I believe the IDA and AfDF serve an invaluable role in helping impoverished and developing countries.  It is imperative that funding is made available to them so they may continue to help African nations grow and develop while still ensuring respect for the environment and natural resources.  There are still enormous challenges in agriculture and infrastructure development for many countries.  Boosting productivity on small farms and getting that food to market is a vital part of producing broad-based growth, increasing food availability and slashing poverty.

Many experts have acknowledged that in the future water will be more precious and sought after than oil; there is a worrisome trend toward this end.  I am aware the IDA has increased the levels of water provision to different sectors of Rwanda.  The Rwanda Clean Water project has had a positive impact on clean water since 2005, and I am hopeful this program will be duplicated in other areas.  The world’s water supply is dwindling and will pose a much greater threat in the near future so focusing on ways we can expand upon the Rwanda Clean Water project and use it towards helping other nations is a win-win situation.

I applaud the work of the IDA and AfDF over the years.  However, there is still much work to be done.  Global poverty and its relationship to the overall global economy must continue to be at the forefront of discussions among international bodies, NGOs and the governments of developing nations.  We want to ensure that those developing nations on the verge of global economic success realize that success. However we also want to ensure extremely disadvantaged countries are set on a path toward this economic accomplishment, as well.  I believe opportunities exist for implementing programs addressing poverty reduction and job creation.  Missing these opportunities is a detriment to our world, as well as our own economic stability.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 at 2:49 pm and is filed under Politics .