other crops, about 60% of the rice consumed here is imported, mainly from USA and Asia. In Januray alone rice prices rose by 25% and pushed the number of people living below the poverty line up from 64% to 70% during a period of one month. This obviously has knock-on effects as people depend so much on rice and are forced to spend less on other essentials like healthcare and education for their children.
Global food prices have been rising for a variety of complex and intertwined reasons. As anyone who drives will know, fuel prices are on the perpetual increase. Fuel is needed to power farm machinery, transport the food that is produced and oil products are also used in fertilizer. Higher oil prices therefore mean higher farm overheads and transport costs so consumers face higher prices for the final product. Furthermore, land being used for producing food is rapidly being turned over to the production of crops for biofuels. Increased demand for alternative fuels is a natural consequence of high oil prices but the subsidies being offered to farmers to produce biofuels are distorting the market even further. Another factor to throw into the mix the rapidly expanding middle-classes in countries like India and China. As their populations grow wealthier they tend to eat more meat which causes more crops to be diverted away from feeding people (to feed livestock instead), further increasing prices.
Many of the world’s main rice-producing countries have banned exports over the last few months in an attempt to ensure that there is enough food to feed their own populations. This has led countries relying on imports, such as Liberia, facing even higher prices as the supply on global markets is further reduced.
The World Bank has just approved emergency relief interventions to the value of USD $10 million to try and stave off the immediate short term effects of the price rises in Liberia. I am not sure of the exact content of what they are proposing to do. There has been a tendency in the past to send food aid to countries in similar predicaments. It is important to note however that sending food into a country in such a situation cannot be seen as a solution in the medium to long-term. What is important is that investments are made in the agricultural sector. Large-scale, mechanised domestic food production must start up in order for Liberia to move into a situation of food security. Thus far the problem is not actually a lack of food. There’s food here but people lack the purchasing power to buy it. Jobs also need to be created and household incomes increased so that vulnerability to price shocks is reduced.
One of the reasons why Liberia hasn’t reached anywhere near its full agricultural potential is the destruction and abandonment of farms that took place during the long civil war. However, other countries in the region that have never been to war are also reliant on food imports. Policies which continue to be pursued by the EU and USA including subsidising domestic production and putting up barriers to imports from other countries are a major factor. Fencing off rich country markets from external competition means that farmers in developing countries have lower incentives to increase production. This is one of the reasons why urban flight has been on the increase in Africa i.e. rural areas are being deserted with more and more people moving to cities to try and scrape a living.
OK, I’ve ranted enough for now…
I nervously answered the phone at 2pm. It was the producer. I told him I was expecting the call and launched into the usual pleasantries. He then politely informed me that they wouldn’t be using me after all. Apparently I’d been a stand-by but in the end they got the head of UNICEF in Ethiopia to comment instead. I can’t imagine what possessed them to choose him/her over me. In any case, I thought the information I assembled in vain during the day might make an interesting blog post.
As you may or may not know, world leaders are currently assembled in Rome discussing the steep rises in global food prices that have occurred of late. Liberia was identified in a speech by UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon as one of the countries most at risk from the price hikes.
As you should already have gathered from my previous posts, Liberia still has a long way to go on its road to development. However, any gains being made with the current influx of aid money and support could be wiped away in one foul swoop if the food crisis deepens any further. The World Bank recently estimated that approximately 50% of typical household expenditure in Liberia is on food and that about half of this is on rice alone. The Liberian agricultural sector is in a pretty sorry state. Although the climate and terrain are ideal for growing rice, not to mention all manner of other crops, about 60% of the rice consumed here is imported, mainly from USA and Asia. In Januray alone rice prices rose by 25% and pushed the number of people living below the poverty line up from 64% to 70% during a period of one month. This obviously has knock-on effects as people depend so much on rice and are forced to spend less on other essentials like healthcare and education for their children.
Global food prices have been rising for a variety of complex and intertwined reasons. As anyone who drives will know, fuel prices are on the perpetual increase. Fuel is needed to power farm machinery, transport the food that is produced and oil products are also used in fertilizer. Higher oil prices therefore mean higher farm overheads and transport costs so consumers face higher prices for the final product. Furthermore, land being used for producing food is rapidly being turned over to the production of crops for biofuels. Increased demand for alternative fuels is a natural consequence of high oil prices but the subsidies being offered to farmers to produce biofuels are distorting the market even further. Another factor to throw into the mix the rapidly expanding middle-classes in countries like India and China. As their populations grow wealthier they tend to eat more meat which causes more crops to be diverted away from feeding people (to feed livestock instead), further increasing prices.
Many of the world’s main rice-producing countries have banned exports over the last few months in an attempt to ensure that there is enough food to feed their own populations. This has led countries relying on imports, such as Liberia, facing even higher prices as the supply on global markets is further reduced.
The World Bank has just approved emergency relief interventions to the value of USD $10 million to try and stave off the immediate short term effects of the price rises in Liberia. I am not sure of the exact content of what they are proposing to do. There has been a tendency in the past to send food aid to countries in similar predicaments. It is important to note however that sending food into a country in such a situation cannot be seen as a solution in the medium to long-term. What is important is that investments are made in the agricultural sector. Large-scale, mechanised domestic food production must start up in order for Liberia to move into a situation of food security. Thus far the problem is not actually a lack of food. There’s food here but people lack the purchasing power to buy it. Jobs also need to be created and household incomes increased so that vulnerability to price shocks is reduced.
One of the reasons why Liberia hasn’t reached anywhere near its full agricultural potential is the destruction and abandonment of farms that took place during the long civil war. However, other countries in the region that have never been to war are also reliant on food imports. Policies which continue to be pursued by the EU and USA including subsidising domestic production and putting up barriers to imports from other countries are a major factor. Fencing off rich country markets from external competition means that farmers in developing countries have lower incentives to increase production. This is one of the reasons why urban flight has been on the increase in Africa i.e. rural areas are being deserted with more and more people moving to cities to try and scrape a living.
OK, I’ve ranted enough for now…
Friday, 23 May 2008
The HIV/AIDS response: Co-ordinating chaos
Once again, apologies for the hiatus on the blogging front. In my defence I have been very busy and when I have been ‘relaxing’ I have found myself incapable of arranging the thoughts buzzing around inside my brain on a daily basis into anything coherent enough to post. Instead I have been drinking and singing karaoke, but I won’t bore you with that now.
Over the last month or so I have been engaging with the Global Fund (for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – GFATM for short…oh yes, another acronym). Of course I’m after their money to fund our projects (that’s my job after all) but the process of working with them has been a very interesting experience in itself.
As many of you will know, HIV/AIDS is a huge problem in Africa. Liberia is not currently in the same situation as some countries in Eastern and Southern parts of the continent where, in some cases, as many as one in three people are thought to be infected with the virus. Estimates are a bit sketchy but the general consensus seems to be that the prevalence here is somewhere in the region of 2.5%. That’s still a pretty shocking statistic and, what’s worse, an antenatal survey showed that the rate in pregnant women was closer to 5%. This is effectively a ticking bomb. If pregnant women are infected there’s a very high chance they will pass on the virus to their children and the pandemic will become even worse in generations to come.
Hopefully most people reading this know how HIV spreads so I needn’t go into details there. However, the problem is often framed purely as a health issue when in fact there’s a huge socio-economic aspect as well. People in poor countries are more likely to become infected. Why? Several simple reasons include the fact that they may never have heard of HIV; if they have they don’t know how it spreads; and if they know they may not have access to condoms.
A range of other factors often go unconsidered. HIV is heavily stigmatised and so it is very uncommon for people to reveal their status if they are HIV positive. This pushes the virus underground. Apparently 90% of people lining with HIV in Africa don’t even know they are positive. Even if they are able to go and get tested they often don’t want to simply because they are afraid of being ostracised by their families and communities if they discover the worst. The common conception is that HIV/AIDS is a death sentence since it is incurable. However, antiretroviral drugs now exist which mean that HIV positive people, assuming they have access to the right cocktail of medicines, can lead a long and relatively ordinary life.
And then there’s the whole gender aspect. HIV is often associated with homosexual men in the West. In Africa there’s actually a higher prevalence among women. There are biological reasons why women are more susceptible to the virus but again, there are also social ones. Rape was commonly used as a weapon of war during the civil conflict. Violence against women is deeply ingrained and continues even after the end of the war. The old mantra to fight AIDS used to be the ‘ABC’ approach – Abstain, Be faithful, use a Condom. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand that none of these are particularly helpful to a woman who is raped. For this reason ActionAid has been campaigning to highlight the link between gender-based violence and HIV.
Unfortunately though there are even more reasons why women here may fall prey to the disease. One quite gruesome example is the practice of FGM – female genital mutilation. This is a form of initiation rite for women and girls in many tribes. I don’t know very much about it but suffice to say it involves sharp implements and delicate regions of the body and infection can be transmitted in a similar way to when drug users share needles. It’s quite horrible to think about I know. It’s also a tradition and a very taboo subject which makes it much harder to advocate against.
So what to do? How do we stop this virus from spreading? The Global Fund is a bit unique as far as donors go in that they ask for a national proposal to be submitted rather than organisations sending in their contributions individually. This has meant a lot of meetings with the various NGOs and government departments doing HIV/AIDS work here to try and reach a consensus about what we want to put in Liberia's proposal.
It actually hasn’t been that difficult to agree on what needs to be done. Health systems are weak and need to be strengthened. Infrastructure must be improved. People living with HIV/AIDS must be supported. Stigma must be reduced and myths about the virus dispelled. Drugs and testing services must be made available for free. Condoms must be distributed. People must be informed of the risks. Women must be empowered to negotiate safe sex and…the list goes on (and on). Obviously each of the organisations involved has been trying to push their own agenda (I’m no exception to that rule) but if the agenda is for a good cause then who can argue? The problem has been trying to arrange all of the ideas into a coherent package with activities that compliment one another and that will (hopefully) be accepted by the donor.
Generally speaking I think this is a very good way to do a proposal though i.e. by consulting with all of the stakeholders involved. One thing I’ve discovered since working here is that the development world is often incredibly uncoordinated. There are probably thousands of NGOs all doing very valuable work but there seems to be a near total lack of communication about exactly who’s doing what sometimes. This results in interventions being carried out on a somewhat ‘ad hoc’ basis. Small ‘islands’ of development are dotted around the country where, for example, health services are available while other areas get completely forgotten.
This general lack of coordination seems to be a recurring theme here but I suppose it’s no surprise. After all, if the government functioned properly and was sufficiently well-organised then Liberia wouldn’t be in such a mess and people like me wouldn’t be here trying to look for order in the chaos!
Over the last month or so I have been engaging with the Global Fund (for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – GFATM for short…oh yes, another acronym). Of course I’m after their money to fund our projects (that’s my job after all) but the process of working with them has been a very interesting experience in itself.
As many of you will know, HIV/AIDS is a huge problem in Africa. Liberia is not currently in the same situation as some countries in Eastern and Southern parts of the continent where, in some cases, as many as one in three people are thought to be infected with the virus. Estimates are a bit sketchy but the general consensus seems to be that the prevalence here is somewhere in the region of 2.5%. That’s still a pretty shocking statistic and, what’s worse, an antenatal survey showed that the rate in pregnant women was closer to 5%. This is effectively a ticking bomb. If pregnant women are infected there’s a very high chance they will pass on the virus to their children and the pandemic will become even worse in generations to come.
Hopefully most people reading this know how HIV spreads so I needn’t go into details there. However, the problem is often framed purely as a health issue when in fact there’s a huge socio-economic aspect as well. People in poor countries are more likely to become infected. Why? Several simple reasons include the fact that they may never have heard of HIV; if they have they don’t know how it spreads; and if they know they may not have access to condoms.
A range of other factors often go unconsidered. HIV is heavily stigmatised and so it is very uncommon for people to reveal their status if they are HIV positive. This pushes the virus underground. Apparently 90% of people lining with HIV in Africa don’t even know they are positive. Even if they are able to go and get tested they often don’t want to simply because they are afraid of being ostracised by their families and communities if they discover the worst. The common conception is that HIV/AIDS is a death sentence since it is incurable. However, antiretroviral drugs now exist which mean that HIV positive people, assuming they have access to the right cocktail of medicines, can lead a long and relatively ordinary life.
And then there’s the whole gender aspect. HIV is often associated with homosexual men in the West. In Africa there’s actually a higher prevalence among women. There are biological reasons why women are more susceptible to the virus but again, there are also social ones. Rape was commonly used as a weapon of war during the civil conflict. Violence against women is deeply ingrained and continues even after the end of the war. The old mantra to fight AIDS used to be the ‘ABC’ approach – Abstain, Be faithful, use a Condom. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand that none of these are particularly helpful to a woman who is raped. For this reason ActionAid has been campaigning to highlight the link between gender-based violence and HIV.
Unfortunately though there are even more reasons why women here may fall prey to the disease. One quite gruesome example is the practice of FGM – female genital mutilation. This is a form of initiation rite for women and girls in many tribes. I don’t know very much about it but suffice to say it involves sharp implements and delicate regions of the body and infection can be transmitted in a similar way to when drug users share needles. It’s quite horrible to think about I know. It’s also a tradition and a very taboo subject which makes it much harder to advocate against.
So what to do? How do we stop this virus from spreading? The Global Fund is a bit unique as far as donors go in that they ask for a national proposal to be submitted rather than organisations sending in their contributions individually. This has meant a lot of meetings with the various NGOs and government departments doing HIV/AIDS work here to try and reach a consensus about what we want to put in Liberia's proposal.
It actually hasn’t been that difficult to agree on what needs to be done. Health systems are weak and need to be strengthened. Infrastructure must be improved. People living with HIV/AIDS must be supported. Stigma must be reduced and myths about the virus dispelled. Drugs and testing services must be made available for free. Condoms must be distributed. People must be informed of the risks. Women must be empowered to negotiate safe sex and…the list goes on (and on). Obviously each of the organisations involved has been trying to push their own agenda (I’m no exception to that rule) but if the agenda is for a good cause then who can argue? The problem has been trying to arrange all of the ideas into a coherent package with activities that compliment one another and that will (hopefully) be accepted by the donor.
Generally speaking I think this is a very good way to do a proposal though i.e. by consulting with all of the stakeholders involved. One thing I’ve discovered since working here is that the development world is often incredibly uncoordinated. There are probably thousands of NGOs all doing very valuable work but there seems to be a near total lack of communication about exactly who’s doing what sometimes. This results in interventions being carried out on a somewhat ‘ad hoc’ basis. Small ‘islands’ of development are dotted around the country where, for example, health services are available while other areas get completely forgotten.
This general lack of coordination seems to be a recurring theme here but I suppose it’s no surprise. After all, if the government functioned properly and was sufficiently well-organised then Liberia wouldn’t be in such a mess and people like me wouldn’t be here trying to look for order in the chaos!
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