The Foreign Service Journal, May 2004

reform, civil service reform, open information and telecom systems, private media, women’s rights, local NGOs, etc. In my experience, I have often found other donors naïve, cer- tain U.N. agencies too cozy with the government in power, and host gov- ernments doing only the absolute minimum to remain in the donors’ good graces. American leadership — not just money — is essential. • Development/economic indicators. (Improve- ment) There is a French-language cartoon from years back which depicts African development assistance by showing a development bureaucrat who is observing an academician who is observing an NGO rep who is observing a consultant who is observing a genuine African farmer who is planting seeds. Thankfully, that model — which spent a great deal of development money funding outside “experts” — is no longer in vogue. I used to scandalize my colleagues by suggesting, only half tongue-in-cheek, that the best use of development money would be to drop it in the form of cash out of an airplane over the neediest parts of the country — since all individuals were rational economists and would use the money better than donors or recipient governments. The philosophical direction of development aid has shifted toward the pragmatic, and those nations that are liberal- izing their economies, and improving governance and spending what they can on health and education for their people can expect dramatic improvements. Some coun- tries are finally getting it: accepting a sovereign credit rat- ing, private Internet service providers, stock markets, open banking, and assuring a relatively honest customs or licensing authority, etc., don’t sound like critical elements for development, but they make a huge difference. As these countries make dramatic strides, both macroeco- nomically and in the quality of life for their people, the laggards will notice and will finally have to make changes as well. Within a decade, I believe, the majority of Africa will be in the “significantly improving” camp. U.S. Policy Response. In my view traditional devel- opment has concentrated too much on process and not enough on results. I therefore enthusiastically support the proposed “Millennium Challenge” approach, and only regret it didn’t come sooner. Helping those coun- tries that are genuinely attempting to govern justly, meet their peoples’ basic needs and implement sound economic policies makes sense. So does monitoring on the ground to assure that our assis- tance is garnering the desired out- comes, before releasing the next tranche of funding. We should also evaluate the efficiencies of all part- ners who receive U.S. government funding — in terms of how much of the money is spent on actual activities and how effective the results are — and only continue with those who meet established criteria. And we should partner more with innovative emerging NGOs, such as “A Glimmer of Hope,” which was established through its founders’ own dot.com profits and uses a business model in its rural development work. This means minimal bureaucracy (e.g., a one-page project application form), close consultation with recipients, including jointly agreed-to goals, very little spent on administrative expenses, and — most importantly — dramatic positive outcomes. The U.S. should encour- age such an approach across the board, partner more with the private sector in general, and demand that large international organizations (such as UNDP, to which we contribute significant funds) also become more efficient. • HIV/AIDS. (Mixed) The day before I left Ethiopia, the findings of a comprehensive survey financed by USAID broke my heart. The bottom line: while a majority of Ethiopians from various categories — the military, farmers, truck drivers, professionals — know how one can become infected with HIV/AIDS, only a minority were planning to change their own sexual behavior. At about the same time, though, I saw a report from Uganda showing how dramatically the HIV/AIDS infection rates had declined since President Yoweri Museveni had personally instigated an energetic govern- ment campaign to change people’s attitudes. U.S. Policy Response. Africa is a combination of Ethiopias and Ugandas — and in many states the death rate is yet to crest. One bit of good news: there ha s been a paradigm shift in how the rich world looks at HIV/AIDS in Africa. Finally, the West has come to accept that it has to provide increased resources to help Africa, including (and this is important) making treat- ment available to Africans. Someone who deserves per- F O C U S 24 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A Y 2 0 0 4 Until about 1990, representing official U.S. government positions in Africa was anything but fun.