Humanitarian Rhetoric: The Question of Development and Foreign Aid

I chose to write about the organization International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement mainly because it is an organization in which I was involved, yet never made the effort to thoroughly inquire about. On their website, the ICRC claims that it's goal is to:
-Prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found
-To protect life and health and ensure respect for the human being, in particular in times of armed conflict and other emergencies
-To work for the prevention of disease and for the promotion of health and social welfare
-To encourage voluntary service and a constant readiness to give help by the members of the Movement, and a universal sense of solidarity towards all those in need of its protection and assistance

Overall, Oxfam, founded in 1955, is an group of 13 organizations that work in over 100 countries to find solutions to global poverty. They work with the poor and those who have power in order to gain a greater success with their collective achievements.

The thirteen Oxfam organizations are based in: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Quebec, Spain and the United States.

Oxfam's work with poverty is made up of a variety of programs. These include development programs, emergency work, research/lobbying, and campaigning. They also address a variety of extensions of poverty which include education, trade, conflict and debt.

Topics considering:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/03/080303fa_fact_talbot?currentPage=1

http://www.texasprisonbidness.org/immigration-detention/two-coming-hutto-events

Privately owned prison incites talk over “immigrant detention facility in Hutto Tx”. The Hutto prison has been one of the most criticized prison/jails in Texas because of the following reasons: It is a privately owned prison contracted by the government; secondly it holds immigrant children in prison conditions and is managed according to prison rules.
It is a controversial subject especially in places where these types of prisons are located.

Partners in Health, or PIH, is a very cosmopolitan organization who mission is to provide health care to those who need it and cannot afford it. Within their mission statement, they make the claim that if a person in Peru or Siberia is sick, they want to use all means to make them well. "Whatever it takes. Just as we would do if a member of our own family—or we ourselves—were ill."

I find this organization to be interesting because of their "whatever it takes" mentality. All of the organizations being research by the class do good for society, but their was something that attracted me to PIH more than the others.

http://www.mcc.gov

Millennium Challenge Corporation is a government organization that focuses on helping countries in poverty by making investments that will economically benefit that country. In order for a country to be chosen it must identify its own problems and come up with a plan to make things better. If countries are chosen they commit to a contract for a multi-year plan. MCC then gives grants to invest in transportation, agriculture, education, etc. The countries economic plan is a large part but not the only factor in being chosen, MCC makes sure that the host country government is not corrupt and governs justly, having the citizens interest in mind.

The first thing I noticed about Amnesty International's website is how simple it is. They don't seem to rely on any type of flash animation or anything like that. They use a bold yellow to highlight key words and titles; the only other colors are black and gray. Another thing that also stood out to me was the languages that the website can be translated into: Arabic, Spanish, and French. This implies that the focus of Amnesty is on countries that speak these languages: the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. They do not translate into German, Russian, Czech, or any Eastern European languages.

http://www.savethechildren.org/

The first thing that strikes me when I open the website is the bulletin that says, “Protecting Children in Crisis Around the World…Save the Children is on the front line protecting and responding to the needs of children in Kenya, Tajikistan, Bolivia and West Darfur.” Why is that the first thing that strikes me you might ask? My sister’s husband is from Bolivia and my niece was also baptized last year there too. I had a long talk among thousands of pictures of how children and life in general is in Bolivia. I never imagined Bolivia being worse than Mexico, but it actually is in some parts. In addition, various parts in the homepage, you can see that American Idol is a tremendous support group for Save the Children as well as Melinda Gates from the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation. The group’s mission is to create “real and lasting change for children in the United States and around the world…working with families to define and solve problems their children and communities face and utilizing a broad array of strategies to ensure self-sufficiency.” An interesting thing about this group is the way they got started 75 years ago because of World War I and slowly but surly branched off to 110 countries. It’s also interesting how this organization shows you were the money is actually going by establishing a graph on the website so everyone can see. In general though, Save the Children does almost everything. On the website, you can see what countries exactly they work in, how you can donate and other programs that they offer. Another neat thing is how you can get involved. This website gives many ideas on how to get involved by hosting a baby shower of all the children that need help to signing the ONE campaign declaration. Save the Children is very involved and other groups support it very deeply, therefore I believe that Save the Children can agree with me when I say that today’s children are our future and we must seek them a hand.

Mission Statement:
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an independent international medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters, or exclusion from health care in more than 70 countries.
I feel that Doctors Without Borders is an extremely admirable organization as their "decision to intervene in any country or crisis is based solely on an independent assessment of people's needs — not on political, economic, or religious interests." "The Constant Gardener" demonstrated the dangers of humanitarianism with an agenda. By disregarding political and financial considerations, DWB insures that aid goes to those of most critical need. Also, Doctors Without Borders is an international organization and I feel that this would improve relationships not only between those offering and those accepting aid, but also between those countries working side by side to improve the quality of life of those in need. Their website is very well organized and easy to navigate. The first thing that I noticed were the many large pictures dominating the homepage. I think that these pictures of the sickly and impoverished receiving care generate feelings of both hope and serve as a call to action.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3256929.stm
http://allafrica.com/stories/200803270883.html

My involvement in Invisible Children has led me to know a great deal about the crisis in Northern Uganda, as this is where the NGO is focusing its efforts. I want to write about the country's current situation because, like many, I am a little confused.

Uganda is (hopefully) coming to the end of a horrendous 22-year civil war between the government and a rebel group (the Lord's Resistance Army) through 2007-08 peace talks. What interests me the most about the crisis is that such little media attention is being paid to the longest-running war in Africa. More people have died here than in the holocaust, than in Iraq, and in the war of its northern neighbor Sudan.

The organization that I chose to share is A Glimmer of Hope. This group was brought to my attention by my sorority who Professor Dinner this coming week is featuring the founder and co-chair of this foundation, Donna Berber, as the guest speaker. A Glimmer of Hope began in 2000 and works with the country of Ethiopia to make a difference in water and sanitation, education, health care, microcredit, agriculture and irrigation. They chose to improve these aspects of life in Ethiopia due to the fact that this country is one of the five poorest countries in the world and desperately needs aid. In addition, this foundation works with investors and companies in Ethiopia to fund its projects to ensure all of the donations given are given straight to the aid of the country. This technique allows Ethiopia to increase its stability as a country without just receiving money and hoping funds do not run dry. Although working with the government, this group does not work through the government. The website does a good job of capture the viewer’s attention with an interactive slideshow of pictures and clearly displays that 100% of donations go straight to aid. It also demonstrates this "hope" the name of the foundation suggests by offering success stories of the country and the valuable changes they have been able to generate. The accessibility of this foundation also caught my attention with places right here in Austin to get involved. In fact, A Glimmer of Hope was the AFP's Outstanding Philanthropic Foundation of the year in 2006. Their global involvement has been linked with the ONE Campaign by Bono and the Clinton Global Initiative. I admire how one woman can use her blessings to head an entire foundation geared for positive change and look forward to learning more about this organization during her speech.