Agust Flygenring - semsagt.net

Barnaþrælkun þróunarlandanna og skólamáltíðir WFP

Nicholas Kristof skrifar um ókosti alþjóðlegrar lagasetningar um bann við vinnu barna, The fuss over child labor is misguided:

It's appalling that Abakr, like tens of millions of other children abroad, is working instead of attending school. But prohibiting child labor wouldn't do him any good, for there's no school in the area for him to attend. If child labor hawks manage to keep Abakr from working, without giving him a school to attend, he and his family will simply be poorer than ever.

And that's the problem when Americans get on their high horses about child labor, without understanding the cruel third world economics that cause it. The push by Democrats like John Kerry for international labor standards is well intentioned, but it is also oblivious to third world realities.

[...]

It's bribery. The UN World Food Program runs a model foreign aid effort called the school feeding program. It offers free meals to children in poor schools - and an extra bribe of grain for girl students to take home to their families. Almost everywhere, providing food raises school attendance, particularly for girls. "If there were meals here, parents would send their kids," said Muhammad Adam, a teacher in Toukoultoukouli.

School feeding costs just 19 cents per day per child.

So here's my challenge to university students: Instead of spending your energy boycotting Nike or pressing for barriers against child labor, why not sponsor school meals in places like Toukoultoukouli?

I spoke with officials at the World Food Program, and they'd be thrilled to have private groups or individuals help sponsor school feedings. [Hér er hægt að leggja sitt af mörkum] Children in Africa will be much better off with a hot meal and an education than with your self-righteous indignation.

Grein sem allir sem hafa minnsta áhuga á málefnum þróunarríkja ættu að lesa.

Á síðu WFP er að finna þessa töflu um hvað hægt er að gera fyrir framlag þitt:

• For just €34 (US$33), you can ensure a poor child is fed and educated for one year
• €12 (US$11) will feed and help educate one child for three months
• €22 (US$21) will provide food for one month to a woman and three of her children while she receives training
• €100 (US$99) will allow WFP to purchase 5,000 cups of rice to feed a community

Heldur aumingjalegt páskaegg fæst fyrir 12 evrur. 22 evrur eru nærri verðinu á "alvöru" páskaeggjum.

Fátækir námsmenn ráða við að missa þúsundkall af kortinu sínu. Fyrir ígildi eins hádegisverðar á einhverri hamborgarabúllu bæjarins geturðu tryggt barni menntun og mat fram á sumar. Þá eru flestir námsmenn með digrari sjóði og geta borgað fyrir menntun og mat út árið.
Þetta tók circa 2 mínútur og ekki mun ég sakna hamborgarans eða páskaeggsins. Lítilræði á minn mælikvarða en skiptir sköpum fyrir verr staddan íbúa þróunarlands sem nú nýtur menntunar og matar.
Agust skrifaði 10.04.04 14:47

Flokkun: Afríka , Development , Hagfræði , Hnattvæðing/Globalisation , Meðmæli , Stjórnmál , Viðskipti