AFRICA - Development on the continent and responsibility of Africans

Rome (Agenzia Fides) - The report of the Joint United Nations Programme for Development in 2009, was just recently published, showing once again the plight of Africa with regard to levels of extreme poverty afflicting the continent. The list of 24 countries with the lowest development index of the world, except Afghanistan and East Timor, is formed by African countries, all of the sub-Saharan Africa: Niger, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso, Republic Congo, Chad, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Guinea, Liberia, Gambia, Rwanda, Senegal, Eritrea, Zambia, Ivory Coast, Benin, Malawi and Togo.
The African continent has large natural resources and enormous human potential, guaranteed by the young age of the population, 70% of whom are under age 30. However, unfavorable trade laws, economic interests of Western companies, and high levels of internal corruption prevent Africa from achieving the development levels it is entitled to. The global financial crisis that is affecting to varying degrees all over the world, in Africa has resulted in an increase in hunger and poverty. On the $28 million settlement in 2005 from the G8 countries in Gleneagles, to be distributed in Africa by 2010, according to the UN and the African Union, the number has reached only $9.5 billion. In this connection, experts have underlined the fact that African development cannot and must not depend solely on external aid. The responsibility lies with the Africans. In addition to implementing real change in social structures and government, in which prevailing models are archaic and unreliable with very high indices of corruption, Africans need to materialize foreign aid in development and social progress, favoring the agricultural industry first and foremost, which would increase revenue and ensure food security especially in a continent where over 30% of the population suffers from hunger.
Among the most committed aid groups is the Catholic organization of volunteers Manos Unidas, which has already approved 61 development projects in the continent, with an investment of 2,491,631 euros for agriculture, health, social funding, and education, in Benin, Dem. Rep. Congo, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Burundi, Senegal, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Ghana, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Togo, Malawi, Uganda, Mali, Zambia, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Mauritania, Mozambique, and Nigeria. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 05/31/2010)