Friday 29 July 2011

Aid, Africa and relational distance

Quote
“Don’t only give your care, but give your heart as well.” Mother Teresa

News
Drought in the horn of Africa is causing a mass exodus of families and communities from their homes and lands in a desperate attempt to avoid starvation. The response to East Africa’s worst drought in 60 years has been generous; the World Food Programme reported a surge in donations this week, and the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal in UK has just passed £30 million in private donations.
 
Against this backdrop, there has been controversy in Britain over the size of the government’s aid budget. Since 1997 successive Labour and Conservative governments have been pursuing the UN target of giving 0.7% of GDP in aid. David Cameron is under fire for increasing the aid budget at a time when almost every other government department is required to make the largest spending cuts in decades.

Detractors argue that much official aid is badly spent, and since the cold war ended, there has been a growing commitment to overcome the corruption, waste and excessive bureaucracy that have blighted aid programmes. The new concept of ‘smart aid’ focuses on transparency and delivering results for the poor, demanding better accountability to both taxpayers in rich countries and to the poor in low income countries.

Western aid is deeply rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition of compassion and solidarity with the poor. This kind of giving increases the wellbeing of donors as well as recipients – but it hinges on the degree of connection between the giver and receiver. Citing statistics such as 12 million people being threatened by drought in East Africa may get our attention, but personal stories, of families with names, are far more likely to create a sense of connection across the thousands of miles between readers and drought victims.

Reducing the ‘relational distance’ or gap between donors and recipients is one strategy for making aid more effective; it can motivate donors and also hold aid agencies more accountable. How might this principle be applied to official development assistance?

First, the number of intermediary institutions could be reduced to ensure more money ends up with the final beneficiaries; secondly, taxpayers might be allowed to nominate an NGO from a list to receive that part of their income tax which goes to the aid budget and thirdly, perhaps some of the bilateral aid (government to government) could be decentralised to the level of city to city; ‘twinning for aid’ could open up many new avenues for people to engage meaningfully in helping the 1 billion people who live in absolute poverty today.

Read on...
Jamie Drummond of the campaign organisation ONE argues in favour of Britain’s aid programme and suggests how it could be ‘smarter’. Read the article here.

Walk the talk
We give to charity appeals as a response of compassion or perhaps to relieve our consciences; might you narrow the relational gap with your giving and make it more personalised? Sponsoring a child, a family, a school or a community are all options for using your money not just to meet a need but to build a lasting relationship, which though remote, is still real.

The last word
From the Bible, 2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each of you must give what you have decided in your heart, not with regret or under compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.”

Friday 15 July 2011

The third crisis of public trust


Quote
“Advertisements... contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.”  Thomas Jefferson, 1819

News
Today’s Economist writes about the third great crisis of trust in British democracy in as many years: first the banks, then members of parliament, and now the news media.  Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has come under intense public scrutiny for its unacceptable journalistic practices, sparked by information that the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowland was hacked for the News of the World.

This unravelling story reveals the power of the media over both police and politicians, leading to all three institutions being vulnerable to dishonesty and corruption.

Every society is built on trust, and every person needs to be trustworthy.  Yet greater integrity is expected from politicians, the police and the media, which is why their failure to meet the public’s ethical standards is so distressing.  Not that those standards are always clear or consistent; newspapers publish what their readers wish to see, reinforce their prejudices and titillate their curiosity about the private lives of public figures.  But when an invisible line is crossed, approval can turn quickly to indignation and outrage, which is causing the seismic cracks at the heart of Murdoch’s News Corporation.

Why is trust so important?  It is what prevents us from having to do everything ourselves.  Trust is believing someone else will act correctly, and so is inherently relational; trust enables us to hand our children over to teachers, give our vote to a politician, relax while the pilot flies the plane, put our money in a bank account, and share roads with other motorists.  We do these things without anxiety because we believe that the others involved share our values, will act responsibly and look after our interests.

With any loss of trust, relational capital diminishes. Society becomes poorer as more time is taken drawing up detailed contracts and regulations, more funds are spent on security, surveillance and policing, and health declines because people grow more anxious. 

Trust matters in a relational world; that is how ‘a little bit of phone hacking’ can ultimately bring a media empire to its knees.

Read on...
Mark Scholefield authored a report reviewing the value of trust in the world of work and business; it explains the benefits of trust, the influence of culture, and explores when trust is not an asset.  You can download “A Guide to Trust” from the Relationships Foundation website here.

Walk the talk
It is easy now to point the finger at unscrupulous journalists, but are we also reinforcing the gossip culture behind their deeds?  We may not read tabloid newspapers, but whenever we listen in to a conversation, or glance at someone else’s email or letter, that’s also an invasion of privacy.  Can we clean up journalism without addressing our own habits?

The last word
From the Bible, Luke chapter 16, verse 10: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

Friday 1 July 2011

Covenants and crises: Greece and the Eurozone


Quote
“If a man owes the bank £1000 and cannot pay, it is his problem; if he owes them £100 million and cannot pay, it is their problem.”  Anonymous.

News
The prospect of Greece defaulting on its debt was postponed this week, as austerity measures intended to save €28 billion over 5 years were approved by the Greek parliament.  Attention has now shifted from the relationship between Greece and her main creditors to the tension between the Greek people and their own government.  Two days of rioting in Athens this week show their deep antipathy towards sweeping tax rises, job losses and spending cuts that lie ahead.

What makes this crisis so significant is the nature of political commitment that underlies monetary union.  Citizens of each country adopting the euro entered a covenant with the people of other Eurozone nations.  Covenants require a high level of trust and discipline, as they bind people’s lives and destinies together for better or worse.  Every country joining the euro pledged to keep their economy in alignment with the others – most importantly by ensuring government deficits stayed under 3% of GDP to ensure the stability of the whole Eurozone.  Yet Greece’s annual deficit averaged 5.4% of GDP between 2000 and 2007, even before the financial crisis began.

In a covenant, there will always be stronger and weaker parties, and the former will offer protection and support when necessary to the latter.  But that should never be taken for granted.  The Greek government has maintained a large, inefficient public sector, and cannot expect indefinite subsidies from other Eurozone countries; equally, the rest of the EU cannot lightly turn its back on covenant parties in need.

Notwithstanding who ends up paying for Greece’s present mountain of debt (or those of Ireland, Portugal and Spain), the future of European monetary union is clearly a relational issue.  As with marriage, being bound by a common currency means both richer and poorer nations must continuously choose solidarity over independence, discipline over profligacy, prudence over risk.  Each country must accept the costs of such a union if they are to share in its benefits, whether defined in economic or relational terms.  

Read on...
In 1998 the Jubilee Centre published a Cambridge Paper considering whether Britain should join the euro; it selects seven biblical principles pertinent to the issue of monetary union and considers the arguments in the light of them.  You can read the paper here.

Walk the talk
Although none of us has lent money directly to Greece, the financial institutions which hold our savings and pensions might have done so.  It is good to know what those we entrust with our money actually do with it, so why not make a request to your bank to see how exposed you are to Greek debt?

The last word
From the Bible, Proverbs 17, verse 18: “It's poor judgment to guarantee another person's debt or put up security for a friend.”