 Rich countries are not giving enough money to help fight a humanitarian crisis in Congo, where more than 1,000 people die daily from violence, hunger and disease, an international charity said on Saturday.
Oxfam International said donors had committed only $94 million of the $682 million needed for a Humanitarian Action Plan for Democratic Republic of Congo launched by the United Nations, the Red Thingy Cross and aid agencies in February. But donors had invested more than $459 million in support of presidential and parliamentary elections set for July 30. The first multi-party polls in the Congo in 40 years are aimed at drawing a line under years of dictatorship, war and chaos. Oxfam's Democratic Republic of Congo country manager, Juliette Prodhan, said while the international community was right to back the polls "voting alone won't cure the problems."
| Having a stable government is the key to curing the problem, lady. |
Rich country governments have a moral obligation to act when 1,200 people are dying every day from conflict-related causes, Prodhan said in an Oxfam statement sent to Reuters.
| I feel no such moral obligation and Oxfam and its ilk are pretty damned arrogant defining such obligations for us. The DRC decided they wanted to have a dictatorship, and various factions within it decided that they were big on Armed Struggle™. The U.S. didn't, Europe didn't, they did. Anything we contribute toward cleaning up the mess they made is charity, not an obligation. The proper response is "Thank you for what you've given," not "Give us more, damn you." |
"To their shame Italy, Germany and France have committed nothing or almost nothing to the appeal, whilst the contributions of countries like the U.S. and Japan remain minuscule compared with the size of their economies," she added. Oxfam said even the response of consistently faithful donors like Finland, Sweden and Canada had been disappointing.
| Perhaps they're tired of flushing currency down the toilet? |
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