14. Msaada wa Kigeni kutoka mataifa ya Magharibi unasaidia maendeleo ya mataifa yanayopokea msaada huo

14. Msaada wa Kigeni kutoka mataifa ya Magharibi unasaidia maendeleo ya mataifa yanayopokea msaada huo - Hadithi za Kijiografia za Kisiasa | Quran Course

Msaada hutolewa mara chache sana kwa nia safi ya kujali wengine. Mara nyingi hutolewa kama njia ya kuunga mkono mshirika katika siasa za kimataifa, na kwa lengo la kushawishi mchakato wa kisiasa wa nchi inayopokea. Kama jambo hilo ni baya au la, limekuwa likitegemea kama mtu anakubaliana au la na ajenda inayofuatwa na nchi inayotoa msaada katika kesi fulani. Wakati wa mzozo kati ya Ukomunisti na Ubepari katika karne ya ishirini, mabingwa wa itikadi hizo, Umoja wa Kisovieti na Marekani, kila mmoja alitumia msaada kushawishi siasa za ndani za mataifa mengine, na kuunga mkono washirika wao dhaifu. Marekani ilibuni Mpango wa Marshall ili kuvuta mataifa ya Ulaya kuelekea Ubepari na kuyatoa mbali na Ukomunisti. Msaada kwa nchi zisizoendelea daima umekuwa na manufaa zaidi kwa mtoaji kuliko kwa mpokeaji. Malengo mahususi yamejumuisha msaada wa ulinzi, upanuzi wa masoko, uwekezaji wa kigeni, shughuli za umishonari na upanuzi wa utamaduni. Katika miongo ya hivi karibuni, msaada unaotolewa na taasisi kama Shirika la Fedha la Kimataifa na Benki ya Dunia umefichuliwa kuwa hasa ni chombo cha kufungua maeneo mapya kwa wafanyabiashara wa kibepari duniani, na kwamba kwa kiasi kidogo sana, kama kipo, unajali ustawi wa watu wa nchi zinazopokea.

Aid is seldom given from motives of pure altruism. It is often given as a means of supporting an ally in international politics and with the intention of influencing the political process in the receiving nation. The consideration of such, being bad or not, has depended on whether one agrees with the agenda being pursued by the donor nation in a particular case. During the conflict between Communism and Capitalism in the twentieth century, the champions of those ideologies, the Soviet Union and the United States, each used aid to influence the internal politics of other nations, and to support their weaker allies. The US developed the Marshall Plan in order to pull European nations toward Capitalism and away from Communism. Aid to underdeveloped countries has always been in the interest of the donor than the recipient. Specific motives have included defence support, market expansion, foreign investment, missionary enterprise and cultural extension. In recent decades, aid by organisations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank has been exposed as being primarily a tool used to open new areas up to global capitalists, and being only secondarily, if at all, concerned with the wellbeing of the people in the recipient countries.

Profesa William Easterly, profesa wa uchumi anayeheshimika katika fani kuu, anayehusika na masuala ya maendeleo na misaada, amekosoa misaada ya kigeni kwa kutofanikisha mengi, licha ya ahadi kubwa zilizotolewa. Anasema: 'Msiba wa maskini wa dunia ni kwamba [Magharibi] ilitumia dola trilioni 2.3 kwa misaada ya kigeni katika miaka hamsini iliyopita, lakini bado ilishindwa kuwafikishia watoto dawa za senti kumi na mbili ili kuzuia nusu ya vifo vyote vya malaria. Magharibi ilitumia dola trilioni 2.3 na bado ilishindwa kuwafikishia familia maskini vyandarua vya dola nne. Magharibi ilitumia dola trilioni 2.3 na bado ilishindwa kumpa kila mama mpya dola tatu ili kuzuia vifo vya watoto milioni tano…Inahuzunisha kwamba jamii ya dunia imebuni njia yenye ufanisi mkubwa ya kuwapa burudani watu wazima na watoto matajiri, wakati imeshindwa kuwafikishia watoto maskini wanaokufa dawa ya senti kumi na mbili.'

Professor William Easterly, a noted mainstream economics professor on development and aid issues has criticized foreign aid for not having achieved much, despite grand promises. He says: ‘A tragedy of the world’s poor has been [that] the West spent $2.3 trillion on foreign aid over the last five decades and still had not managed to get twelve-cent medicines to children to prevent half of all malaria deaths. The West spent $2.3 trillion and still had not managed to get four-dollar bed nets to poor families. The West spent $2.3 trillion and still had not managed to get three dollars to each new mother to prevent five million child deaths…It is heart-breaking that global society has evolved a highly efficient way to get entertainment to rich adults and children, while it can’t get twelve-cent medicine to dying poor children.

Ufanisi wa misaada ya kigeni umekuwa ukihojiwa kwa muda mrefu kwa sababu katika visa vyote imekuja na masharti yaliyofungamana nayo. Nchi wafadhili pamoja na Marekani zimetumia misaada kutimiza malengo yao ya kijiografia ya kisiasa. Kwa mfano:

The effectiveness of foreign aid has long been questioned since in all cases it has come with strings attached. Donor countries as well as the US have used aid to meet their geopolitical aims. For example:

a. Marekani imeelekeza misaada kwenye maeneo ambayo ina wasiwasi yanayohusiana na usalama wake wa kitaifa, kwa mfano Mashariki ya Kati, na hasa wakati wa Vita Baridi, Amerika ya Kati na Karibiani.

a. The US has directed aid to regions where it has concerns related to its national security, e.g. Middle East, and in Cold War times in particular, Central America and the Caribbean.

b. Uswidi imetoa misaada inayolengwa kwa "jamii zinazoendelea".

b. Sweden has targeted aid to “progressive societies”.

c. Ufaransa imejitahidi kukuza au kuhifadhi na kueneza utamaduni, lugha, na ushawishi wa Kifaransa, hasa Afrika Magharibi, huku ikitoa msaada kwa kiasi kikubwa zaidi kwa nchi zenye mahusiano makubwa ya kibiashara na Ufaransa.

c. France has sought to promote maintenance or preserve and spread of French culture, language, and influence, especially in West Africa, while disproportionately giving aid to those that have extensive commercial ties with France.

d. Japani pia imeelekeza misaada yake kwa kiasi kikubwa kwa nchi za Asia Mashariki zenye mahusiano makubwa ya kibiashara, pamoja na masharti ya manunuzi ya bidhaa za Kijapani.

d. Japan has also heavily skewed aid towards those in East Asia with extensive commercial ties together with conditions of Japanese purchases.

Afrika hasa imeahidiwa msaada tangu mwisho wa ukoloni. Mikutano mingi ya G8 imeahidi msaada na kufutiwa madeni kwa bara hili. Hata hivyo, hayo yamefanyika ili kupata uungwaji mkono kwa maslahi ya kitaifa, badala ya kusaidia bara lililoathirika na umaskini. Kama alivyobainisha Action for Southern Africa: 'Haiwezekani kukanusha kuwa kumekuwepo utawala mbovu, rushwa na usimamizi mbaya barani Afrika. Hata hivyo, urithi wa ukoloni, uungaji mkono wa G8 kwa tawala za kidhalimu wakati wa Vita Baridi, kuundwa kwa mtego wa madeni, kushindwa vibaya kwa Mipango ya Marekebisho ya Kimuundo iliyowekwa na IMF na Benki ya Dunia, pamoja na kanuni zisizo za haki za biashara ya kimataifa, vyote hivyo ni sababu. Nafasi ya G8 katika kuandaa mazingira ya mgogoro wa Afrika haiwezi kukanushwa. Wajibu wake mkuu ni kuweka mambo yake sawa, na kukomesha sera zisizo za haki zinazozuia maendeleo ya Afrika.'

Africa in particular has been promised aid ever since the end of colonialism. Countless G8 summits have promised aid and debt relief to the continent. However, this has been in order to win support for national interests rather then helping the impoverished continent. As noted by Action for Southern Africa: ‘It is undeniable that there has been poor governance, corruption and mismanagement in Africa. However, the legacy of colonialism, the support of the G8 for repressive regimes in the Cold War, the creation of the debt trap, the massive failure of Structural Adjustment Programmes imposed by the IMF and World Bank and the deeply unfair rules on international trade. The role of the G8 in creating the conditions for Africa’s crisis cannot be denied. Its overriding responsibility must be to put its own house in order, and to end the unjust policies that are inhibiting Africa’s development.

Hali ilivyo sasa katika mahusiano ya kimataifa inadumishwa kupitia msaada wa kigeni. Nchi tajiri kama Marekani zinaendelea kuwa na chombo cha kifedha cha kuamuru maana ya utawala bora, na kufungua masoko ya nchi zinazoendelea kwa kampuni za kimataifa. Nchi zinazoendelea hazina chombo kama hicho cha kuingia katika masoko ya Magharibi, hata katika sekta kama kilimo na nguo, ambapo zina faida lakini bado zinakabiliwa na vikwazo vya biashara na ruzuku.

The status quo in world relations is maintained through foreign aid. Rich countries like the US continue to have a financial lever to dictate what good governance means and to pry open markets of developing countries for multinational corporations. Developing countries have no such handle for Western markets, even in sectors like agriculture and textiles, where they have an advantage but continue to face trade barriers and subsidies.