Help for HIV/AIDS Orphans in Africa (2)
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Dear Colleagues
Sorry Janet, but I think your enthusiasm is misplaced. The FAO
has put together a pilot project to target 1,000 children. It
then goes on to say that the problem is that there are "esti-
mated 34 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa, more than 11
million lost their parents to AIDS." It goes on to observe that
"by 2010, it is estimated that up to 20 million children could
lose one or both parents to the disease". The write up did not
say how much the FAO program was going to cost... but experience
suggests that anything done by a UN specialized agency is likely
to be 10 to 100 times more expensive that an indigenous local
solution, and hardly ever sustainable.
You really have to wonder... The message says: "The Food and Ag-
riculture Organization (FAO), is working with the UN World Food
Programme (WFP) and other UN agencies, non-governmental organi-
zations (NGOs) and local institutions to set up the courses".
How much does all this coordination cost? What is the time line?
What is the justification of this program relative to other po-
tential uses for the money?
I would be happy to change my mind, but my experience suggests
that UN specialized agencies are often very expensive, not very
efficient and really do more to divert scarce resources to ir-
relevant projects that give UN employment rather getting to
grips with the real problems that have caused the crisis and now
serve to sustain the crisis rather than ending it.
Sincerely
Peter Burgess
Tr-Ac-Net in New York
Transparency and Accountability Network
mailto:Profitinafrica@aol.com