The country of Ethiopia, an East African nation located in the horn of Africa, has long been a "benefactor" of the humanitarian financial aid of the World Bank. The government of the developing nation with a populous of some 90 million people has been receiving assistance as far back as the early 2000 's to help combat poverty and famine until its funding was cut off in 2005 when the country 's "authoritarian leaders massacred scores of people and arrested some 20,000 political opponents following disputed elections. After a year, the bank restrategized and decided to begin funding local and state governments as opposed to central authorities" (Chavkin, 2015) in an effort to establish a more direct line of assistance for the countries residents
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The project was "a massive social engineering project that sought to move almost 2 million poor people to newly built sites selected by the government" (Chavkin, 2015). Former governor Omot Olum of Gambella, Ethiopia stated that he "personally oversaw the diversion of some 10 million dollars from the World Bank funding to be redirected toward funding for the mass relocation through the villagization program", which according to many accounts, was carried out through threats and violence not limited to beatings, torture, rape, and even murder by the national defense forces. Also, that in being relocated the villagers received very little if any form of compensation to offset being thrown off of the fertile land they once lived on and heavily relied on for their livelihoods. Members of the ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) and the Human Rights Watch investigated these occurrences and said that upon reaching the village they noticed that the government forces had beaten them there and that the reports they received did not match what the villagers expressed upon their …show more content…
There are far too many working components (institutions) with varying agendas, many of which do not coincide with one another. Coupling large financial institutions seemingly passive stance on corruption, including its own, along with their (at best) mediocre system of establishing ground rules for loans as well as their apathetic attempt at continually ensuring that the money is being used in the manner established between itself and the borrower does not bode well for citizens of poor nations that are subject to the corrupt practices of their governing bodies and indifferent loaners. I do feel that better attempts can be made by expanding staff that solely investigate individual projects, who also specialize in their respective countries brand of politics, and requiring that borrowing nations continually provide evidence-backed updates detailing where every dollar is spent. I also feel that during the time frame that loan periods are active that borrowing nations should not be allowed to allot its land and resources to private, self-interested entities the same way that Gambella officials sold and leased misappropriated Gambian land to the Conglomerate, Saudi Star. At least not without the corporation pledging to assist in developing better conditions for natives. While I don 't believe that any organization has the capacity
The project was "a massive social engineering project that sought to move almost 2 million poor people to newly built sites selected by the government" (Chavkin, 2015). Former governor Omot Olum of Gambella, Ethiopia stated that he "personally oversaw the diversion of some 10 million dollars from the World Bank funding to be redirected toward funding for the mass relocation through the villagization program", which according to many accounts, was carried out through threats and violence not limited to beatings, torture, rape, and even murder by the national defense forces. Also, that in being relocated the villagers received very little if any form of compensation to offset being thrown off of the fertile land they once lived on and heavily relied on for their livelihoods. Members of the ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) and the Human Rights Watch investigated these occurrences and said that upon reaching the village they noticed that the government forces had beaten them there and that the reports they received did not match what the villagers expressed upon their …show more content…
There are far too many working components (institutions) with varying agendas, many of which do not coincide with one another. Coupling large financial institutions seemingly passive stance on corruption, including its own, along with their (at best) mediocre system of establishing ground rules for loans as well as their apathetic attempt at continually ensuring that the money is being used in the manner established between itself and the borrower does not bode well for citizens of poor nations that are subject to the corrupt practices of their governing bodies and indifferent loaners. I do feel that better attempts can be made by expanding staff that solely investigate individual projects, who also specialize in their respective countries brand of politics, and requiring that borrowing nations continually provide evidence-backed updates detailing where every dollar is spent. I also feel that during the time frame that loan periods are active that borrowing nations should not be allowed to allot its land and resources to private, self-interested entities the same way that Gambella officials sold and leased misappropriated Gambian land to the Conglomerate, Saudi Star. At least not without the corporation pledging to assist in developing better conditions for natives. While I don 't believe that any organization has the capacity