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Debate
„Education is the best protection against child labour“
Letters to the editor
Comment: Give Bolivia a chance
Comment: The price of not talking to Hamas
06/2006 |
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Letters to the editor
Ignorant policymakers
The fallacy of abundant water
D+C/E+Z 3/2006, p. 104
Sunita Narain’s article touches my emotions deeply. In my little hometown of Kumbo, Cameroon, we are faced with a similar situation. There is a steady shortage of potable water every March
and April for the past seven years now, as a result of increasing population, and following an unprecedented rise in the demand for domestic water.
This shortage does not mean anything to our so-called policy-makers and administrators. Instead we hear claims like these: “The problem is temporal, it is just because of the prolonged dry season, and we can’t do anything about it. It will be over as soon as the rainy season comes.” To these big guns with big Mercedes and Pajero cars there is no problem: poor people can suffer from cholera until the rains to come.
Or imagine this claim: “You people voted for the opposition during the last election, so what do you want now from the ruling party.” In this sense, we cannot expect to reap from what we did not sow. Is this not a violation of human rights?
As you proposed in your article, I discussed the issue already with our local council mayor. Individual villages or quarters in the municipality should embark on self-help construction of water schemes. Thank God, the region still has abundant water sources in its upland watersheds.
Humphrey M. Tah, KivenK Development,
Bamenda, Cameroon
Advantages of the EU approach
In triplicate
D+C/E+Z 12/2005, p. 464
Michael Ruffert expresses views that are typical of German NGOs. Such criticism is legitimate. However, Ruffert could equally have emphasised other aspects. For instance, European development programmes are meant
to complement national efforts. Therefore, major German NGOs do not enjoy the same privileges with the EU in this context as they do in their home country – and accordingly, smaller NGOs sometimes fare better with the EU.
The low rate of EU project approval – you are talking of 80 % – basically reflects the great interest of NGOs – as well as the fact that everyone may apply. The approval rate may be higher at national level. However, that is often due to formal as well as informal long-term commitments, which, in turn, make it harder for new applicants to succeed.
In EU policy-making, decentralised action is intentional. This approach is believed to best match the needs of diverse developing countries. If centralised non-governmental organisations, that intend to implement projects in a given country, do not get along well with the European Delegations there, that is not necessarily the latter’s fault.
For my part, I consider the European system of funding NGOs quite favourably.
Dr. Berthold Kuhn,
NGO Research Center, Beijing, China
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