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ple are so poor, their lives are in danger. How to change that for good

T O R T U R E DD R E A M S

Children with no homeother than this sleepin a train station inJakarta, Indonesia

Photographs byJames Nachtwey�VII

t is still midmorning in malawi when we������ �� � ��� ����� �� ������� ����� �� ��� ������� �� ������� � � ������� �� ������� ���� ���� ������ ������ ����� ��� � ������ ����� �������� ��� ����� ���� ������� ���� ��� �� �� ������� � � �������������������� �� ��������� �� � �� ���������������������� ����� �� � ����� �������������� �� ���� ��� !������ ������� ��� �� ����� �� ��������� �������� � �� ��� �� ���� ��� ���� ���"��� � �� ���� ������� � � �����

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��� ���� ����������������� ����� �� �������� ��� �� � �"���� � � ��������� ���� ��� �� �� ����� #�� �� �� ������ �� � ������ �� ��� �� ���������� ��� ��� �� �� �� ����� ��������� ��� ������ �� � ����� ���� ��� ��� � ��� �� ��� � ������ �� ����� �� �� �� � ���� �� ���� ��� � � �������$ %�� ��� � "���$ � � ��� ������ � � �� �� �� �� � � ���� � ���� �� ��� ��� ��� �� � ��� ���� � ��� ����� � � ���� �� �������������� � aids�

� � �������� �� ���� �� �� ������ �� ���� ����� ������ ������ ����� � � ������� ��� � �������� ��� ����������� � ��� ��� ���� ����� ������ � � ����� �� ������� �� �&������������ ������' ��������� �� ����� ������ � %�� ����������� �� ����� �� �� ��� �� �� () ��� ���� ����� ������*�� ��� ���� ���� � ���� ���� � �� �� ���� �� �� ���� �� ������ �� ���� �� ���� ���� �� � � ����� �� ���� �������� � ���� ��������� ��� ���� ������� �� ����"���� �� � �� ���� ��+���� � �� ���� ���� ���� �� ����� � ������ ��� ���������� ����� ��� �� ������ � �� ���� ������� �� � � ���� �� � ��� �� ����� ��� ��� , � ���� �� ���� �� ����� ��� ��� ���� ����� �� ������������ ����������� ����� � �� �� �� � ������ ��� � � ��� � � �� ������� ��� � � ��� � �� ������� ���� �� � � ��� ��� � � � ����� ��� � �� �� �

� ��� �� ����� � � ��� �� � � � ������ , � ������ �� �� �� �� ����� - ��� �� � � �� � � �� ���������� ������ � ����� ������� � ������ �� ������� �� ����� �� �� �� ������� � � ��& ���� �� � � ��� ������� � �� � � �� � ���� � ������ �� .������� � � ���������� ��������� ������� � �� �� ���� � � � �� �� � ������ � � ��� ���� ���� ��� ��� ��� �������� � � ��&� �� � �� � ��� ������� � �� � � �������� ��������� �� ��&���� ����� � � .������ �� ���� ��� ��� � � � �� ���������� �� ��������� ��� ��������� �� ��� � ���� �� � �� �+��� � �� ( ����� !������ � ������ ��� ��� ��� �� ��� ��/ ������ ������� �� ������ ��� ����

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We can banish extreme poverty in our generabecause they are too poor to survive. The tragthrive. In a bold new book, Jeffrey D. Sachs

E X C L U S I V E B O O K E X C E R P T

I

T H E D I R T I E S T W O R K

Women in Bihar, one of India�s poorest states, carry away thecontents of latrines. Only members of the untouchable caste

perform that low-paying task

tion�yet 8 million people die each yearedy is that with a little help, they could evenshows how we can make it happen

COPYRIGHT �2005 JEFFREY SACHS. ADAPTED FROM THE END OF POVERTY, TO BE PUBLISHED THIS MONTH IN THE U.S. BY PENGUIN

46 TIME, MARCH 14, 2005

the young girls her name and age. She looks about 7 or 8 but is ac-tually 12, stunted fromyears of undernutrition.When I ask herwhather dreams are for her own life, she says that she wants to be ateacher and that she is prepared to study and work hard to achievethat. I know that her chances of surviving to go on to secondaryschool and a teachers college are slim under the circumstances.

The plight of Malawi has been rightly described by CarolBellamy, head of ������� as the perfect storm of human depriva-tion, one that brings together climatic disaster, impoverishment,the ��pandemic and the long-standingburdens ofmalaria, schis-tosomiasis andother diseases. In the face of this horri"cmaelstrom,the world community has so far displayed a fair bit of hand-wring-ing and even some high-minded rhetoric, but precious little action.It is no good to lecture the dying that they should have done betterwith their lot in life. Rather it is our task to help them onto the lad-der of development, to give them at least a foothold on the bottomrung, from which they can then proceed to climb on their own.

This is a story about ending poverty in our time. It is not a fore-cast. I am not predicting what will happen, only explaining whatcan happen. Currently, more than 8 million people around theworld die each year because they are too poor to stay alive. Everymorning our newspapers could report, ;More than 20,000 peopleperished yesterday of extreme poverty.<How?The poor die in hos-pital wards that lack drugs, in villages that lack antimalarial bednets, in houses that lack safe drinking water. They die namelessly,without public comment. Sadly, such stories rarely get written.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, theU.S. has launched awar on terrorism,but it has neglected the deeper causes of global instability. Thenearly $500 billion that the U.S. will spend this year on the mili-tary will never buy lasting peace if theU.S. continues to spend on-ly one-thirtieth of that, around $16 billion, to address the plight ofthe poorest of the poor, whose societies are destabilized by ex-treme poverty. The $16 billion represents 0.15% of U.S. income,just 15@ on every $100 of our national income. The share devotedto helping the poor has declined for decades and is a tiny fractionof what the U.S. has repeatedly promised, and failed, to give.

Yet our generation, in the U.S. and abroad, can choose to endextreme poverty by the year 2025. To do it, we need to adopt a newmethod, which I call ;clinical economics,< to underscore the simi-

lutions. Inmy view, clean water, productive soils and a functioninghealth-care system are just as relevant to development as foreignexchange rates. The task of ending extreme poverty is a collectiveoneDfor you as well as for me. The end of poverty will require aglobal network of cooperation among people who have never metand who do not necessarily trust one another.

Onepartof thepuzzle is relativelyeasy.Mostpeople in theworld,with a little bit of prodding, would accept the fact that schools, clin-

��� ����� ��� ����� ��� ��� ������� ������ ������ ������� �������� � � ��� �������� � ��� ����� � ��� ���� ������������ ����� ��� �� ���������

larities between good development economics and good clinicalmedicine. In the past quarter-century, the development economicsimposed by rich countries on the poorest countries has been toomuch likemedicine in the 18th century, when doctors used leechesto draw blood from their patients, often killing them in the process.Development economics needs an overhaul in order to be muchmore likemodernmedicine, a profession of rigor, insight and prac-ticality. The sources of poverty aremultidimensional. So are the so-

E X T R E M E P O V E R T Y

E X C L U S I V E B O O K E X C E R P T

EAST ASIA

E. EUROPE,CENTRAL ASIA

LATIN AMERICA,CARIBBEAN

MIDDLE EAST,NORTH AFRICA

SOUTH ASIA

SUB-SAHARANAFRICA

19812001

Where are theextremely poor?

People, in millions, livingon less than $1 per day

������������� �� � ��� ��� ��� ���

TIME, MARCH 14, 2005 47

ics, roads, electricity, ports, soil nutrients, cleanwater and sanitationare the basic necessities not only for a life of dignity and health butalso tomake an economywork. Theywould also accept the fact thatthe poor may need help to meet their basic needs. But they mightbe skeptical that the world could pull off any effective way to givethat help. If the poor are poor because they are lazy or their govern-ments are corrupt, how could global cooperation help?

Fortunately, these common beliefs are misconceptionsDonly asmall part of the explanation of why the poor are poor. In all cor-ners of the world, the poor face structural challenges that keepthem from getting even their "rst foot on the ladder of develop-ment. Most societies with the right ingredientsDgood harbors,close contactswith the richworld, favorable climates, adequate en-ergy sources and freedom from epidemic diseaseDhave escapedextreme poverty. The worldJs remaining challenge is not mainly toovercome laziness and corruption, but rather to take on the solv-able problems of geographic isolation, disease and natural hazards,and to do so with new arrangements of political responsibility thatcan get the job done. We need plans, systems, mutual accountabil-ity and "nancing mechanisms. But even before we have all of thatapparatus in placeDwhat I call the economic plumbingDwe must

"rst understand more concretely what such a strate-gy means to the people who can be helped.

nearly half the 6 billion people in the worldare poor. As amatter of de"nition, there are three de-grees of poverty: extreme (or absolute) poverty,moderate poverty and relative poverty. Extremepoverty, de"ned by the World Bank as getting by onan income of less than $1 a day, means that house-holds cannot meet basic needs for survival. They arechronically hungry, unable to get health care, lacksafe drinkingwater and sanitation, cannot afford ed-ucation for their children and perhaps lack rudi-mentary shelterDa roof to keep rain out of thehutDandbasic articles of clothing, like shoes.We candescribe extreme poverty as ;the poverty that kills.<Unlike moderate or relative poverty, extreme pover-ty now exists only in developing countries.Moderatepoverty, de"ned as living on $1 to $2 a day, refers to

D U M P I N G G R O U N D

Scavengers in Jakarta�an otherwise booming cityin Indonesia�comb through garbage dumps likethis one. Many of the country�s extremely poor

were the worst hit by last year�s tsunami

conditions in which basic needs are met, but justbarely. Being in relative poverty, de"ned by a house-hold income level below a given proportion of thenational average, means lacking things that themid-dle class now takes for granted.

The total number of people living in extremepoverty, the World Bank estimates, is 1.1 billion,down from 1.5 billion in 1981. While that is progress,much of the one-sixth of humanity in extremepover-ty suffers the ravages of aids, drought, isolation andcivil wars, and is thereby trapped in a vicious cycle ofdeprivation and death. Moreover, while the eco-nomic boom in East Asia has helped reduce the pro-portion of the extreme poor in that region from 58%

in 1981 to 15% in 2001, and in South Asia from 52% to 31%, the sit-uation is deeply entrenched in Africa, where almost half of the con-tinentJs population lives in extreme povertyDa proportion that hasactually grown worse over the past two decades as the rest of theworld has grown more prosperous.

A few centuries ago, vast divides in wealth and poverty aroundthe world did not exist. Just about everybody was poor, with the ex-ception of a very smallminority of rulers and large landowners. Lifewas as dif"cult in much of Europe as it was in India or China. Yourgreat-great-grandparents were, with very few exceptions, poor andliving on a farm. The onset of the Industrial Revolution, supportedby a rise in agricultural productivity, unleashed an explosive periodof modern economic growth. Both population and per-capita in-comecameunstuck, rising at ratesneverbefore imagined.Theglob-al population rosemore than sixfold in just two centuries, while theworldJs average per-capita income rose even faster, increasingaround ninefold between 1820 and 2000. In todayJs rich countries,the economic growthwas evenmore astounding. TheU.S. per-capi-ta income increased almost 25-fold during this period. In beholdingthat success,manypeopleembrace faulty social theoriesof thosedif-ferences. When a society is economically dominant, it is easy for

E X C L U S I V E B O O K E X C E R P T

its members to assume that such dominance reZects a deepersuperiorityDwhether religious, racial, genetic, ethnic, cultural or in-stitutionalDrather than an accident of timing or geography.

Such theories justi"ed brutal forms of exploitation of the poorduring colonial rule, and they persist even today among those wholack anunderstandingofwhathappenedand is still happening in theThirdWorld. In fact, the failure of the ThirdWorld to grow as rapid-ly as theFirstWorld is the result of a complexmix of factors, somege-ographical, somehistorical andsomepolitical. Imperial ruleoften leftthe conquered regions bereft of education, health care, indigenouspolitical leadership and adequatephysical infrastructure. Often, new-ly independent countries in thepost[WorldWar II period made dis-astrous political choices, such as so-cialist economicmodels or adrive forself-suf"ciency behind inef"cienttradebarriers.Butperhapsmost per-tinent today, many regions that gotleft furthest behind have faced spe-cial obstacles andhardships: diseasessuch as malaria, drought-proneclimates in locations not suitablefor irrigation, extreme isolation inmountains and landlocked regions,an absence of energy resources suchas coal, gas and oil, and other liabili-ties thathavekept theseareasoutsideof themainstream of global econom-ic growth. Countries ranging fromBolivia toMalawi toAfghanistan facechallenges almost unknown in therichworld, challenges that are at "rstharrowing to contemplate, but onsecond thought encouraging in thesense that they also lend themselvesto practical solutions.

in the past quarter-century,when poor countries have pleadedwith the rich world for help, theyhave been sent to the world moneydoctor, the International MonetaryFund. For a quarter-century, andchanging only very recently, themain imf prescription has beenbudgetary belt-tightening for patients much too poor to ownbelts. imf-led austerity has frequently resulted in riots, coups andthe collapse of public services. Finally, however, that approach isbeginning to change.

It has taken me 20 years to understand what good develop-ment economics should be, and I am still learning. In my role asdirector of the U.N. Millennium Project, which has the goal ofhelping to cut the worldJs extreme poverty in half by 2015, I spentseveral eye-opening days with colleagues last July in a group ofeight Kenyan villages known as the Sauri sublocation in the Siayadistrict of Nyanza province. We visited farms, clinics, hospitalsand schools. We found a region beset by hunger, aids and malar-ia. The situation is grim, but salvageable.

More than 200 members of the community came to meetwith us one afternoon. Hungry, thin and ill, they stayed for

31_2hours, speakingwith dignity, eloquence and clarity about theirpredicament. They are impoverished, but they are capable andresourceful. Though struggling to survive, they are not dispiritedbut are determined to improve their situation. They know wellhow they could get back to high ground.

The meeting took place on the grounds of a school called theBar Sauri Primary School, where headmistress Anne MarcellineOmolo shepherds hundreds of schoolchildren through primaryeducation and the travails of daily life. Despite disease, orphan-hood and hunger, all 33 of last yearJs eighth-grade class passed the

Kenyan national secondary-school exams. On a Sunday last July,we saw why. On their ;day off< from school, this yearJs class ofeighth-graders sat at their desks from 6:30 a.m. until 6 p.m.preparing months in advance for this yearJs national examina-tions in November. Unfortunately, many who will pass the examswill be unable to take a position in a secondary school because oflack of money for tuition, uniforms and supplies. Nonetheless, toboost the fortitude of the eighth-graders during the critical ex-amination year, the community provides them with a middaymeal, cookedwithwood andwater the students bring fromhome.

48 TIME, MARCH 14, 2005

D E S P E R A T E F O R A D O S E

Impoverished men in Peshawar, Pakistan, many of them addictedto heroin produced in neighboring Afghanistan, beg for money at

the window of a passing car

Alas, the community is currently unable to provide midday mealsfor the younger children, who must fend for themselves.

When our villagemeeting got underway, I canvassed the groupand got very perceptive accounts of the grim situation. Only two ofthe 200 farmers at the meeting reported using fertilizer at present.Around 25% are using improved fallows with nitrogen-"xing trees,a scienti"c farming approach developed and introduced into Sauriby the World Agroforestry Center. With this novel technique, vil-lagers grow trees that naturally return nitrogen to the soil by con-verting it from the atmosphere, thus dramatically improving yields.

The new method could be usedthroughout the village if moremon-ey were available for planting thetrees alongside their maize crops.

The rest of the community isfarming on tiny plots, sometimes nomore than one-quarter of an acre,with soils that are so depleted of nu-trients and organicmatter that evenif the rains are good, the householdsstill go hungry. If the rains fail, thehouseholds face the risk of deathfrom severe undernutrition. Stunt-ing, meaning low height for oneJsage, is widespread, a sign of perva-sive and chronic undernutrition ofthe children.

The real shocker camewithmyfollow-up question. How manyfarmers had used fertilizers in thepast? Every hand in the roomwent up. Farmer after farmer de-scribed how the price of fertilizerwas now out of reach, and howtheir current impoverishment leftthemunable to purchasewhat theyhad used in the past.

As the afternoon unfolded, thegravity of the communityJs predic-ament became more apparent. Iasked how many households werehome to one or more orphanedchildren left behind by the aidspandemic. Virtually every hand inthe room shot up. I asked howmany households were receiving

remittances from family members living in Nairobi and othercities. The response was that the only things coming back fromthe cities were cof"ns and orphans, not remittances.

I asked how many households had somebody currently suf-fering from malaria. Around three-fourths of the hands shot up.Howmany use antimalarial bed nets? Two out of 200 hands wentup. How many knew about bed nets? All hands. And how manywould like to use bed nets? All hands remained up. The problem,many of the women explained, is that they cannot afford the bednets, which sell for a few dollars per net, and are too expensiveeven when partially subsidized by international donor agencies.

A few years back, SauriJs residents cooked with locally col-lected wood, but the decline in the number of trees has left thearea bereft of suf"cient fuel. Villagers said that they now buypieces of fuel wood in Yala or Muhanda, a bundle of seven sticks

��� ���� ���� ��� ������������ ��� ����!���

�n the halls of politicsand power, most econ-omists are like wallpaperDfull of intricate details but

ultimately decoration. JeffreySachs, however, is a brandname. A player. ThereJs Jeffwith the Pope. ThereJs Jeffwith U.N. chief Ko" Annan.ThereJs Jeff with his save-the-world sidekick, U2Js Bono.

Sachs, 50, has beenaround the planet moretimes than a space stationto promote the U.N.JsMillenniumDevelopmentGoals, to raise annual aid to0.7 percent of gnp of thedonor countries (startingwith an extra $70 billion peryear as of 2006), in order tohalve poverty by 2015. HeJs aspecial adviser to Annanwhile pursuing a day jobas head of ColumbiaUniversityJs Earth Institute,which reZects his philosophyas an economist: thatsustainable development canbe achieved only through anapproach that considerseverything from geographyto infrastructure to familystructure. ;Right now, IJmjust running Zat between allthese various assignments,<he said last week. ;I got backfrom Ethiopia yesterday.Did a dinner talk. Flew toWashington. IJm hosting aseminar this evening. IJm atthe U.N. the next two daysand then off to Japan.<

Sachs accidentallyinserted himself into history.A star at HarvardDhe was atenured professor at 28Dhefound himself in 1985 ata seminar about Bolivia,which at the time was beingbattered by hyperinZation.I can "x that, he blurted. TheBolivians accepted the offer.Sachs neglected to tell themthat he had never actuallyworked on a real liveeconomy. But he soon left forBolivia and made good onhis word, stabilizing thecurrency. His work for thedeveloping world had begun.

He would later develop aradical economic programfor the Solidarity-led Polishgovernment that helpedthe country create a marketeconomy. But he hit a wall asan adviser to Boris YeltsinJsRussia, where kleptocratshelped undermine hisprogram. Disappointed, heresigned after two years.

Sachs found that thestandard policy toolboxused by the InternationalMonetary FundDstructuraladjustmentDwas limited andoften harmful to poorcountries. aids and malaria

MARKASNIN

�REDUXFORTIM

E

� � � � �� ��� �� �������� ������������� ��� ���������� ������������ �� !��������"

in Africa can be a greaterobstacle to growth than debt.;Life doesnJt come with oneproblem neatly separatedfrom the rest. Specializationis helpful, but youJve got tosee the web,< he says. Sachslabels this comprehensiveapproach ;clinical econom-ics.< ItJs an idea he gleanedfrom his wife Sonia Ehrlich,a pediatrician.

Can he save the poor?The photo ops with BillClinton are easy; nobody isfor poverty. Aid to develop-ing countries is inching up-ward, but Sachs knows thelarge checks havenJt come inyet. ;The big money is whatthe year 2005 is about,< hesays.��� ���� �����

E X C L U S I V E B O O K E X C E R P T

50 TIME, MARCH 14, 2005

costing around 30@. Not only are seven sticks barely enough tocook one meal, but for a lack of 30@, many villagers had in fact re-verted to cooking with cow dung or to eating uncooked meals.

The dying villageJs isolation is stunning. There are no cars ortrucks owned or used within Sauri, and only a handful of villagerssaid they had ridden in any kind of motorized transport during thepast year. Around half of the individuals at the meeting said thatthey had never made a phone call in their entire lives.

This village could be rescued, but not by itself. Survival dependson addressing a series of speci"c challenges, all of which can bemetwith known, proven, reliable and appropriate technologies and in-

yields and quickly end chronichunger. Grain could be protect-ed in locally made storage binsusing leaves from the improvedfallow species tephrosia, whichhas insecticide properties.

IMPROVING BASIC HEALTH

A village clinic with one doctorand nurse for the 5,000 resi-dents would provide free anti-malarial bed nets, effectiveantimalarial medicines andtreatments for ���/�� oppor-tunistic infections.

INVESTING IN EDUCATION

Meals for all the children at theprimary school could improve

the health of the kids, the quality of education and the attendanceat school. Expanded vocational training for the students couldteach them the skills of modern farming, computer literacy, basicinfrastructure maintenance and carpentry. The village is readyand eager to be empowered by increased information and techni-cal knowledge.

BRINGING POWERElectricity could bemade available to the vil-lages either via a power line or an off-grid diesel generator. Theelectricitywouldpower lights andperhapsacomputer for the school;pumps for safewellwater; power formilling grain, refrigeration andother needs. The villagers emphasized that the students would like

S I C K A N DH E L P L E S S

In a hospital�s tuberculosisward in Zimbabwe, where AIDShas made millions vulnerable to

such diseases, the onlyavailable bed is often the #oor

terventions. (Thanks to a grant from the Lenfest Foundation in theU.S., the Earth Institute at Columbia University will put some nov-el ideas towork in Sauri.) SauriJs villages, and impoverished villageslike them all over the world, can be set on a path of development ata cost that is tiny for the world but too high for the villages them-selves and for the Kenyan government on its own. African safariguides speak of the Big Five animals to watch for on the savannah.The world should speak of the Big Five development interventionsthat would spell the difference between life and death for the sa-vannahJs people. SauriJs Big Five are:

BOOSTING AGRICULTURE With fertilizers, cover crops, irriga-tion and improved seeds, SauriJs farmers could triple their food

to study after sunset but cannot do so without electric lighting.PROVIDING CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION With enough

water points and latrines for the safety of the entire village,women and children would save countless hours of toil eachday fetching water. The water could be provided through acombination of protected springs, rainwater harvesting andother basic technologies.

The irony is that the cost of these services for SauriJs 5,000 resi-dents would be very low. My Earth Institute colleagues and I esti-mated that the combined cost of these improvements, evenincluding the cost of treatment for ��, would total only $70 perperson per year, or around $350,000 for all of Sauri. The bene"ts

1820 1998

Wealth by regionLong-term growth in GDP

per capita, in 1990 dollars

Source: OECD*Excluding Japan

0 $5,000 $10,000 $15,000 $20,000 $25,000

W. EUROPE

FORMER U.S.S.R.

U.S., CANADA,OCEANIA

LATIN AMERICA

JAPAN

ASIA*

AFRICAA few generationsago, almost everybody was poor.The Industrial Revolution led tonew riches, but much of the worldwas left far behind

E C O N O M I C D I V I D E

E X C L U S I V E B O O K E X C E R P T

TIME, MARCH 14, 2005 53

would be astounding. Soon-er rather than later, theseinvestments would repaythemselves not only in livessaved, childreneducatedandcommunities preserved, butalso in direct commercialreturns to the villages andthe chance for self-sustain-ing economic growth.

The international donorcommunity should be think-ing round-the-clock of onequestion: How can the BigFive interventions be doneon a larger scale in rural ar-eas similar to Sauri? With apopulation of some 33 mil-lion people, of whom two-thirds are in rural areas, Kenya wouldneed annual investments on the order of $1.5 billion for its Sauris,withdonors "llingmost of that "nancinggap, since thenational gov-ernment is already stretchedbeyond itsmeans. Instead, donor sup-port for investment in ruralKenya is perhaps$100million, or amereone-"fteenth ofwhat is needed. AndKenyaJs debt service to the richworld is several hundred million dollars per year. KenyaJs budget isstill being drained by the international community, not bolstered byit. This is all the more remarkable since Kenya is a new and fragiledemocracy that should be receiving considerable help.

desh, Indonesia and Pakistan, enjoyed rapid economic growth.What is the explanation? Every situation of extreme poverty

around the world contains some of its own unique causes, whichneed to be diagnosed just as a doctor would a patient. For exam-ple, Africa is burdened with malaria like no other part of theworld, simply because it is unlucky in providing the perfect con-ditions for that disease: high temperatures, plenty of breedingsites and particular species of malaria-transmitting mosquitoesthat prefer to bite humans rather than cattle.

Another myth is that the developed world already gives plen-

the outside world has pat answers concerning extremelyimpoverished countries, especially those in Africa. Everythingcomes back, again and again, to corruption and misrule. Westernof"cials argue that Africa simply needs to behave itself better, toallow market forces to operate without interference by corruptrulers. Yet the critics of African governance have it wrong. Politicssimply canJt explain AfricaJs prolonged economic crisis. The claimthat AfricaJs corruption is the basic source of the problemdoes notwithstand serious scrutiny. During the past decade I witnessedhow relatively well-governed countries in Africa, such as Ghana,Malawi, Mali and Senegal, failed to prosper, whereas societiesin Asia perceived to have extensive corruption, such as Bangla-

ty of aid to the worldJs poor. Former U.S. Secretary of the TreasuryPaul OJNeill expressed a common frustration when he remarkedabout aid for Africa: ;WeJve spent trillions of dollars on theseproblems and we have damn near nothing to show for it.< OJNeillwas no foe of foreign aid. Indeed, he wanted to "x the system sothat more U.S. aid could be justi"ed. But he was wrong to believethat vast Zows of aid to Africa had been squandered. PresidentBush said in a press conference in April 2004 that as ;the great-est power on the face of the earth, we have an obligation to helpthe spread of freedom.We have an obligation to feed the hungry.<Yet how does the U.S. ful"ll its obligation? U.S. aid to farmers inpoor countries to help them growmore food runs at around $200

T H E L O O K O FH U N G E R

The extremely poor rarelyhave enough food. Near thevillage of Runinya, Rwanda,a threadbare and rail-thinman stands with his son

The U.S. haspromised repeatedly to give a largershare of its annual output to helppoor countries. But year after year,America has failed to follow through

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54 TIME, MARCH 14, 2005

million per year, far less than $1 per person per year for the hun-dreds of millions of people living in subsistence farm households.

From the world as a whole, the amount of aid per African peryear is really very small, just $30 per sub-Saharan African in 2002.Of thatmodest amount, almost $5was actually for consultants fromthe donor countries, more than $3was for emergency aid, about $4went for servicing AfricaJs debts and $5 was for debt-relief opera-tions. The rest, about $12, went to Africa. Since the ;money downthe drain< argument is heard most frequently in the U.S., itJs worthlooking at the same calculations for U.S. aid alone. In 2002, the U.S.gave $3 per sub-Saharan African. Taking out the parts for U.S. con-sultants and technical cooperation, food and other emergency aid,administrative costs and debt relief, the aid per African came to thegrand total of perhaps 6@.

The U.S. has promised repeatedly over the decades, as a signa-tory to global agreements like theMonterrey Consensus of 2002, togive a much larger proportion of its annual output, speci"cally upto 0.7% of gnp, to of"cial development assistance. TheU.S.Js failureto follow through has nopolitical fallout domesti-cally, of course, becausenot one in a million U.S.citizens even knows ofstatements like the Mon-terrey Consensus. But weshould not underestimatethe salience that it hasabroad. Spin as we mightin the U.S. about our gen-erosity, the poor countriesare fully aware of what weare not doing.

the costs of action area tiny fraction of the costsof inaction. And yet wemust carry out thesetasks in a context of glob-al inertia, proclivities towar and prejudice, andunderstandable skepti-cism around the worldthat this time can be different from the past. Here are nine stepsto the goal:

COMMIT TO THE TASK. Oxfam and many other leaders in civ-il society have embraced the goal ofMaking Poverty History. Theworld as a whole needs now to embrace the goal.

ADOPT A PLAN OF ACTION. The U.N.Js Millennium Develop-ment Goals, approved by all of the worldJs governments at thestart of the millennium, are the down payment on ending pover-ty. The mdgs set out speci"c targets for cutting poverty, hunger,disease and environmental degradation by 2015 and thereby laidthe foundation for eliminating extreme poverty by 2025. Therich and poor countries have solemnly agreed to work towardful"lling the mdgs. The key is to follow through.

RAISE THE VOICE OF THE POOR. Mahatma Gandhi and MartinLutherKing Jr. didnotwait for the richandpowerful to come to theirrescue. They asserted their call to justice andmade their stand in theface of of"cial arrogance and neglect. It is time for the democraciesin the poor worldDBrazil, India, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africaand dozens of othersDto join together to issue the call to action.

REDEEM THE U.S. ROLE IN THE WORLD. The richest and mostpowerful country, long the leader and inspiration in democraticideals, is barely participating in global efforts to end poverty andprotect the environment, thus undermining its own security. ItJstime to honor the commitment to give 0.7% of our national in-come to these crucial goals.

RESCUE THE IMF AND WORLD BANK. They have the experi-ence and technical sophistication to play an important role. Theyhave the internal motivation of a highly professional staff. Yetthey have been used like debt-collection agencies for the bigcreditor countries. ItJs time to restore their role in helping all 182of their member countries, not just the rich ones, in the pursuitof enlightened globalization.

STRENGTHEN THE U.N. It is no use blaming the U.N. for themissteps of recent years. Why are U.N. agencies less operationalthan they should be? Not because of ;U.N. bureaucracy,< thoughthat exists, but because the powerful countries fear ceding moreauthority. Yet U.N. specialized agencies have a core role to play in

the ending of poverty. Itis time to empower thelikes of the U.N. Child-renJs Fund (unicef), theWorld Health Organi-zation (who), the Foodand Agricultural Organi-zation (fao), and manyothers to do the jobDonthe ground, country bycountry.

HARNESS GLOBAL SCI-

ENCE. New technologyhas led directly to im-proved standards of liv-ing, yet science tends tofollow market forces aswell as to lead them. It isnot surprising that therich get richer in a con-tinuing cycle of growthwhile the poorest are of-ten left behind. A specialeffort should be made by

the powerhouses of world science to address the unmet chal-lenges of the poor.

PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. Ending extremepoverty can relieve many of the pressures on the environment.When impoverished households are more productive on theirfarms, for example, they face less pressure to cut down neighbor-ing forests in search of new farmland. Still, even as extreme pover-ty ends, we must not fuel prosperity with a lack of concern forindustrial pollution and the unchecked burning of fossil fuels.

MAKE A PERSONAL COMMITMENT. It all comes back to us. In-dividuals, working in unison, form and shape societies. The "nalmyth I will debunk here is that politicians are punished by theirconstituents for supporting actions to help the poor. There is plen-ty of experience to show that the broad public will accept suchmeasures, especially if they see that the rich within their own so-cieties are asked to meet their fair share of the burden. Great so-cial forces are themere accumulation of individual actions. Let thefuture say of our generation that we sent forth mighty currents ofhope, and that we worked together to heal the world. ~

B R I D G I N G T H E D I V I D E

In the Darfur region of Sudan, where many have starved because of droughtand civil war, a plane from the World Food Program drops welcome cargo