“The U.S. has introduced legally binding measures to require oil, gas and mining companies to publish key financial information for each country and project they work on. And I want Europe to do the same.”
Economic development requires aid, but also sound institutions. Britain can lead on both fronts.
By DAVID CAMERON
Wall Street Journal – OPINION EUROPE
October 31, 2012, 3:48 p.m. ET
There is an old debate between those who say the way to tackle global poverty is to spend more on aid and those who believe instead that the solution is to deal with the weak institutions, corruption and conflict in developing countries. The truth is that right now, we need to do both.
We need to honor our promises to the poor, because people are dying unnecessarily and our aid is needed to save them. But we also need to tackle the causes of poverty, not just its symptoms. And that means a radical new approach to supporting what I call “the golden thread” of conditions that enable open economies and open societies to thrive: the rule of law, the absence of conflict and corruption, and the presence of property rights and strong institutions. It is only when people can get a job and a voice that they can take control of their own destiny and a build a future free from poverty.
I believe Britain is in a unique position to lead this new approach. For years we have been at the forefront of the poverty-fighting agenda. The world’s greatest aid agencies—we’ve got them. Live Aid and Live 8—we made them. And Britain’s leadership on aid is still needed when preventable diseases like malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea kill almost seven million children every year. It is still needed when we face an acute hunger crisis, compounded by rising food prices, that leaves 165 million children in the world without the nutrition to grow to their full potential.
So aid still has a vital role to play, and I am proud that, even in these tough economic times, Britain will meet our obligation to spend 0.7% of our gross national income on aid from next year. We will also continue to lead the way in the battle against hunger, following our Olympic summit with an event next year to encourage the growth of more nutritious food and to get it to families at prices they can afford.
But our record on aid also gives us the legitimacy to lead a radical new approach to address the causes of poverty. Here in Britain we believe that the way out of poverty is to help people stand on their own two feet, incentivize and reward hard work, and make aspiration the engine of growth. Developing countries are no different. Spending money on the symptoms of poverty will never be enough when the failure of institutions in developing countries actually causes poverty, by crushing any hope people have for a livelihood and a fair say over how their country is run.
Eradicating poverty requires the growth that is fueled by open economies, and open economies are themselves best ensured by open societies: rights for women and minorities, a free media, integrity in government, and the freedom to participate in society and have a say over how your country is run.
A genuine golden thread would tie together economic, social and political progress in countries the world over. And we need to make a new priority of strengthening the vital institutions that enable and defend that progress. Because only then will farmers be able to get their crops to market quickly and safely. Only then will people escape the fear of seeing their homes bulldozed just because they don’t have property rights. Only then will girls in Pakistan have the skills and education to get decent jobs when they grow up. And only then will women the world over have the same legal rights as men to own farms, take out loans or inherit the family home.
Making this transformation a reality means using our aid differently, as a catalyst to unleash the dynamism of developing economies: from professionalizing cross-border customs services and enabling farmers to access price information by mobile phone, to using satellite photos to map plots of land that will facilitate the creation of property rights. From supporting the development of an independent police and judiciary, to investing in the political leadership of women and girls whose contribution is so vital in improving governance and achieving sustainable and equitable growth.
It also means driving improvements in transparency and accountability to ensure that corrupt elites cannot waste our aid money. I want people to see exactly where every penny is going. Where it’s not reaching the people who need it, we will stop it. But we in the developed world must also put our own house in order, including by tracking down and returning plundered assets, refusing visas to corrupt foreign officials and stopping bribery involving our companies. The U.S. has introduced legally binding measures to require oil, gas and mining companies to publish key financial information for each country and project they work on. And I want Europe to do the same.
Pursuing every strand of this golden thread will be at the heart of my approach to development in the coming year. We have a challenge to win over skeptics at home and abroad. But I believe Britain has the credibility to lead this new agenda, and I will be using my role as co-chair of the U.N.’s High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda and our presidency of the G-8 to do exactly that.
Thirty years ago, more than half the planet lived on the equivalent $1.25 a day or less. Today that’s down to one-fifth. I believe this extraordinary story of human progress means we now have within our grasp a unique opportunity to become the generation that eradicates absolute poverty. But we will only achieve that by tackling the root causes of the problem. That is the greatest help we can offer. It is the way to eradicate absolute poverty in our lifetimes. And it is what our efforts are all about.
Mr. Cameron is prime minister of the United Kingdom.
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