Much is written in our days about the cut down on foreign aid in the budgets of giver countries. There is a new sensitivity towards these cuts after USAID and PEPFAR were practically shut down in a moment’s time. Millions in developing countries will fall victim to those cuts, with deadly consequences. In a time when trillions of Euros and Dollars are spent on weaponry and tools to kill and destroy, the imbalance is visible and can’t even been covered and made invisible by the hardcore right-wing political tendencies the world experience.
But it would be very shortsighted to see only the drama and call for more aid without seeing the imbalances of money, skills, opportunities on the planet. It would be shortsighted to see all the drama without seeing the shortcomings of many developing countries ruled by single-handed power and greed. And it would be shortsighted without seeing the drama and trauma of social-political developments in the USA, where politics is turned into a cult-like mass phenomenon and similar tendencies rise in Europe and around the world. Real democracy has to pull up its sleeves to show what it is capable of and what values remain important.
But there is more: We have to see the current situation also as a chance to create better conditions for humanity and environment. The current situation is a wake-up call not to be missed in economical, but also political and social terms.
One of the calls is certainly for Europe to stand up and find its rightful place – and it will definitely fall short if it betrays its values or tries to negotiate the unnegotiable connected to it.
The wake-up call clearly also stipulates to have a deep reflection about our neighbours and the possibilities they pose. For Europe, the neighbouring continent of Africa has certainly all the ingredients of becoming in the future one of the most close ally. It holds the future in so many ways – notwithstanding all the problems and challenges it has to overcome. And instead of looking like the rabbit towards the snake in direction USA or China, we should start building up a much more beneficial win-win situation between the two continents. Creating value chains together, investing in the continent, share training and education and abolish the last colonialist tendencies still present in our days.
Looking at the USA, another conundrum is definitely the question of how to limit the influence of money on politics in the real sense of the word. Oligarchs and multi-billionaires should be limited in their ability to overrule democracy and its mechanism or to ignore/rewrite the rule of law due to undue influence. We need to reflect and to come up with rules and values serving more than just those who made it by luck, inheritance or using the system cleverly. The current “big beautiful bill” discussed in the US Senate is a showcase of how things can go wrong.
Once again: taking the current situation as a chance and the wake-up call will not take away the death and destructions we witness in our days. It will remain more than a scar in the skin of humanity and a clear defeat of its values and responsibilities. It is terrible! But in every situation there remains also the hope to learn out of it and to allow for progress and a dignified future. Democracy in different forms and shapes and a basic value system should be the framework for such a joined way
NGOs can be very flexible vehicles to support a way forward which balance the imbalance and to allow also Europe and Africa to grow. They are entrepreneurial in nature, and they have a lot to say and to contribute to politics, social questions and economy. They often consist of a pool of people from different walks of life and traditions – being able to show how a win-win situation is achieved. Alone for that very reason, the proposed cuts of development money in Europe remain short-sighted and plainly wrong!
Filed under: Africa, General, Politics and Society, Reflection, SA-German Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Society and living environment, South Africa, vocational training, bi-national, democracy, development, europe, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Trust, NGO, PEPFAR, synergies, usa, USAID
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