Failing to Aid

Receiving little media attention and even less analysis, the UNICEF annual report recently found that more than 1 billion children worldwide are growing up hungry and malnourished. Of the 2.1 planet's billion children--1.9 billion of whom live in the developing world--one in five lack safe drinking water, one in six lack sufficient food and one in seven lack health care.

In 2000, the UN's 191 member countries committed to a series of ambitious "Millennium Development Goals," including halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015. The recent UNICEF report rated progress on these efforts from "mixed" to "seriously off track." The UN estimates that total global development spending--currently at $68 billion--must be doubled in order to realistically achieve these goals.

A desire to fend off a perceived lack of investment in poor countries and, perhaps, the personal lobbying of rock star/activist Bono, led the Bush Administration to announce a new global aid program in 2002, just before a development summit in Monterrey, Mexico.

Under Bush's Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), which the White House announced with much fanfare, developing countries who were "ruling justly, investing in their people, and establishing economic freedom," would be rewarded with additional assistance. Bush called for a $5 billion annual allotment--a 50 percent increase over previous foreign aid spending--for sixteen select countries.

While intriguing in theory, the MCA has been disappointing in practice. Congress didn't pass the legislation until February 2004, nearly two years after Bush first announced it. "The Administration clearly wanted to get headlines and mute criticism," says Steven Radelet, an MCA expert at the Center for Global Development. "They've gotten a lot of favorable coverage without spending a dime." This year's spending bill underfunded Bush's $2.5 billion request by $1 billion.

Along with its sluggish creation and limited funding, the MCA presents larger institutional failings, some experts say. Right-wing organizations like the Heritage Foundation analyzed part of the data that determines which countries are included as recipients. The selection criteria eliminates failed states, such as Sudan and Somalia, that desperately need global assistance. Moreover, the exclusive and unilateral nature of the endeavor may turn the MCA into a Cold War replica for asserting geopolitical influence, cautions Salih Booker of the advocacy group Africa Action.

With few signs showing global poverty receding, it would be a shame for another ambitious "compassionate conservative" initiative to bite the dust.

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