How We Can Help The Poor
FreeAfrica (July 17, 2007)
By: Dr. Keith Martin

Photo: Keith Martin, member of Parliament for Esquimalt -- Juan de Fuca, in Canada. He has travelled widely in Africa, providing humanitarian assistance to the continent.

July 7, 2007 marked the intermediate day to end global poverty. So where are we in tackling this laudable goal?

Seven years ago, leaders from around the world agreed upon a new vision for the future to help the world's poorest. This vision took the form of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development by 2015. In 2007, success has been achieved in a handful of countries, but for most developing countries, especially in Africa, much remains to be done.

So what concrete steps can Canadians take to achieve real, long-lasting effects in developing countries?

An indelible link between all of the MDGs is the need to build capacity on the ground. No country can achieve stability without the health care workers to heal the ill, teachers to teach, administrators to run capable governments, etc. Herein lies the core of a plan that would go a long way to meeting the MDGs.

An interesting nexus is occurring in industrialized nations that, if tapped into, will provide the crucial, raw human power needed to build human capacity in developing countries. There is an increasing awareness and desire to act amongst those who live in developed nations to assist those who are least fortunate in our world. Note the rallies across the globe against the crisis in Darfur and the number of people wearing the white wristbands to pronounce to all their allegiance to the goal of poverty eradication. As populations in the West get older, there are an unprecedented number of relatively well-off healthy retirees (65 is the new 50) with a lifetime of experience, talent, and skills behind them who would like to put their talents to use to help the less fortunate.
But how can we link these skilled, relatively young and passionate retirees to assist those in need in developing countries? In our country, the solution lies in the Canada Corps.

A few years ago, the Canadian government organized the Corps, under the umbrella of the Canadian International Development Agency. The Canada Corps' modest objective was to send Canadians abroad to give advice on governance. However, suppose the mandate of the Canada Corps was expanded to tap into the vast potential of Canadians who wish to work abroad and use their skills in developing countries. Imagine a Corps that sends physicians, nurses and veterinarians overseas, who would not only treat the ill, but also train health and animal care professionals. Imagine Canadian teachers filling the huge void of educators in Africa whose ranks have been devastated by AIDS (700 teachers a month are dying of AIDS in South Africa alone).

They will not only teach the children of today, but also train the educators of tomorrow. Lawyers, accountants and administrators would help build rudimentary tax and governance structures so the economic benefits from a developing nation's economy can be targeted in a transparent and effective way for primary health care, education and infrastructure.
To make the plan functional and congruent with the needs of the recipient nation, the Corps could link with Canada's embassies or high commissions abroad, which would seek from the recipient country what type of help they needed. Our embassies would send this information back to the Corps to find the needed individuals.

If this plan is adopted by the developing world, it could save the lives of millions of people in the poorest countries, while laying a solid foundation of domestic human capacity where peace, security, and sustainable development can thrive.