Oxfam: Obama visit should begin new partnership on
transparency
Accra, July 11, Ghanadot/GNA - On
his historic trip to Ghana, Oxfam, an international
humanitarian agency called on President Barack Obama to
commit to a new partnership for African development built on
new resources and new measures to increase transparency and
accountability.
“Much like the Cairo speech, we are hoping the Accra speech
will signal a new era of engagement, respect and partnership
with Africa,” said Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of
Oxfam America.
“This historic visit, so early in his presidency and on the
heels of important commitments at the G8 in Italy, signals
the importance President Obama places on African
development,” he said in a statement received in Accra.
Oxfam noted that millions of Africans live in extreme
poverty, and were now hit hard by the global economic and
climate crisis.
It said sub-Saharan Africa alone was expecting losses of up
to $245 billion this year as a result of the global slump,
which was two times the amount it received in global aid.
In Ghana, a resource-rich country, the life expectancy was a
mere 58 years and 70 per cent of people in the poor northern
regions lived on less than $1 a day, the statement said.
Oxfam said despite the economic crisis, Africa continued to
attract large investments to extract the riches that lie
below ground, producing billions in government revenues.
By 2015, oil revenues in African oil-exporting countries
will exceed the amount needed to meet key social development
goals by $35 billion annually, but investing this money
wisely is not a sure thing.
“Africa is rich in natural resources like gold, diamonds and
oil, but, too often, these resources have contributed to
corruption, conflict, and human rights abuses,” said Mr
Offenheiser.
“But important progress can be made to turn this around.
President Obama can help by supporting increased
transparency and the disclosure of payments from US and
other companies to African governments to help ensure
responsible use of billions of dollars of government
revenues per year.”
Oxfam praised Ghana’s recent commitment to transparency in
the country’s nascent oil sector and urged President Obama
to encourage the government to follow through on these
commitments and encourage other African governments to
follow the positive steps the Ghanaian government has taken
to date.
Oxfam also noted that key reforms were needed to make the US
foreign aid system as effective as possible in reducing
poverty and creating prosperous communities throughout the
developing world.
It said the US currently lacked a coherent assistance
strategy for many of the countries it is trying to help.
Oxfam is calling on the US to keep recipient country
governments and their public informed on the nature and
amount of American aid, help the recipient country to manage
its own development, and ultimately, let each recipient
country lead its own development agenda.
“American generosity is undermined by a reactive approach
that prioritizes relief efforts like food aid, that saves
lives, but doesn’t address underlying causes of poverty and
hunger,” said Offenheiser.
“If the US wants to use its aid consistently to help the
poor in countries such as Ghana, it needs a global
development strategy to guide the US government's efforts to
fight poverty.”
It noted that climate change was already having an impact on
the lives and livelihoods of millions of poor people in
Africa, as a recent Oxfam report detailed.
Tackling these impacts is essential to addressing food
security and broader development objectives. President Obama
must commit to help bring about a comprehensive global
climate strategy that will help poor communities cope with
the impacts of global warming, from failed crops to
dwindling reserves of clean water and displacement caused by
extreme weather events.
“Global hunger and poverty is a human tragedy exacerbated by
faltering investments in agricultural production and the
growing impacts of climate change,” said Offenheiser.
“We are pleased to see President Obama follow through on his
commitments to reassert US leadership and address the
challenges facing the billion people around the world
without enough food.”
GNA
