Debate and discussion: Politics not charity

Submitted by Anon on 12 January, 2005 - 5:59

The last issue of Solidarity (3-63) argued that charity appeals like Bandaid cannot stop world hunger. But does charity do any good at all? The answer to that is yes, to an extent, if you have an immediate need that it meets.

And does charity do any harm? Sometimes. For instance Bob Geldof says he just wants to feed people, and would work with “the devil himself” to do it. And he has done! For example in the 1984 Ethiopian famine, the regime stopped food going to certain areas. The Mengistu regime used aid against people, as a pretext to round people up into camps. As many people died in the forced relocation as were saved by food aid. The regime was not just an obstacle to aid, but instrumental to causing the famine.

That’s why the attitude “I just want to feed people” is hopelessly simplistic.

Another example. In the Rwandan genocide between 1 and 10 million people were slaughtered. But many aid agencies worked through “community leaders” who had carried out the massacres.

These examples are symptomatic of the problem with charity — seeing human suffering but failing to adequately look for the causes.

The answer to famine is not just to send food aid. An example here is Zimbabwe. Until recently Zimbabwe was a net food exporter. Now lots of people are facing starvation. This is a product of politics rather than a natural disaster. The regime’s land policy has caused the collapse of food production.

In the twenty-first century, people do not starve because there is not enough food in the world, but because of how food production and distribution is organised.

Temporary relief can be a good thing and it is true that charities these days are more political, their work is done by by poor people. However, we need to go beyond good instincts and temporary relief. Many of the crises that charity seeks to alleviate are not “natural” but caused by politics. Therefore, the solution must be political rather than charitable.

Hannah, North London

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