01/2011

humani­t arian
and Foreign
affairs ­
magazine

Hard Cash PROFILE

Eva Joly: French
Presidential Candidate

Soft Power perspectives

Joseph Nye:
Global Power Shifts
As global economic power microcredit
shifts, the face of trade and No Miracle Cure
aid is changing.
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06 OP-ED
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18 profile:
eva joly
Eva Joly started out as an
au-pair and became France’s
most militant anti-corruption
magistrate. Now she is aiming
to be elected President of the
Republic.

22 GLOBAL POWER SHIFTS

Joseph Nye, Harvard profes-
sor and former US Assistant
Secretary of Defence for Inter-
national Security Affairs, dis-
cusses whether the US will be
able to compete with China in
the future.

30 THE AFRICAN DREAM

Chinese state businesses are
heavily involved in construc-
tion and industrial devel-
opment in Africa. Less well
known is the fact that small-
scale Chinese shopkeepers and
café owners are creating their
own African dream.

Foto: Scanpix
50 WHY MICROFINANCE DOES
NOT WORK
Critics claim that not only is
microfinance failing to lift peo-

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10 THE CHANGING FACE OF AID
Emerging powers are entering the humanitarian field, thereby changing the face of aid.
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Perspective
NO. 01.2011 3
Growth comes from truly understanding the needs of people to drive relevant change.

EDITORIAL
The Dilemmas of
a Changing World
 A 
s this edition of Perspective goes to
press we were all impressed how, in
the face of strong opposition, young
and inexperienced protesters in Tunisia and
Egypt mobilized popular support for democ-
racy and better leadership. Despite police
violence and the threat of military interven-
tion, they returned to the streets day after
day: committed, disciplined and united.
n Libya, however, broke whatever illusions
we might have had about peaceful revolu-
tions. Gaddafi went to war on his people,
and the United Nations authorized military
action to protect civilians - an admirable,
if highly unclear, mission. The news was to
go from bad to worse. Following the war
in Libya and the natural disaster in Japan,
countries such as Bahrain, Syria and Yemen
cracked down on protesters.
n Given this situation it is even more impor-
tant that the protesters in Egypt and Tunisia
are able to achieve substantial change. If the
protesters wish to influence future develop-
ments, they must be able to transform from
non-ideological activists to political actors
taking part in political processes. Perspective
has asked two leading experts on Arab poli-
tics whether - in their opinion - the protest-
ers will be able to shape future politics. You
can read their answers in the article Revolu-
tions without politics.
n Earlier this year, a less symbolic, but more
fundamental change in world order oc-
curred. China passed Japan as the second
largest economy in the world - and China is
not the only rising star on the horizon. Coun-
tries such as Brazil, India, South Africa, and
Turkey are becoming regional powers, with
both the ambitions and the abilities to influ-
ence world politics.
n Economic and political power have always
determined the politics and principles of
4 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
COLOMBIA
DR CONGO
GEORGIA
SUDAN
AFGHANISTAN
BURUNDI
SOMALIA
43 MILLION DISPLACED
SRI LANKA
MYANMAR
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IVORY COAST
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Editor in chief Erik Giercksky
PAKISTAN
Editor Harriet K. Rudd OPT
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
LEBANON
humanitarian aid, and the giving of aid has Production manager Erik Tresse
SUPPORT OUR WORK
always had at least two motives: firstly to al-
COLOMBIA
leviate suffering, thereafter to transform cash
Writers and contributors DR CONGO
Marianne Alfsen, Olaf Gunnar Alteren,
gifts into political influence. Over the years, Valerie Amos, Gunhild Forselv, Grete
GEORGIA
Western powers have shaped a set of com- Gaulin, Linda Jeanette Gresslien, Kaia SUDAN
mon rules to try and balance out these two Haldorsen, Robin Hammond, Amr AFGHANISTAN
Hamzawy, Roald Høvring, Ragnhild
objectives. The rules are not always followed, M.W. Jordheim, Joeph Nye, Elisabeth
BURUNDI
but they have set a standard that state donors Rasmusson, André Savik, Richard SOMALIA
- at least in principle - try to live up to. Skretteberg, Birgit Vardal, Rolf Vestvik, SRI LANKA
WWW.NRC.NO
New state donors do not necessarily Tonje M. Viken and Adam Zyglis
MYANMAR
agree with all these rules – or they may still Circulation Services KENYA
be formulating their aid policies. Differing Naweed Ahmed
Naweed.Ahmed@nrc.no
UGANDA
ways of providing aid, however, are triggeri-
IVORY COAST The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an inde-
ng debates on what constitutes “good aid”.
In the article Changing the Face of Aid we
Sales LIVBERIA pendent, humanitarian non-governmental organisation
Pineapple Media Limited,
examine what characterizes the aid-giving 172 Northern Parade, Hilsea IRAQ which provides assistance, protection and durable so-
of the newer regional powers, and discusses Portsmouth, Hempshire PO2 9LT UK PAKISTAN lutions to refugees and internally displaced persons
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concept of aid provision. LEBANON
Printing Gamlebyen Grafiske COLOMBIA
n The article African Dream explains why Circulation 20,000 DR CONGO
many African countries are of the opinion GEORGIA
that Chinese infrastructure projects and Cover photo Scanpix
SUDAN
investments are more advantageous than Publisher
Western aid money. None the less, there is The Norwegian Refugee Council
no doubt that China also focuses its atten-
Questions regarding the NRC should
tions on areas that can provide energy and
be directed to:
raw materials for its domestic industry. Rolf.Vestvik@nrc.no
From a humanitarian point of view, it is im-
portant that donors adhere to norms that en-
The views expressed in Perspective
sures aid is not reduced to simply being an
do not necessarily reflect the views
implement of foreign policy or a means by of the NRC.
which recipient governments gain political
advantages over opposing groups. However,
Norwegian Refugee Council
it is important that we do not one-­sidedly Box 6758 St. Olavs Plass
focus on the weaknesses of new donors. 0130 Oslo
Western government are not always princi- Norway
pled donors. Nothing undermines standards
www.nrc.no
more than double standards. Consequent-
ly, if the humanitarian community wishes to
promote principles of humanitarian assis-
tance, it is imperative that donors are evalu-
ated on the basis of their actions, rather than  he Norwegian Refugee Council
T
their rhetoric. (NRC) is an independent, humanitarian
non-governmental organisation which
provides assistance, protection and
durable solutions to refugees and in-
ternally displaced persons worldwide.
Op-ed
Given the complexity of the environment in which we operate, the main
challenge in the years ahead will be ensuring that the aid sector operates
as effectively and cohesively as possible.
Coordinated Action is
the Only Way Forward
 T 
he demand today for humanitarian aid is un-
precedented. Global humanitarian needs are
rising because of long-running conflicts in
places such as Somalia and the Democratic Repub-
lic of the Congo, and new ones in Cote d’Ivoire and
Libya.
Valerie Amos is the Natural disasters are happening more frequently
United Nations Under- and with more ferocity than ever before. Unpredict-
Secretary-General for able and unprecedented weather patterns across
Humanitarian Affairs
and Emergency Relief
Africa, Central America, and South and East Asia
Coordinator routinely displace millions of people. Large-scale
disasters such as the flooding across Pakistan last
year may well become the new normal, making us
think again about the speed, scale, and effective-
ness of our response.
n n Population growth, resource scarcity, and vola-
Maximising tile food and fuel prices are compounding an al-
efficiencies ready difficult situation in many countries.
and minimising At a time when aid is most needed , humanitarian work-
overlaps will ers face more danger. The level of threats and the
give us a better number of deliberate attacks on aid organizations
– our people, equipment and facilities – have risen
chance of dramatically. Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia
reaching all lead the way in the numbers of deaths, kidnappings
those in need. and attacks, but Sudan, Chad and DRC, for exam-
ple, are becoming increasingly dangerous places to
work. Over the last decade, aid- worker casualties
tripled, reaching over 100 deaths per year.
And if negotiating these challenges were not
enough, the humanitarian community is also deal-
ing with increasing financial pressure. We are being
urged to do more with less because of the global
economic downturn, and also because the peo-
ple in donor countries want to know more about
how the money is being spent. They want value for
money, and they want recipient Governments to
be accountable.
Maximising efficiencies and minimising overlaps will
give us a better chance of reaching all those in need.
6 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
And we have responded. Over 350 aid agencies
work together on disaster preparedness, and on
improving the relationship between emergency re-
sponse, recovery and development.
The generosity of donors, be they governments,
individuals, companies or foundations, have also
improved and the most urgent humanitarian needs
are usually funded. However, we still need to do
more to keep the many chronic, underfunded
emergencies in the public eye to maintain support
and funding.
Tackling insecurity , and its impact on our work,
is an area that requires all of our attention. In re-
sponse to growing concerns regarding the insecuri-
ty of aid operations and the resulting decline in hu-
manitarian access, a study recently commissioned
by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitar-
ian Affairs (OCHA) has identified and documented
strategies and practices that have enabled humani-
tarian organisations to maintain effective opera-
tions in places with high security risks.
We now know more than ever about what’s working in
high risk environments, and why, and what lessons
we can learn from each other. Best practice in the
way aid workers can manage risks and still deliver
on the ground have been identified. As a commu-
nity we have started to identify ways to balance hu-
manitarian principles against the increasing need
for armed protection in some places, and to ensure
national staff is getting an adequate level of care
and protection, equal with that of their internation-
al counterparts. Now we need to turn those lessons
into practice.
The need for principled, coordinated humanitar-
ian action is as clear today as it ever was.
Given the scale of the challenges we face, we
must continue to work together if we are to make a
difference. n
Illustration by Adam Zyglis: Zyglis is the staff cartoonist for The Buffalo News. His cartoons are internationally syndicated and have appeared in many
publications around the world, including The Washington Post, USA Today, The New York Times and Los Angeles Times.
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 7
 Hot Spots 27.5
million INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS.
At the end of 2010, the number of people internally displaced
by armed conflict, generalised violence, and human rights viola-
tions stood at approximately 27.5 million worldwide. 12, 2 %
Increase last
Source: Norwegian Refugee Council / 5 years
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
2
3 IDPs IN MILLIONS
1 2006 2007 2008 2009

24.5 26 26 27.1
Yemen:
1 police storm protesters 4
Afghanistan: air strike kills children
2
Libya: Gaddafi wages war on rebels
3
Ivory Coast: armed conflict is forcing people to flee
4

yemen libya
A COUNTRY DIVIDED war
March 2011, Yemen’s capital Sanaa: Inspired by the success-
Mourners shout slogans at the funeral ful uprisings in Tunisia
of anti-government protesters. The and Egypt, serious un-
popular uprisings in the Arab world rest broke out in Libya in
spread from North Africa to the Mid- mid-February 2011. After
dle East. armed rebels took control
In Yemen large demonstrations over several towns in the
forced President Saleh to promise to east, Muammer Gaddafi
step down in 2013, and give assuranc- threatened war against
es that the presidency would not be his own population, and
handed over to his son. However, pro- launched military attacks
reform demonstrations continued, against rebel-held areas.
and in March Yemeni police stormed a When Gaddafi stepped

PHoto: Scanpix
protest camp, killing several and injur- up his military campaign,
ing hundreds. the United Nations passed
Several ministers have resigned a resolution authorising
from the government since the pro- “all necessary means”
tests started, the army is divided, and afghanistan to protect civilians from
several military officers have joined CIVILIANS Gaddafi’s forces.
the ranks of the protesters. UNDER FIRE
Yemen has been plagued by internal An effigy of President Obama
unrest for several years. There are sep- being burnt at an anti-NATO
aratist groups both in the north and demonstration in Kabul in

south of the country and, in addition,
Yemen is an Al-Qaeda stronghold.
PHoto: Scanpix
March 2011. Following an allied
air strike that killed nine chil-
dren in the Kunar province, Af-
ghan president, Hamid Karzai,
asked NATO and the US to stop
all military operations in the
country. Casualty figures indi-
cate that the number of civil-
ians killed in Afghanistan may
reach a new record high this
year. In 2010, 2,777 civilians
were killed as a result of the
conflict, the highest number
since the ISAF forces were de-
ployed. Several countries tak-
PHoto: Scanpix
IVORY COAST
ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR
Unrest has continued to escalate after last year’s presidential elec-
tions. The two presidential candidates are still in deadlock over who
won the election. Incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo pronounced
himself winner, but his opponent Alassane Dramane Ouattara was
endorsed by the UN, The African Union, the US and EU. In Decem-
ber, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon rejected a demand by Mr
Gbagbo that UN and French forces leave the country. In February the
UN warned that increased violence between rival groups had brought
Ivory Coast close to civil war. In April and March several hundred

PHoto: Scanpix
ing part in the fight against the thousand people fled their homes because of heavy fighting between
Taliban will start withdrawing government forces and groups loyal to Mr Ouattara. An estimated
their troops this year. one million refugees have fled the violence.

8 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 9
■  INTernational affairs  Emerging Donors

New donors: a man waves the Chi-

Aid to poor countries is no longer the sole domain of nese flag as the first group of 60
rich, Western states. Countries which belong to what Chinese disaster relief personnel
destined for Haiti board an Air Chi-
is traditionally referred to as third world are emerg- na flight in Beijing on 13 January,
2010. Photo: Scanpix
ing as regional powers. They are now looking to
translate their growing economic clout into regional
influence by giving aid.

Changing
the Face
of Aid
By: Harriet K. Rudd og Tonje M. Viken
Photo: Scanpix

Now, countries such as Brazil, Russia In-
dia, China (the BRIC countries), Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are
entering the playing field, but not neces-
sarily by Western rules. This shake-up of
the traditional aid landscape has caused
a blend of unease, criticism and curiosity
among the traditional donors and human-
itarian organizations.
Looking for patterns
Since the end the Cold War, the so-called
architecture of aid has changed fundamen-
tally. “Aid architecture” refers to the num-
ber of countries who donate money for
aid, how the money is disbursed, and how
projects are run in the field. During the
last 20 years, the number of state donors
has increased significantly, and the over-
all aid contributions have also increased.
Recipient countries have to deal with an
increasing number of donor nations, from
an average of 12 in the 1960s to 33 by 2005.
Currently, at least 30 countries are jug-
gling more than 40 donors each.
“We enter an era which is very disorderly.
In this multipolar world, emerging powers
are a more influential force, and everyone
is looking for patterns in their behaviours,”
says Stacey White, senior research consult-
ant at the Center for Strategic and Interna-
tional Studies in Washington DC.
A matter of definition
There are various definitions of who the
new donors are, and whether they should
in fact be called “new” at all. For instance,
China has provided aid to Mali since the
1960s, and India ran aid programs in Nepal
as early as the 1950s. One way of angling
the issue is to distinguish between North-
n n  We enter a
world which is very
disorderly. The world
is no longer bipolar,
but multipolar.
Stacey White, senior research consultant at the
Center for Strategic and International Studies in
Washington DC.

10 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 11
■  INTernational affairs  Emerging Donors
Vietnam War: Red Cross personnel assisting a soldier wounded in the Vietnam War. Conflict and
natural disasters are often the reason for humanitarian crises. 
South and South-South cooperation. An-
other possibility is to distinguish between
DAC and non-DAC donors, i.e. donors that
are members of the Development Assis-
tance Committee (DAC) of the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Develop-
ment (OECD), and those who are not.
Exactly who constitutes the members
of this group of many names, is also a
matter of dispute. Most include the BRIC
countries and the Gulf States. Some also
count Indonesia, South Africa, and a few
Eastern European countries. At the heart
of the matter, however, is the fact that all
the new donors are countries that have
experienced rapid economic growth, and
are fast becoming regional powers.
Strong ambitions ‒ weak coordination
Even though emerging donors constitute
a diverse group, there are some general
trends in the way that they are perceived.
Emerging donors are associated with lack
of internal, as well as external coordina-
12 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
Long history: the debate over principles for
”good” aid dates back to the time when mission-
aries ran schools and hospitals in the colonies.
tion, lack of transparency, bilateralism
Humanitarian giving as and constricted geographical focus.
percentage of nominal GDP The example of India clearly confirms
– top 8 non-DAC donors this notion. When it comes to coordi-
nation, Subhash Agrawal, analyst and
1. Russia founder of the private think-tank India
2. India
Focus, points to the lack of a national cen-
tralized aid agency. Various actors, such
3. Brazil as the Reserve Bank of India, the Ministry
of Power, the Ministry of Social Welfare as
4. Mexico well as specialized desks within the Min-
istry of External Affairs are all involved
5. Turkey with various aspects of India’s foreign aid.
The most organized and resourceful or-
6. China ganization in India when it comes to aid is
in fact the army, which was called to pro-
7. Indonesia vide aid in times like the Asian Tsunami
8. South Africa in 2004. “There are huge overlaps and
no lines of demarcation. Even the Prime
( Gulf States are not included in this table) Minister of India does not really know
2010 Statistics how much India gives,” Subhash says.
This diffuse structure also hampers col-
Source: Emerging Powers, Emerging Donors
lective learning, efficient reporting and
budgetary transparency. Consequent-
Saudi aid: the arrival of aid supplies from Saudi Arabia for Pakistani flood victims in 2010. Several new donors have given substantial contributions to
natural disaster emergencies over the last years. 
ly, India is not capable of efficient coor-
dination with other actors in the field,
Subhash explains. For example, India is
in Afghanistan, but does not coordinate
with other donors. The same applies to
India’s operations in Africa. India does
not coordinate its operations with other
major donors. “To put it bluntly: India’s
aid ambitions have exceeded its capacity
to give aid,” he says.
The donor next door
A marked feature of the emerging do-
nors is their inclination to concentrate
their aid in their immediate neighbour-
hood. India, for example, focuses mainly
on Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhu-
tan and Afghanistan. Russia is heavily
involved in Eastern Europe and Central
Asia, whereas Brazil is a key player in Hai-
ti. The Gulf countries, on their hand, op-
erate in Somalia, Sudan and the Occupied
Palestinian Territories. There are how-
ever signs that some donors are widening
their scope for humanitarian aid. Since
Humanitarian aid 2000- 2005, Gulf donors have started to give
2008- ten largest non-DAC more humanitarian aid to other regions.
contributors Another characteristic has been the
penchant for bilateral giving, meaning
1. Saudia Arabia that emerging donors prefer to disburse
2. South-Korea their money directly to the host govern-
ment, instead of organizations such as
3. United Arab the UN. This is, however, much less pro-
Emirates nounced than it used to be. There has
been a marked shift among a majority
4. Kuwait of the non-DAC donors towards giving a
5. Russia larger share of their humanitarian aid to
multinational institutions.
6. Turkey In 2005, India donated all of its hu-
manitarian aid bilaterally. By 2010, less
7. China than 40 per cent was channelled directly
8. Quatar to recipient countries. Russia, Turkey
and the Gulf States are part of this trend.
9. South Africa However, figures show that Indonesia,
10. India Mexico and China have gone the opposite
way. More than 80 per cent of aid from
Source: Humanitarian Policy Group
these countries is given bilaterally.
There are however recent examples posi-
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 13
■  INTernational affairs  Emerging Donors
tive coordination efforts among other non-
traditional donors. In 2009 the United Arab
Emirates sat down the UAE Office for Co-
ordination of Foreign Aid (OCFA), which is
tracking all foreign aid provided by the gov-
ernment, and the following year the OCFA
published the first coordination report for
foreign aid from the UAE in history.
Global trends
The emergence of new aid actors coin-
cides with some sinister global develop-
ments, such as the financial crisis, climate
change and the peak of the oil age. The
financial crisis is adding pressure to de-
liver more efficient aid for less money. At
the same time, there is increasing rivalry
between nations to satisfy their growing
need for energy in a time where oil and
gas resources are running low. White ar-
gues that this will also affect humanitar-
ian development actions.
A poignant example is China, which
clearly invests in countries that can pro-
vide oil and raw materials for its domestic
industry. “Certainly China’s role in some
countries may be related to longer- term
strategic thinking about securing natural
resources for the future,” says White. To
a certain extent, this also applies to India.
“Both countries are population giants and
are looking to secure the well-being of
their own peoples while at the same time
actively pursuing a role in foreign aid.”
Another driving factor is the increasing
number and severity of natural disasters
linked to climate change. According to
Top 5 humanitarian donors 2008
i n US dollars
US  4.4 billion
EC  2 billion
UK  1 billion
Germany  751 million
Saudi Arabia  727 million
Top 5 DAC-donor recipients
1. Sudan
2. Afghanistan
3. Ethiopia
4. Occupied palestinian territories
5. Somalia the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Top 5 non-DAC recipients
1. China
2. Yemen
3. Occupied palestinian territories that they tend not to distinguish between
4. Myanmar
5. Sudan
Source: GHA report 2010
14 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
White, it seems to be a strategic priority
for emerging powers to develop regional
disaster management capabilities and
even demonstrate regional leadership in
the aftermath of disaster.
Natural disasters are costly and po-
tentially destabilising. Several emerging
powers are situated in regions heavily af-
fected by natural disasters. It is therefore
important for them to increase both their
own and neighbouring countries’ ability
to respond and recover quickly, so as to
mitigate expenses and refugee flows. In
this, they have a mutual interest with tra-
ditional donor governments, who want
to prevent large scale migration flows.
Less space for humanitarianism
Climate change and resource scarcity has
put a new spin on the debate over how aid
should be best conducted. Traditionally,
there has been a fundamental agreement
that humanitarian aid should be provided
on the basis of needs, with a view to alle-
viate humanitarian suffering. In practical
terms, humanitarian aid after for instance a
tsunami typically consists of going in quick-
ly to provide tents, food, water and blan-
kets, and to make sure that no group or po-
litical elites are favoured or denied help.
Development work, on the other hand,
focuses on long term results through
strengthening institutions and building
capacity. This requires close cooperation
with host governments and can be prob-
lematic in cases of ongoing conflicts, par-
ticularly if the government is perceived as
corrupt or illegitimate. In short, handing
out food supplies according to independ-
ent priorities is very different from provid- China in Pakistan: Chinese aid workers arrive in Thatta, in September 2010 to take part in the humanitarian mission following the devastating floods in Pakistan.
ing high quality seed to a village by one
particular ethnic group at the request of a
government belonging to that same group.
The humanitarian community is under
increasing pressure as the space for im-
partial, neutral and need based assistance n n  There are huge requirements. This pragmatic approach across the board, not just among the so- sation and Relations Management, Inter-
is shrinking. Contributing to this shrink- on behalf of the emerging donors is tanta- called emerging powers but more broadly national Federation of Red Cross and Red
age is the growing preference by military overlaps and no lines lizing to recipient countries, but is subject across the whole of the international hu- Crescent Societies, elaborates the point:
armies to use aid for strategic purposes
in conflicts such as Afghanistan, Iraq and of demarcation. Even to some criticism from traditional donors.
The ones who seem to be most con-
manitarian community,” says White.
Climate changes causes disaster to
“Is it right to have a humanitarian portfolio
to deal with the drought in Ethiopia, and
the Prime Minister of cerned about maintaining a sharp distinc-
tion between humanitarian and develop-
happen more frequently. There is also
a very real danger that disasters such as
a development portfolio to deal with food
security? They are intrinsically linked“,
India does not really
Contested division ment aid are the original OECD players. In droughts and changing rain patterns may he says. “You cannot give millions to the
A main criticism of emerging donors is some cases, these large aid organizations become chronic. It seems increasingly emergency, and nothing to prepare for the
know how much or international NGOs who used to direct harder to explain why it is a good idea to next disaster. That is why I see this division
aid and development. They also tend to the agenda are now being side lined by a distribute food in an area with frequent as artificial. It has to be one cycle.”
move more quickly from aid to develop- India gives. whole new pattern of engagement. drought, while at the same time not pro-
ment than traditional donors, who have Subhash Agrawal, analyst and founder of the “The modalities for disaster response viding irrigation systems. «Dark Africa»
more rigid budget lines and assessment private think-tank India Focus and humanitarian assistance are changing Simon Missiri, Head Resource Mobili- The debate over principles for good do-
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 15
■  INTernational affairs  Emerging Donors
Goodwill Ambassador: Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan, with Secretary-General Koffi
Annan and head of OCHA, Jan Egeland at UN headquarters in 2007. The Princess was at that time
Goodwill Ambassdor for the World Food Programe.
norship is rooted in a long history of aid
dating back to the time when missionar-
ies operated schools and hospitals in «the
heart of darkness». Over the decades, DAC
countries have come to question the char-
ity driven aid of yesteryears, which placed
the recipient in a passive and dependent
relationship to their gracious do-gooders.
South-South cooperation grew out of
the movement of non-Aligned states,
which was founded in 1961 as a coopera-
tion project between Yugoslavia, India,
Egypt, Ghana and Indonesia. The move-
ment dedicated itself to struggle against
imperialism, colonialism, and all forms of
foreign aggression, occupation, and inter-
ference. At the core of their solidarity pro-
ject lie the principles of non-intervention
and respect for other states’ sovereignty.
“My personal thought is that the inter-
vention of non-DAC donors has brought
significant changes in the way traditional
donors look at Africa. The setting up of
the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness
in 2005 is one of the consequences. It is
to hope that the goal of non-DAC donors
is to free Africa from the economic and
technical dependence and to build a part-
nership based on respect, human dignity
16 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
and equality,” says Djénéba Traore, re-
gional coordinator, Educational Research
Network for West and Central Africa.
“An important factor is that aid for de-
velopment bestowed by the new donors is
not conditioned by the forced implementa-
tion of democracy and human rights rules,
as required by the countries of the North,”
says Traore. Traditional donors view this
as non-conditionality on behalf of the non-
DC countries as uncritical. On the other
hand, this makes non-DAC donors attrac-
tive partners for recipient countries.
This goes to the core of a very difficult
dilemma for aid workers. To what degree
should they cooperate with governments
who might also be party to an internal con-
flict, abuse human rights or hamper de-
mocracy and a fair economic distribution?
In reality, the extent to which traditional
donors demand democracy in return for
aid varies. Nonetheless, there is a genuine
concern that the aid will not reach the in-
tended recipients it is channelled through
regimes with no regard for democracy or
non-corruption. This concern, however,
reflects a lack of trust that does not ring
well with concepts such as mutual respect
and partnership with recipient countries.
China-African Hope: the China-African Hope project, an edu cational aid program, was launched by the Chinese Business Association and the China Youth Development Foun-
dation in March 2011. On the picture, a Chinese entrepreneur poses for a photo during the foundation laying ceremony at a school in Tanzania.
n n  You cannot give
millions to the emer-
gency, and nothing
to prepare for the
next disaster. That
is why I see this divi-
sion as artificial. It
has to be one cycle.
Simon Missiri, Head Resource Mobilisation and
Relations Management, International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Engaging the newcomers
“One of our priorities is to engage with
emerging donors,” says Missiri. There is
a need to challenge them to do better and
contribute to established and collective
systems for aid. We are passing on the
message, at various levels and in differ-
ent forums through our member national
societies, that it is good to be coordinat-
ed in a multilateral fashion. You can still
raise your flag and make sure that your
constituencies see it. You can still be rec-
ognized and thanked for your contribu-
tion, but you will be much more efficient,
your money will work better, and it will
be much better for the beneficiaries if you
are part of the international group. “
Missiri praises the Gulf countries for
participation in what he describes as a
“constructive dialogue”. “We just ask
questions we think are good. Why do you
give preference to countries that are pre-
dominantly Moslem, and not countries
which are vulnerable? And they come
back to us and say, well, look, we have
our brotherhood. This is our preference,
our view of the world. We help those we
feel are closer to us. And from this argu-
ment flows quite a healthy debate.” Mis-
siri gives credit to the Gulf States for their
growing will to coordinate with the tradi-
tional donors. The BRIC countries, how-
ever, are lagging behind in this respect.
“Maybe because they are newer in this
business”, he muses and adds that “we
are talking to them quite intensively”.
Every new disaster brings new insight
to the table, and White argues that with
very real disaster experience themselves,
lessons from emerging donors could ben-
efit both national response mechanisms
and the foreign aid thinking of traditional
donors. “One might argue that we could
actually be learning from some emerging
donors when it comes to mechanisms
for our own response efforts. It is no se-
cret that we [US] need to work on our
domestic capabilities post-Katrina, and
following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico,” she says.
State of concern
Thirdly, “donor governments of all kinds,
both traditional and non-traditional, are
realizing that they cannot ignore the state
anymore”, White says. She is critical of es-
tablishing delivery systems parallel to gov-
ernment institutions in emergencies unless
absolutely necessary. “In the aftermath of
a disaster, it is critical that governments are
permitted to perform and to nurture the
state-society contract through responsive-
ness and accountability.”
Both White and Missiri recognize the
danger of eroding neutrality as the hu-
manitarian aid component is increasingly
linked to development. “That is not a fin-
ished debate. To be frank, I doubt that it
Total Official Development Aid in
billion US dollars
2006  103.2
2009  130.1
Global humanitarian assistance 2006 and
2009 in billion US dollars
2006
Total: 12 9.3
Governments: 9.3
Private donors: 2.7 2.7
2009
Total: 15.1
11
Governments: 11
Private donors: 4.1 4.1
Source: GHA report 2010
will ever be finished,” says Missiri. “I don’t
think there will ever be pure humanitarian
aid. I have not seen it once. The only thing
we can do, is to push both donor commu-
nities and recipient communities to stay
along the already established lines for good
donorship, listen to the recipients, coordi-
nate, and don’t compete.” n
Sources: Stacey White, “Emerging Powers,
Emerging Donors: Teasing out Development Pat-
terns,” A report of the CSIS Program on Crisis,
Conflict and Cooperation, February 2011.
”A brave new world of ‘emerging, ‘’non-dac’ do-
nors and their differences from traditional donors,”
NORRAG News, september 2010.
Adele Harmer and Ellen Martin (eds.),”Diversity in
Donorship: Field lessons”, HPG Report 30, Hu-
manitarian Policy Group, March 2010.
Axel Dreher, Pete Nunnenkamp, and Rainer Thiele,
“Are ‘New’Donors Different? Comparing the Allo-
cation of Bilateral Aid between non-DAC and DAC
Countries”, Kiel Working Paper No 1601, Kiel Insti-
tute for the World Economy, March 2010.
Kemal Dervis, Homi Kharas, and Noam Unger,
“Aiding Development Assistance Reform for the
21st Century”, Brookings Blum Roundtable 2010.
Adele Harmer and Lin Cotterrell, ”Diversity in
donorship: The changing landscale of official hu-
manitarian aid,” HPG Report 20, Humanitarian
Policy Group, September 2005.
Global Humanitarian Assistance report 2010.
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 17
■  profile Eva Joly
For Eva Joly, the tailor’s daughter from Oslo turned Green party politician,
a more just system will be the main campaign issue as she stands for presi-
dent of France. Perspective met her in Brussels and Strasbourg.
From Au-pair to
Presidential Candidate
By: Birgit Vartdal, Brussels
“This is a great day for me,” says Eva Joly, closing the door be-
hind her as she enters one of the many conference rooms in
Brussels’ European Parliament building. Joly has just chaired a
meeting in the Committee on Development, and her enthusiasm
is clearly visible. Her upcoming report on tax havens was among
the issues voted on.
“I made almost all my points,” she smiles, adding “develop-
ment policy is pointless as long as we allow Western corporations
to loot developing countries by utilizing tax havens. This report is
the reason why I stood for election. I have worked fourteen years
for this. So I am happy, but exhausted. I have had almost no sleep.
At four o’clock this afternoon I am going to Tunisia, but I have sev-
eral speeches to make before that,” and with that she disappears
through the door on her way to the next meeting.
BUSY SCHEDULE
Eva Joly’s timetable is not for the faint-hearted. It is so crammed
that she employs several assistants at the European Parliament,
both in Brussels and Strasbourg, to help her keep track of inquir-
ies and appointments, and to read the approximately 4,000 in-
coming e-mails that arrive every month. When she is not travel-
ling the world she commutes between the two cities and Paris,
where she has an apartment, children and grandchildren. Life
became no easier for this member of the European Parliament
when she became the front runner for the Green party’s candi-
dacy in the upcoming French presidential elections. The prepa-
rations for the election campaign have now been given priority
over everything else.
We had met in her office in Strasbourg’s circular parliament
building the previous week. She had been dressed in black, but was
not wearing her characteristically conspicuous red reading-glasses.
Her voice was mild and cordial, except when she mentioned Presi-
dent Sarkozy who, since he came to power, has mostly been on the
receiving end of her pungent criticism. This critic is now aiming to
take over the presidential palace herself. What makes a Norwegian-
born woman believe she can become President of France?
AUDACIOUS
“It is a pretty audacious goal, is it not?” She laughs, and leans
18 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
over the huge desk where she keeps her documents sorted in
tidy stacks.
“But I believe politics have been hijacked by professional poli-
ticians who have been in ‘the business’ for forty years or more.
I consider their way of doing things to be old-fashioned. I look
myself as someone who represents civil society, someone who
can prove that politics can be conducted differently. Politics is
not just for the people who have worked the party systems. It is
for citizens with ideas and opinions as well. If I were to become
president, I would not discharge my duties in the same way that
Sarkozy does. I would respect the Constitution and assemble a
cabinet that does its job properly. I want a functioning parlia- EVA JOLY
ment, functioning institutions, and a judiciary that is truly inde-
Born: 1943 in Oslo, Norway.
pendent. That is the goal.”
Profession: barrister at law.
“And why me?” she asks, and answers the question herself.
Family: she became a French citi-
“Because of my record. During my investigation, I was con- zen when she married Pascal Joly,
fronted with the roadblocks of French society, but I managed to the eldest son in the family where
move on, despite the thousands of people who told me to quit,” she worked as an au-pair.
she says. Fighting corruption: in the
1990s, she led the investigation
into allegations of corruption by the
RESILIENCE
French oil corporation, Elf Aquit-
Once Eva Joly has started talking, it is hard to interrupt her. aine. The investigation led to the
Asked to describe herself, the first word that she came up with conviction of a number of industri-
was the French resilience. alists and several leading French
politicians.
“It is the ability to start over as if nothing had happened, never
Politics: Member of the European
mind how exhausting things have been. Large amounts of men-
Parliament for Europe Écologie, the
tal resilience! My parents taught me that doing things is actually French green party, since 2009.
quite easy. All you have to do is set a goal and start placing one
foot in front of the other. In the end, you’ll get there,” she ex-
plains.
Eva Joly attained her law degree by following this rule of life;
she studied for two hours a day whilst working as a secretary. By
the time she passed her final exam she was 38 years old . After a
few years working for Ciri, an organization that assists troubled
companies, her career skyrocketed. In the 1990s she was the in-
vestigative judge investigated allegations of corruption by the the
French oil company, Elf Aquitaine, resulting in the indictment,
and subsequent conviction, of prominent French politicians and Time off: Eva Joly in Ile de Groix, Brittany, where she has a second home. She often stays there when she has the possibility of having a break. Here she
industrialists. can read, relax, and enjoy the company of her grandchildren.  Photo: Scanpix.
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 19
■  profile Eva Joly

8 quick questions
a. French cheese or Norwegian goat CHeese? e. Yoga or jogging?
 Both. I have Norwegian brown goat  Jogging
cheese on my crisp bread every morning,
and I have been doing that for forty years. f. Obama or Sarkozy?
 Obama
b. Facebook or postcards?
 Facebook g. Sea or mountain?
 Sea
c. BBC or CNN?
 BBC h. a Womens best years – 30 s or 60 s ?
 My life is certainly better now that I am over ­
d. Gardening or the kitchen? sixty than what it was when I was in my
 The garden thirties.

Senegal: Joly speaking to Senegalese women during the World Social Forum in Dakar, Victory: Eva Joly, together with fellow party members of the French Green Party, celebrating her 2009 election to the European Parliament. Demanding an end to nuclear power: Eva Joly taking part in a demon-
8 February 2011.  Photo: Scanpix  Photo: Scanpix. stration in Paris, 13 March 2011, demanding an end to nuclear power in
the wake of the nuclear emergency in Japan. Photo: Scanpix

SAVOIR FAIRE
When Joly is portrayed in the French media, emphasis is of-
ten placed on her climb up the social ladder – from au pair
to presidential candidate. Has this ascent changed her as a
person?
“I still feel I am the same. The only difference is that I have
learned savoir faire, i.e. how to behave in different circum-
stances. I have passed exams and learned the rules of public
speaking. Some doors that were previously closed to me have
also been opened. Now I can appreciate good music, litera-
ture, art, and beauty. In a way, the French system refines you,
but it does not alter the essence of your being.”
“Some French newspapers portray you as being cold. Why
is that?”
“I was very shocked when that image began to gain accept-
ance in the media because, in a way, it sticks to me. I believe
it derives from my role as investigative leader and judge, both
authoritarian functions. But it is more than that. I also be-
lieve this supposed trait of character is being maliciously pro-
pounded by people who want to make things difficult for me,”
she says.
OPINION POLLS
The enemies she made in the 1990s have not disappeared, even
though it has been years since she needed body guards. It remains
to be seen whether she will again have a need for hired protection.
The last polls, published by the paper Liberation, show she has a
support rating of eight to ten percent in a possible bid for the pres-
idency, depending on the candidate on the socialist ballot.
“You cannot get caught up in opinion polls,” she smiles. “The
election campaign will show if I can become president. I have to
be able to convince the French people that my solutions will work,
that all those small things you can do to protect the environment
can make a positive contribution. I have to make them understand
that working for greater economic growth no longer makes sense.
Our resources are limited. The growth model that was supposed
to lead people to affluence does not work anymore. That is why
we have to start living our lives in another way. In order to secure
our own future, and that of our children and grandchildren, we
have to take care of our planet.”
SOLD HER CAR
As chairperson of the European Parliament’s Committee on De-
velopment she flies around the globe, but at home she has at-
tempted to offset that part of her CO2 balance sheet.
“I have sold my car. Well, that is not entirely true. I have a car at
my home in the country, but I only use it in summer to ferry babies,
grandchildren, folding chairs and parasols to the beach, so it clocks
up no more than about 300 kilometers a year. When I am in Paris I
often ride the tram, even though I am hardly, if ever, left alone. My
60-square-meter apartment only has one radiator, and the windows
face south, so I find I have little need to heat it up. And I use the
country house mainly in summer, so the energy consumption there
is also low. But when I travel to Norway, it is obviously by plane. I
feel it is very important to be environmentally responsible, but I do
not lead an ecology-based, boring lifestyle,” she points out.
JUSTICE
Eva Joly reveals that justice will be her main campaign issue. Not
just in judicial terms, but also in the social context. If she is elected
president, her first interior policy move will be to establish a com-
mittee charged with assessing how the tax burden is distributed
across the country. Joly wants a top-bracket capital gains tax.
“How can you have a just society when the owner of a compa-
ny can earn 400 times more than a blue collar worker? If you
have an annual income of half a million euros, you can afford a
high income-tax rate. Currently, people with low and medium
incomes are those who contribute most to taxes. People who
make a bundle pay very little. I want to change that.” The need to
increase tax revenues in France is not just a question of justice.
The national budget deficit amounts to 150 000 million euros.
“For the last thirty years, French politicians have not had
the political courage to exact taxes. They have financed society
through loans,” she says.
“What are the most pressing challenges for Europe and the Eu-
ropean Union today?”
“To stick together, and not allow the financial crisis to bring
about disintegration, and to continue to build our peace project
and to improve our institutions. We have experienced a back-
lash. Right now, the situation in Europe does not fill me with
pride. National populism is on the rise. But that does not mean
we give in. We will continue the struggle and we want reforms,”
says a battle-ready Eva Joly. n
Treslated by: André Savik

20 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 21
perspectives
Global Power Shifts
Joseph S. Nye Jr.
is University Distin-
guished Service Profes-
sor and former dean of
the Harvard’s Kennedy
School of Government.
He has served as U.S.
Assistant Secretary of
­Defense for Interna-
tional Security Affairs,
Chair of the National In-
telligence Council, and
Deputy Under Secre-
tary of State for Secu-
rity ­Assistance, Science
and Technology.
n n
Asia is gradually
returning to being
more than half
of the world’s
population and
producing more
than half of the
world’s product.
22 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
T   
he twenty-first century began with
a very unequal distribution of power re-
sources. With five per cent of the world’s
population, the United States accounted for about
a quarter of the world’s economic output, was re-
sponsible for nearly half of global military expendi-
tures, and had the most extensive cultural and edu-
cational soft power resources. All this is still true.
However, global power is changing, and there
are two types of changes I want to discuss. One
is power transition, which is a change of power
amongst states. And that is the simple version of
the message, it is moving from West to East. The
other is power diffusion, the way power is mov-
ing from all states, West or East, to non-state ac-
tors. Those two things are the huge shifts of power
in our century. And I want to tell you about them
each, separately, and then how they interact and
why in the end, there may be some good news.
When we talk about power transition, we often talk
about the rise of Asia. It really should be called the
recovery, or return, of Asia. In 1800 more than half
of the world’s people lived in Asia and they made
more than half the world’s product. Now fast for-
ward to 1900: half the world’s people – more than
half – still live in Asia, but they are making only a
fifth of the world’s product. What happened? The
Industrial Revolution, which meant that all of a sud-
den, Europe and America became the dominant
center of the world. What we are going to see in
the 21st century is Asia gradually returning to being
more than half of the world’s population and pro-
ducing more than half of the world’s product. That
is important, and it is an important shift.
To understand power diffusion it is important to
comprehend that computing and communications
costs have fallen a thousandfold between 1970 and
the beginning of this century. That is a big, abstract
number, but to make it more real, if the price of
an automobile had fallen as rapidly as the price of
computing power, you could buy a car today for
five dollars. Now when the price of any technology
declines that dramatically, the barriers to entry go
down; ­anybody can play in the game. So in 1970, if
you wanted to communicate from Oxford to Johan-
nesburg to New Delhi to Brasilia simultaneously,
you could do it, the technology was there. But to be
able to do it, you had to be very rich – a government,
a multinational corporation, maybe the Catholic
Church – but you had to be pretty wealthy. Now,
anybody has that capacity, if they have the price of
entry into an internet cafe – the last time I looked,
it was something like a pound an hour – and if you
have Skype, it is free. So capabilities that were once
restricted are now available to everyone.
That does not mean that the age of the State is
over. The State still matters. But the stage is crowd-
ed. The State is not alone. There are many, many
actors. Some of that is good, for example Oxfam, a
great non-governmental actor. Some of it is bad. Al
Qaeda, another non-governmental actor. But think
of what it does to how we think in traditional terms
and concepts. We think in terms of war and inter-
state war. And you can think back to 1941, when the
government of Japan attacked the United States at
Pearl Harbor. It is worth noticing that a non-state
actor attacking the United States in 2001 killed
more Americans than the government of Japan did
in 1941. You might think of that as the privatization
of war. So we are seeing a great change in terms of
diffusion of power.
The problem is that we are not thinking about it in
very innovative ways. So let me step back and ask:
what is power? Power is simply the ability to affect
others to get the outcomes you want, and you can
do it in three ways. You can do it with threats, of
coercion – sticks, you can do it with payments – car-
rots, or you can do it by getting others to want what
you want. And that ability to get others to want
what you want, to get the outcomes you want, with-
out coercion or payment, is what I call soft power.
And that soft power has been much neglected and
much misunderstood. And yet it is tremendously
important. Indeed, if you can learn to use more soft
power, you can save a lot on carrots and sticks. Tra-
ditionally, the way people thought about power was
primarily in terms of military power. For example,
the great Oxford historian, A.J.P. Taylor, defined a
great power as a country able to prevail in war. But
we need a new narrative if we are to understand
power in the 21st century. It is not just prevailing at
war, though war still persists. It’s not whose army
wins; it’s also whose story wins. And we have to
think much more in terms of narratives and whose
narrative is going to be effective.
Now let me go back to the question of power
transition between states and what is happening
Economic distribution: The Chinese economy is growing rapidly, but is a
long way behind the US when it comes to per capita income, and China still
has large underdeveloped areas.
there. The narratives that we use now tend to be
the rise and fall of the great powers. And the cur-
rent narrative is all about the rise of China and the
decline of the United States. Indeed, with the 2008
financial crisis, many people said this was the be-
ginning of the end of American power. The tectonic
plates of world politics were shifting. And President
Medvedev of Russia, for example, pronounced in
2008 this was the beginning of the end of the United
States power. But in fact, this metaphor of decline
is often very misleading. If you look at history, in
recent history, you will see the cycles of belief in
American decline come and go every 10 or 15 years
or so. In 1958, after the Soviets put up Sputnik, it
was “That’s the end of America.” In 1973, with the
oil embargo and the closing of the gold window, that
was the end of America. In the 1980s, as America
went through a transition in the Reagan period, be-
tween the rust belt economy of the Midwest to the
Silicon Valley economy of California, that was the
end of America. But in fact, what we have seen is
none of those were true. Indeed, people were over-
enthusiastic in the early 2000s, thinking America
could do anything, which led us into some disas-
trous foreign policy adventures, and now we are
back to decline again.
The moral of this story is that all these narratives
about rise and fall and decline tell us a lot more
about psychology than they do about reality. Gold-
man Sachs has projected that the Chinese economy
will surpass that of the U.S. by 2027. So we have got,
what, 17 more years to go before China’s bigger. Now
someday, with a billion point three people getting
richer, they are going to be bigger than the United
Military power: The US has strong political and military allegiances in
the Pacific. This picture is from the US-Japan military exercise in the Pa-
Photo: Scanpix cific Ocean, December 2010. As China grows stronger, these relations are
growing in strategic importantance. Photo: Scanpix
States. But be very careful of believing that such pro-
jections give you an accurate picture of power tran-
sition in this century. Let me mention three reasons
why it is too simple. First of all, it’s a linear projec-
tion. History is not linear. There are often bumps
along the road, accidents along the way. The second
thing is that if the Chinese economy passes the U.S.
economy in, let us say, 2030, which it may, that will n n
be a measure of total economic size, but not of per We need a
capita income – it will not tell you about the compo-
sition of the economy. China still has large areas of
new narrative
underdevelopment. And per capita income is a bet- if we are to
ter measure of the sophistication of the economy. understand
And when it comes to per capita income the Chinese
will not catch up or pass the Americans until some-
power in the 21st
where in the latter part, after 2050, of this century. century. It is not
just prevailing at
The other point that’s worth noticing is how one-
dimensional this projection is. It looks at economic
war, though war
power measured by GDP. It does not tell you much still persists.
about military power, does not tell you very much
about soft power. It is all one-dimensional. And also,
when we think about the rise of Asia, or return of
Asia, as I called it a little bit earlier, it is worth re-
membering Asia is not one thing. If you are sitting
in Japan, or in New Delhi, or in Hanoi, your view of
the rise of China is a little different than if you are sit-
ting in Beijing. Indeed, one of the advantages that the
Americans will have in terms of power in Asia is all
those countries which want an American insurance
policy against the rise of China. So these simple pro-
jections of the Goldman Sachs type are not telling us
what we need to know about power transition.
But you might ask, well so what? Why does it mat-
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 23
 ter? Who cares? Is this just a game that diplomats and
academics play? The answer is it matters quite a lot.
Because, if you believe in decline and you get the an-
swers wrong on this, the facts, not the myths, you
may have policies which are very dangerous. Let me
give you an example from history. The Peloponnesian
War was the great conflict in which the Greek city
state system tore itself apart two and a half millennia
ago. What caused it? Thucydides, the great historian
of the Peloponnesian War, said it was the rise in the
n n power of Athens and the fear it created in Sparta. No-
How do we tice both halves of that explanation.
produce global Many people argue that the 21st century is going to re-
public goods, peat the 20th century, in which World War One, the
which are good great conflagration in which the European state sys-
for us, but good tem tore itself apart and destroyed its centrality in
the world. That was caused by the rise in the power
for everyone at of Germany and the fear that it created in Britain.
the same time? There are people who are telling us this is going to
be reproduced today, that what we are going to see
is the same thing now in this century. No. I think that
is wrong. It’s bad history. For one thing, Germany
had surpassed Britain in Industrial strength by 1900.
And as I said earlier, China has not passed the United
States. But also, if you have this belief and it creates a
sense of fear, it leads to overreaction. And the great-
est danger we have of managing this power transi-
tion of the shift toward the East is fear. To paraphrase
Franklin Roosevelt from a different context, the great-
est thing we have to fear is fear itself. We do not have
to fear the rise of China or the return of Asia. And if
we have policies in which we take into account that
larger historical perspective, we’re going to be able to
manage this process.
Let me say a word now about the distribution of power
and how it relates to power diffusion and then pull
these two types together. If you ask how power is dis-
tributed in the world today, it is distributed much like
a three-dimensional chess game. On the top board:
military power among states. The United States is the
only superpower, and it is likely to remain that way
for two or three decades. China is not going to replace
the U.S. on this military board. The middle board of
this three-dimensional chess game: economic power
among states. Power is multi-polar. There are balanc-
ers. The U.S., Europe, China, Japan can balance each
other. The bottom board of this three-dimensional,
the board of transnational relations, things that cross
borders outside the control of governments, things
like climate change, drug trade, financial flows, pan-
demics. Here nobody is in charge. It makes no sense
to call this unipolar or multi-polar. Power is chaotical-
ly distributed. And the only way you can solve these
problems – and this is where many of the greatest chal-
lenges are coming in this century – is through coopera-
tion, through working together, which means that soft
power becomes more important, that ability to organ-
24 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
ize networks to deal with these kinds of problems and
to be able to get cooperation.
Another way of putting it is that as we think of pow-
er in the 21st century, we want to get away from the
idea that power is always zero sum – my gain is your
loss and vice versa. Power can also be positive sum,
where your gain can be my gain. If China develops
greater energy security and greater capacity to deal
with its problems of carbon emissions, that is good for
us as well as good for China, as well as good for every-
body else. So empowering China to deal with its own
problems of carbon is good for everybody, and it’s
not a zero sum. Now I do not mean to be Pollyannaish
about this. Wars persist. Power persists. Military pow-
er is important. Keeping balances is important. Hard
power is there, and it will remain. But unless you learn
how to mix hard power with soft power into strategies
that I call smart power, you’re not going to deal with
the new kinds of problems that we are facing.
So the key question that we need to think about as we
look at this is how do we work together to produce
global public goods, things from which all of us can
benefit? How do we define our national interests so
that it is not just zero sum, but positive sum? In that
sense, if we define our interests, for example, for the
United States, the way Britain defined its interests in
the 19th century, keeping an open trading system,
keeping a monetary stability, keeping freedom of the
seas – those were good for Britain, they were good for
others as well. And in the 21st century, you have to do
an analog to that. How do we produce global public
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organize with others in networks to produce, not only
public goods, but ways that will enhance our soft pow-
er. So if one looks at the statements that have been
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Clinton described the foreign policy of the Obama ad-
ministration, she said it was going to be smart power,
as she put it, “using all the tools in our foreign policy
tool box”. And if we are going to deal with these two
great power shifts that I have described, the power
shift represented by transition among states, the pow-
er shift represented by diffusion of power away from One semester in Norway, courses developed and taught by PRIO
all states, we are going to have to develop a new narra-
tive of power in which we combine hard and soft pow- (Peace Research Institute Oslo). Remaining semesters taught at Stellenbosch
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news I have. We can do that. n University, South Africa or The Australian National University, Canberra.
This article was originally a talk given by Joseph Nye
for TedTalks. The lecture is drawn from Nye’s new book
“The Future of Power”.
The article is published with the permission of
TED.com. You can hear the speech at http://www.ted.
com/speakers/joseph_nye.html
For more information:
www.prio.no/education
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cricos code
00120C
■  WORLD FOOD SITUATION
For many years it hast been an accepted truth that we must either
reduce global fertility rates or face widespread hunger. Today, ­
new evidence suggests otherwise: given the will it is possible
to feed the entire population of the world.
Food for All
BY: Grete Gaulin  
Pessimists have long warned that the
world is quickly reaching that point in
time when the planet will not be able
to sustain its growing population. Now,
however, the United Nations and food ex-
perts are challenging that belief. They say
the planet can produce enough food as
long as we use our resources sensibly.
The Malthusian doctrine is based
on premises that we all – more or less
­– ­accept without question. Firstly, the
earth’s population is growing faster than
its resources can support and, secondly,
the problem of over-population does not
originate and, therefore, cannot be solved
in the West. The solution to over-popula-
tion is to be found in Africa, where birth
and fertility rates are constantly high. Or
as – Malthusian par excellence – Jeffrey
Sachs, expresses it in his book Common
Wealth – Economics for a Crowded Planet:
“If the fertility rates remain constant, the
global population will soar to nearly un-
imaginable levels, and will almost surely
trigger Malthus’ “positive checks” (war,
disease, famine). The stunning fact is that
all of the world’s population will growth
come in today’s developing countries.”
In other words the world must speed
up the process of demographic transition
– the shift within a given population from
high to low fertility and mortality rates,
thus creating demographic stability. Con-
sequently, Jeffrey Sachs argues, we must
renew our efforts to reduce fertility rates
in countries where birth rates are high:
predominantly countries in Africa.
PARADOXES
Sachs is not alone in this view. Malthusi-
26 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
anism is on the offensive – paradoxically -
because we are living in an era where fer-
tility rates, even in developing countries,
are decreasing dramatically, and there is
enough food to feed 10, or even 20 000
millions. According to both the UN, and
to experts on food security and global ag-
ricultural potential, the outlook for the
immediate future looks extremely posi-
tive. There is almost a queue of reports
proclaiming that it will be possible to feed
the world’s growing population, even
though we take into account that, on av-
erage, people will eat more than they do
today – and, despite the fact that, in some
areas, we must expect lower agricultural
productivity because of climate change.
Two years ago The Food and Agricul-
tural Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) published statistics on the world’s
agricultural reserves. They showed that
while the world’s arable lands constitute
almost four billion (4.000,000,000) hec-
tares, only 1.5 billion hectares are cur-
rently used for crops. A shift from meat
to corn production, in other words, using
arable land to grow corn for human con-
sumption rather than grazing or animal
feed, would be an important contribu-
tion toward doubling food production in
the developed world. This is the level of
growth that experts have estimated will
be necessary in order to feed nine billion
people in 2050.
MALTHUS GOT IT WRONG
In Russia alone, 20 million hectares of
wheat fields lie fallow – an area equal to
all the arable land in the UK. In Africa
there are 1 billion hectares of unutilized
Jentesoldater i Uganda  tema  ■
land, 400 million hectares of which the
FAO defines as highly fertile soil. In ad-
dition to increasing croplands, food pro-
duction can be increased by improving
yields, raising cropping intensity, and
reducing losses. For example, while Rus-
sia’s cornfields yield only 1.85 tons of
corn per hectare, the UK produces 6.36
tons per hectare, whilst India’s annual
crop loss is a staggering 30 per cent. All
this contradicts Malthus’ theory of land
limitations as a barrier to prosperity.
“The quantity of land has stopped be-
ing the primary determinant of a coun-
try’s output. We can make a lot more
stuff in a lot less space,” according to
an article by development economist
Charles Kenny in Foreign Policy.
Will it be possible to repeat the green
revolution that trebled global food pro-
duction from 1950 to 1980? According
to the experts it is. Climate change will
make it more difficult to increase food
production in the south, but also result in
more arable land in the north. Further-
more, this coincides opportunely with
the world’s population peak – an estimat-
ed maximum of ten billion in 2060. The
population will not grow beyond that
point, and consequently – says the Brown
University’s World Hunger Program – we
will have enough cultivated and arable THOMAS MALTHUS: published his Essay on two hundred years the world’s population has THE BOTTOM BILLION: Why the Poorest Coun­
the Principle of Population in 1798. His cen­ grown by 5 thousand million. At the same time tries are Failing and What Can Be Done about
land to feed the world forever. tral theory is that population increases in a we are better nourished today than ever be­ It is a book by the British Professor of Eco­
geometric ratio (1,2,4,8,16), while means of fore. None the less, Malthusians have both set nomics, Paul Collier. In his book, Collier exam­
THE PROBLEM OF DISTRIBUTION subsistence increases in an arithmetic ra­ the premises for, and dominated the debate on ines why the poorest countries of the world,
Despite these very promising prospects, tio (1,2,3,4,5). In other words, humanity was poverty, not least in the 1960s, when western The Bottom Billion, are failing to make pro­
doomed to a miserable life of poverty, hunger, feminists conducted mass sterilizations of poor gress and create better living conditions for
it is obvious that millions of people are wars and sickness. women in India and China with support from the their citizens.
Foto: Scanpix
already suffering from food shortage and Today we can somewhat more optimistically governments of Norway, Sweden and the US.
starvation – even before we have reached conclude that Malthus was wrong. Over the last And now they are on the offensive once again.
the demographic peak. And what is the
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 27
■  WORLD FOOD SITUATION
Fertility
Rates
1950
2025
cause of this sad fact? The answer to
that is the unequal distribution of food
– a problem the experts label as “more
Marx, than Malthus”. A contributory fac-
tor was also a feeling of self-satisfaction
that developed in the 1980s when the in-
ternational community, after thirty years
of hard work, concluded that they had
successfully managed to rectify global
underproduction of food.
2,5 Institutions working on increased food
security were financially smothered. Rich
countries cut funding for agricultural de-
velopment in the developing world by
more than 50 per cent, and the World
Bank reduced its agricultural loans from
almost eight billion US dollars in 1980 to
THE WORLD a two billion in 2004. The world’s leading
institute for research on rice, the Inter-
national Rice Research Institute, believes
that it has the answer to how the world’s
poor can increase their rice production,
2,38
7,28 2,89
6,37 but lacks the funds to do tests in the field.
Funding for combating plant pests and
Algeria Egypt diseases is also in short supply.
UNSTABLE MARKETS
Into this deplorable web is woven a dis-
pute over organic food and small-scale
5,38
7,17 4,96
7,48 production versus industrialized farm-
ing and/or genetically modified produce.
That debate, however, is more about how
Ethiopia Kenya to feed the world, rather than whether it
is possible to do so.
Far more important is the fact that the
world’s food markets have become more
unstable, and that dramatic increases
2,38
7,18 3,40
6,0 in food prices are forcing many people
to cut down on their food consumption.
Morocco Namibia Soaring food prizes are the result of sev-
eral factors: increased demand from the
new middle classes in the poorer coun-
tries, the transition to biofuels, export re-
strictions, and speculation.
5,32
6,55 5,04
5,97 Food has become a stock-market com-
modity and is therefore subject to the
Nigeria Senegal same mechanisms as all other products
on the market, but higher food prices are
not being triggered by reduced supply as
a result of lower production. According
to FAO the wheat harvest of 2010 was the
2,55
6,5
third largest ever, and last year’s rice har-
6,65
4,23
vest was even larger than that in the re-
cord year of 2008/2009.
sudan South-Africa
”THE BOTTOM BILLION”
Fertility in Africa – selected countries in 1950 The problem is that only a small amount
and 2025. Projections based on already de­ of world food production ends up on the
clining ­ratios. Source: UN Population Division
table of the bottom billion. The greater part
28 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
is consumed in the West - where the esti-
mated number of over-weight people has
now reached 1.6 billion. However, to the ir-
ritation of many developing countries, the
living standards in Asia and Africa are of-
World Food Consumption
ten blamed for high food prizes. Two years
Kilos per person, 2006/2007 Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
ago the Indian government became so an-
noyed about the increasing tendency to
blame India (and other developing coun-
tries) for rising food prices that it officially
recommended Americans to reduce their
food consumption, instead of ascribing us EUROPe CHINA INDIA
price rises to increasing prosperity in Asia.
In the US an average person eats
3,770 calories a day. An average Indian
eats 2,440 calories. The ten per cent of
people who make up the world’s poor-
est only receive 0,6 per cent of global
Chicken
income, and Sub-Saharan Africa only
contributes two per cent to the world’s
green-house gas emissions. It is not Afri-
ca that is threatening world resources.
44,5 kilos 15,3 kilos 7,6 kilos 1,8 kilos
OVERCONSUMPTION
But despite all these facts, would not a re-
duction in population growth still have a
Wheat
positive effect? No, say demographers.
The women who will be giving birth to
the greater part of the children who will
contribute to the demographic peak have
already been born. In other words it is al-
101 kilos 252 kilos 76 kilos 64 kilos
ready too late to reduce expected popula-
tion growth over the next 40 to 50 years.
In addition fertility rates in Africa have
plunged by 50 per cent over the last 50
Meat
years.
African women of today give birth to the
same number of children European wom-
en did in the 1960s. Furthermore, the UN
Population Division long ago concluded
41,8 kilos 17,5 kilos 5,4 kilos 1,3 kilos
that countries without population-control
programs have had the same demograph-
ic curve as countries without such pro-
Maize
grammes, with one exception – China.
The problem in the world today is not
over-population but over-consumption.
“It is clear that, population boom or
not, there simply isn’t enough of the Eu- 753 kilos 122,8 kilos 107 kilos 13 kilos
ro-American way of life to go around,”
says Julian Cribb in his book The Coming
Famine: The Global Food Crisis and What
We Can Do to Avoid It.
And that problem does originate in Rice
the West – US cows eat the same amount
of food as that required to feed the en-
tire bottom billion of the world’s popu-
lation. n 13 kilos 5,4 kilos 95,8 kilos 76,5 kilos
Translated by: Harriet K. Rudd
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 29
■  the chinese in Africa

Everywhere in Africa today, no matter how remote the

village or town, you will find a Chinese restaurant, a
Chinese shop, or a local Chinese trader. Chinese small-
scale entrepreneurs dream of a better life in Africa, but
are these profit-seeking Chinese with their Made-in-­
China products contributing to prosperity in Africa?

The African
Dream
BY: Linda Jeanette Gresslien

China is now Africa’s largest trading part-
ner. Earlier this year the Chinese govern-
ment announced that its two-way trade
with Africa had increased by almost 45
per cent in 2010 to reach a record of 114.8
billion US dollars.
China needs more natural resources
such as oil, gas, and minerals to feed its
rapidly growing economy. Roughly 70
per cent of African export to China comes
from four countries; Angola, South Af-
rica, The Democratic Republic of Congo
and Sudan. 70 per cent of this export con-
sists of crude oil.
Chinese engagement in Africa is often
criticized in the West, and perhaps most
strongly for exploiting the continent in or-
der to extract its natural resources. Many
Africans, however, consider the Chinese
are doing an excellent job. So, why is Chi-
na, despite an obvious interest in getting
its hands on Africa’s raw materials and
energy sources, so popular in Africa?
CUT AND PASTE FROM CHINA
For African countries, China is a trad-
ing partner, investor, and a developmen-
tal actor. Several experts claim that Chi-
na, unlike the West, is implementing a
business-driven model of development,
rather than just coming up with band-aid
solutions for a continent requiring wide-
spread structural development.
According to Martyn Davies, CEO of
Frontier Advisory; South Africa’s lead-
ing research and strategy consulting firm
specialising in emerging markets, China
is trying to replicate its own recipe for
economic success in Africa. The basic in-
gredient of this recipe, says Dr Davies,
is the establishment of dedicated zones
of foreign and domestic capital. Such
zones were established, as experiments
in market liberalization, along the Chi-
nese coastal provinces in the mid 1980s.
They attracted capital, technology and
management skills into China’s domestic
economy. The approach was formally ini-
tiated in 2006 when the Chinese govern-
ment committed itself to establishing five
zones across Africa.
Ian Taylor is a professor at the Univer-
sity of St. Andrews’ School of Interna-
tional Relations. He agrees that China has
managed to bring much needed invest-
ments and capital to Africa. In his opin-
ion, one major difference between the
western and the Chinese approach in
Africa is that China provides investment
but does not really question governance
issues. The west, on the other hand, fo-
cuses on governance issues but its pri-
vate business sector is not that interest-
ed in investing. “Which approach is best
depends on whether you think develop-
ment or democracy should come first,”
Taylor says.
Martyn Davies’ “cut and paste” theory

30 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 31
■  the chinese in Africa

Infrastructure corridor
Zones –operational
When joining the dots from the zones or under
(planned and operational) we get an
economic belt stretching from Lobuzo construction
in Angola to Dar Es Salam in Tanzania. Zambia
Dar Es Salam is actually the ending China’s first SEZ was established
point of the Tanzam line built by the in February 2007, in Chambishi,
Chinese in the 1970s. The Chinese are in the heart of Zambia’s copper
currently in the process of rehabilitat- belt region. A sub-zone, still un-
ing the line, which links Zambia’s min- der construction, is located in Lu-
ing regions to the coast, and thus is of Republic saka. Both zones focus primarily
high strategic importance to Zambia of congo TAnzania Dar es Salam on copper mining. In 2009 the
and Tanzania. Lubito Luao
Malonga Chinese Ministry of Commerce
While the Tanzam line links Zambia to the east coast, the Lubumbashi
Benguela approved a grant of 450 million
Benguela line links the copper belt straddling Zambia angola Zambia Kapiri Mposhi US dollars to these two zones. By
and the DRC to the west coast. Together the Tanzam and 2010, 3,500 local jobs had been
Benguela lines bisect sub-Saharan Africa, and will – for created in Chambishi.
the first time- create a functioning east-west infrastruc-
ture corridor across the continent. Mauritius
The locations of China’s SEZs have been chosen in light The zone in Mauritius has been
of these infrastructure corridors. According to Davies, granted offshore financial sta-
the challenge now is to include private business along the tus. The zone has strong trad-
corridor. ing links with Africa, as well as
Sino-African relations: In February 2007, Hu Jintao visited Lusaka, Hopes for the future: Liberian children welcome President Hu Jintao in southern Asia, and is described
Zambia to inaugurate the economic zone in Zambia’s Copper belt province, the capital Monrovia in February 2007. China’s investments in Africa are ex- as China’s “springboard for en-
which has become a key source of copper for China’s growing economy. pected to make a significant contribution to industrialization in Africa. try into Africa”. It is expected
 Photo: Scanpix  Photo: Scanpix to earn an annual 200 million
US dollars in export when it be-
comes operational, and China
is expected to invest up to 750
is supported by a report from The Afri- increased investments, technology trans- getting into it. The government’s role has a free highway in the process, as well as “When I sit with investors from the million US dollars in the zone
over the next ten years. The
can Development Bank Group. Their fig- fer, development of labour skills and ex- been largely to drive growth through the capitalizing the lending for a period of Western part of the world, they do a pow- SEZ in Mauritius is intended to
ures show that China’s increased direct port promotion. The terms of the zones enablement of capital formation by cre- 15 to 20 years,” Davies says. “Traditional er point presentation, about projection, serve as a manufacturing hub.
investment in Africa’s manufacturing are negotiated between Beijing and Afri- ating a phenomenal environment of ex- western firms on the other hand mostly cash-flows, profit, income statements, The government has just com-
industry is mainly through these special treme competition which again is driving will perhaps offer a few roads, - round the balance sheets, all these flamboyant pleted constructing the off-site
can governments, who in return for re-
infrastructure, including access
economic zones (SEZs). ceiving committed Chinese investments, the growth,” Davies says. mine”, he continues. The Chinese have graphs. I have never seen those with the roads, sewage and water infra-
offer tax breaks, custom duty waivers, According to Davies, Chinese econom- already completed 30.000 kilometres Chinese. They probably do them on their structure, and connecting the
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES and discounted land. ic success is based on three factors. Most of roads in Africa. own, but when they come here, they just zone to the power grid.
The idea of economic zones is not new. Today there are seven special econom- important is the investment in infrastruc- No wonder then ask for the incentives. Where is the piece
Nigeria
There are many hundreds of economic ic zones in Africa: one in Mauritius, two tural projects such as railways, airports that western min- of land where we can begin to work? “ Nigeria is in the process of es-
zones or export-processing zones in Af- in Zambia, two in Nigeria, one in Ethio- and roads. Such investments have been ing companies are tablishing two SEZs - one in the
rica already, but most have failed, mainly pia, and one in Egypt. the primary driver of China’s growth the under great pres- CHINESE POLICY Lekki Free Trade zone and one
in Ogun State. These zones will
due to lack of government commitment “If successful, the zones may encour- last 20 years. Secondly, education, and sure if they want to In addition to criticism for not involving
mainly focus on manufactur-
and high costs in- age further liberalization by the host Af- thirdly the direct allocation of capital compete with the themselves in human rights and democ- ing machinery and mineral ex-
volved in building rican governments, thereby serving as into projects – like the zones. “We can all Chinese. racy issues the Chinese are sometimes traction.
MARTYN DAVIES 
sufficient infra- catalysts for broader industrial activity in agree to infrastructure creating growth, Davies also em- criticised for operating with sub-standard
Frontier Advisory Egypt
structure, an es- these economies,” Davies says. and that education is important to de- phasise the ability –Their jobs depend working conditions, and with little inter-
The zone in Suez is operational.
sential factor for Davies emphasizes that China’s domes- velopmentally succeed. The contentious of the Chinese to on good implemen- est in environment and transparency in The capital is invested in automo-
such zones to suc- tic success was not down to a few zones area, however, is on how the capital is al- `get things done´. tation, and that is economic management. tive components, electronics, lo-
the China model; gistics and clothing sectors.
ceed. alone: China succeeded because of free- located.” The Chinese way brilliant implemen-
Taylor stresses the importance of re-
In the Chinese- IAN TAYLOR  market forces. He stresses the impor- forward is by mak- tation. membering two key points when evaluat- Ethiopia
initiated zones the University of tance of understanding that thirty years BRILLIANT IMPLEMENTATION ing a series of prag- ing Chinese business activities in Africa. The Oriental Zone in Ethiopia is
St. Andrews
Chinese govern- ago, private sector’s contribution to the The Chinese are also quite willing to en- matic decisions “First, Chinese actors do not do anything still under construction and plans
– Which approach
ment has allocated Chinese Gross Domestic Product (GDP) gage in long-term commitments. Davies taken on a daily basis. Chinese bureau- in Africa they do not do at home. Secondly, to attract capital for extraction
is best depends on
of mineral resources. China has
capital to develop whether you think was negligible. Nowadays, approximate- says that most western bankers have an crats don’t question the plan, they im- Sino-African relations are not part of a cen- pledged to invest 100 million US
the required infra- development or ly two- thirds of China’s GDP comes from investment horizon of five minutes to five plement it. “Their jobs depend on good trally directed and controlled plan.” The dollars in an industrial park where
democracy should
structure, while private enterprise. years, while the Chinese horizon is from implementation, and that is the China Chinese Ministry of Commerce, he says, is electric machinery and iron works
come first.
private business- fifteen to twenty years. “The Chinese in- model; brilliant implementation” Davies often unaware of the presence, never mind will be the main activities.
es are invited to THE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS vestments allow for these packages of says. the behaviour, of various Chinese actors in In addition China has plans of es-
set up units. While the export -process- “The great success of China is not so construction to come together,” Davies How this implementation varies from Africa. Taylor further explains that the mi- tablishing logistic hubs in Angola,
ing zones are just industrial enclaves, the much the story of a strong state, but rath- says. When planning to invest, the Chi- the Western approach is well described by lieu in Africa is often a reflection of China’s Mozambique and Tanzania.
SEZs are integrated townships with fully er the extremely rapid creation of a pri- nese will offer package deals of infrastruc- the Trade and Industry minister of Zam- own situation and does not necessarily
developed infrastructures. vate sector and this has been done by the ture. “They will offer hundreds of miles bia, Felix Mutati, when interviewed for suggest a lack of respect for Africa, Afri-
The zones are designed to encourage state exiting the economy, rather than of railways, a few schools and a port, and the documentary When China met Africa. cans, or African conditions.

32 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 33
■  the chinese in Africa
“What critics may not always realize is
that Chinese workers in China frequently
also work under often dangerous condi-
tions for little pay. China’s reform process
and the attendant turn to capitalism (wide-
ly applauded by the West) has arguably set
the stage for such conditions in China itself
; it can thus be no surprise that sharp prac-
tices, such as cutting corners even when
it comes to employee safety and welfare,
abound among some Chinese-owned busi-
ness enterprises in Africa. This is not to let
Chinese employers off the hook for such
behaviour but merely to put their activities
in their proper context.”
JOBS ONLY FOR CHINESE
In addition to concern over working con-
ditions in Chinese enterprises, there is
growing concern that Chinese business-
es and investments are not creating new
jobs for Africans. New job opportunities
are instead being filled by imported Chi-
nese labour.
n n  Regarding the
micro entrepreneurs,
they just want to
start a better life in
Africa. They see a
good opportunity.
MARTYN DAVIES Frontier Advisory
Neither Davies nor Taylor finds this
criticism accurate. Davies stresses that in
the special economic zones, the vast bulk
of labour will be local and Taylor says
that it is a mistake to presume that high-
salary Chinese-created jobs are always
given to imported Chinese workers – but
sometimes Chinese companies feel that
it often is more efficient and sometimes
necessary to bring in Chinese because
they have the skills and language to deal
with the bosses.
However, African communities are per-
haps most concerned about the small-
scale Chinese shop-keepers and trad-
ers that are appearing on their streets
and in their villages. Earlier this year the
BBC reported that Chinese workers were
ordered out of Tanzania. The Deputy
Minister in Tanzania said that Chinese
34 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
businessmen were only allowed into the
country as investors, not as ”vendors or
shoe-shiners.”
SMALL-SCALE CHINESE BUSINESS
According to Davies there are three sorts
of Chinese businesses moving into Africa:
state owned companies, private compa-
nies, and migrants or entrepreneurs.
The African Development Bank Group
reports that Chinese enterprises invest-
ing in strategic sectors such as oil, ores
or infrastructure are mostly state-owned
or subsidized with Chinese grants or by
state-owned banks. Chinese investments
in Africa by medium to large-sized enter-
prises are mainly found in manufacturing,
telecommunications and wholesale trade
sectors. Small firms or so-called micro en-
trepreneurs are in the light industry and
retail sectors.
Due to weak African institutions the
micro entrepreneurs are not properly
captured in official statistics. Conse-
quently, although the SMEs certainly play
an important role, and are present all
over the continent, it is difficult to assess
exactly how many small Chinese busi-
nesses are present in Africa. However, as
we have heard, the inflow of Chinese en-
trepreneurs is obviously seen as a prob-
lem in some African countries.
“Regarding the micro entrepreneurs,
they just want to start a better life in Af-
rica. They see a good opportunity,” Davies
says. He has observed many Chinese ar-
riving with their suitcases at the airport,
wearing flip-flops. Three years later, they
are driving around in BMWs. “This is
the African dream for Chinese entrepre-
neurs”, he says. “Africa is open for busi-
ness. Chinese traders are drawn towards
the high profit margins in Africa, plugging
into the supply chain back home to sell
Chinese products.”
Ian Taylor explains how manufactur-
ers in China receive no more than ten
per cent of total trade profits. Foreign
brand owners, wholesalers and retailers,
mostly Americans, share the remaining
ninety per cent. International conglom-
erates like the American Wal-Mart cause
high competition on the domestic market
leading to oversupply, thereby encourag-
ing Chinese factories to look elsewhere
for markets.
The pressure to export is propelling
the spread of small-scale, Chinese-run,
retail emporiums across Africa. Essen-
Chinese entrepreneurs in Africa: Once a private Chinese
experience of the local environment in an attempt to identify
than in China.
tially, a pattern emerges whereby one or
two Chinese entrepreneurs set up shops
selling cheap products. These business-
es are quickly copied – either by the Chi-
nese nationals they formerly employed,
or by other Chinese who have heard of
their success. However, since they all
sell the same sorts of products, compe-
tition between them increases, leading
to a fall in prices and a decline in prof-
its. This in turn encourages some trad-
ers to seek out new markets in other
towns, where the process is repeated,
until one finds Chinese shopkeepers
eking out their livings in the smallest
villages. In other words, dynamics in-
trinsic to market competition explain
why African markets are saturated with
Chinese-made products (and Chinese-
sub-contractor undertakes a project, the company will use the opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge and
additional opportunities. Due to intense competition in the home market, profits are usually higher in Africa
owned stores). Meanwhile, Africans
simply see a Chinese incursion every-
where.
So are these Chinese entrepreneurs
setting up shop all over Africa - the ul-
timate proof that China is colonizing
Africa - or is it simply a sign that Africa
is becoming a flourishing place of busi-
ness? In Martyn Davies’ opinion the
Chinese are of great benefit for Africa
- providing the continent with the nec-
essary building blocks for creating eco-
nomic growth and prosperity. And, he
says, because of the Chinese industri-
ousness in Africa, the West is starting
to sit up and take notice of what is hap-
pening there. At least one thing seems
clear – as Martyn Davies says - “Africa
is open for business.” n
Sources:
Frontier Advisory: China’s developmental model
comes to Africa: The case of Special Economic
Zones, The African Development Bank Group.
When China met Africa, a film by Nick and
Marc Fancis, www.BBC.com
Annual Report on Sino- African trade and
economy, released by the Ministry of Com-
merce.
The China Monitor – a report on China’s in-
volvement in African infrastructure bi Martyn
Davies and Christopher Burke. The centre for
Chinese studies issued the report in 2007
Direct capital allocation
The Chinese approach avoids corruption
problems by channeling funds through the
Export – Import Bank of China (China Exim
Bank) and by granting Chinese contrac-
tors the responsibility for construction pro-
jects, thereby making them accountable
for funds and progress.
■■ Infrastructure projects undertaken by
Chinese companies are often financed
by soft loans from the Chinese govern-
ment.
■■ The loans are disbursed by China Exim
Bank, one of the largest institutions of
this kind in the world.
■■ The construction companies are chosen
by the Chinese government through a
competitive tendering process.
■■ Government-endorsed contracts en-
able Chinese companies to secure the
necessary low-cost capital required to
cover expensive start-up costs.
Source: China’s role in the Development
of Africa’s Infrastructure. Report written by
Lucy Corkin, Christopher Burke and Mar-
tyn Davies, Centre for Chinese Studies,
Sellenbosch University.
SEZ
■■ Special Economic Zones are desig-
nated areas within a country that have
been granted advantageous economic
regulations that differ from those in oth-
er areas in the same country.
■■ These regulations tend to contain
measures that are conducive towards
attracting foreign direct investment.
■■ Conducting a business in a SEZ usually
means that a company will receive tax in-
centives and the benefits of lower tariffs.
Source: www.fxtraderinvestopedia.com
Beneficial impacts
The SEZs have had the following benefi-
cial impacts in many countries:
■■ Rapid employment generation, espe-
cially for women
■■ Higher average pay levels
■■ Higher economic growth rates
■■ Expansion of non-traditional export in-
dustries
■■ Generation of new skills
■■ Transfer of modern technology
■■ Attraction of both local and foreign di-
rect investment
Source: Report on the draft policy special
economic zones; Republic of Kenya, Min-
istry of Trade ( 2010)
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 35
■  global review
Western Sahara
Morocco Responsible for Civilian Deaths
 report by the Moroccan human rights organi-
A not intended for publication, was leaked to the out-
zation The Royal Advisory Council for Human
Rights (CCDH) holds Moroccan authorities re-
sponsible for the murder of 352 civilians in West-
ern Sahara between 1958 and 1992. The CCDH
is a national institution, and the report, which was
Japan
Triple
Emergency
Japan faces serious short and
long-term challenges in the after-
math of the earthquake, tsuna-
mi and resultant nuclear power
emergency in mid-March.
On 11 March Japan was shook by an earth-
quake of magnitude 9 on the Richter scale.
The quake triggered a tsunami that caused
enormous damage along Japan’s northeast
coast. The combined force of the earth-
quake and tsunami caused major problems
at several of Japan’s nuclear power plants.
At the Fuushima Dahichi plant, leaks of ra-
dioactivity caused dangerously high levels
of radioactivity both in the near vicinity, in
food produced in the wider region, and in
drinking water. Tens of thousands of peo-
ple died as a result of the natural disaster,
and several hundred thousand were made
homeless, or had to be evacuated to avoid
radiation. Despite severely stretched re-
sources, Japanese authorities, with the as-
sistance of a few international rescue teams,
were able to implement rescue operations,
and, in large measure, provide for the basic
needs of the population.
In the immediate aftermath, a number
of Japanese factories and businesses closed
IMMIGRATION SURVEY
Transatlantic Trends: Immigration 2010 is a
comparative survey measuring the percep-
tion of immigrant groups and immigration and
integration policies in Canada, France, Ger-
many, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK
and the US.
The survey revealed that - compared to 2009
- more people overestimated the percentage
of the population that had been born abroad.
With the exception of Canada there was also
overwhelming disapproval with the immigra-
tion policies of the respective governments.
36 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
side world. Of the people identified in the report, a
majority, more than 200, including several children,
were killed at military bases or in prison camps.
144 were killed in battle, but their families were
never informed of their fate.
challenges: A Japanese soldier looks out at the devastation reflected in the window. It has been
estimated that damages amounting to some 235 billion US dollars were caused by the disaster.
 Photo: Adam Dean/Panos Pictures /Felix Features
down temporarily, thereby causing concern
that the Japanese economy would suffer
a serious setback. Most experts, however,
seem to agree that the short term economic
losses will be offset by the boost in building
and construction, and higher employment
levels will be generated by extensive rebuild-
ing operations. There is concern that the
widespread reconstruction efforts will result
in inflation, thereby weakening the export-
driven Japanese economy. Many countries
percentage of people who think the Government is doing a poor job in immigration management:
73 % 70 % 61 % 58 % 54 % 43 %
us uk spain
in the region also hold debts in Japanese yen
and will suffer if inflation mounts.
The disaster has also brought about a
broad international debate on the safety of
nuclear power plants, causing a number
of countries to review their nuclear-pow-
er programs. Nuclear power accounts for
about 14 per cent of the world’s electric-
ity supply, and has been widely advocated
as a means of producing clean energy with
which to replace fossil fuels.
france netherlands canada
War-wounded treated at Mogadishu hospitals in 2010
6.000
aid value: On 2 February this year UK foreign minister William Hague visited Tunisa. During his visit
he annonced 8 million US dollars in aid for Tunisia. The UK government has, on the other hand, decid-
ed to cut funding for several multinational organisastions that do not offer “good value for money”.
 Photo: Scanpix
ARMED CONCLICT IS
ROBBING CHILDREN OF
EDUCATION
The Education for All Global Moni-
toring Report 2011 reveals that,
despite some progress in the num-
ber of children receiving primary ed-
ucation in poor countries, the posi-
tive trend has slowed down. In fact,
if the current trend continues, there
will be fewer children enrolled in
school in 2015 than there is today.
The situation is especially worrying
in conflict-affected poor countries.
In 2010, the number of war-wounded
treated in hospitals in Mogadishu
reached its highest number for a decade.
40 per cent of those treated were women
and children caught in cross-fire.
Source: International Committee of
the Red Cross
Key findings from the report:
613
In Afghanistan there
were 613 attacks on
schools in 2009
28.000.000 79 %
28 million children do not attend school in conflict-
affected poor countries, i.e. 41% of the world total.
NUBMERS TREATED LAST
THREE YEARS:
Increase 2008: 2,800
of 2009: 5,000
1,000
2010: 6,000
Humanitarian aid
Uk Cuts Funding
for Multinationals
The UK government has cut fund-
ing for four multinational organi-
sations because of poor results.
In March, the UK Department for Interna-
tional Development (DFID) published a
multilateral aid review. The review looked
at the strengths and weaknesses of the 43
multilateral organisations in which the UK,
until recently, have invested aid money.
The organisations were evaluated on the
extent to which they contributed to British
humanitarian and developmental goals.
As a result of the review the British
government decided to cut funding for
four organisations because they did not
“make a significant difference on the
ground, and whose work overlapped
with more effective institutions”. The
four organisations are the International
Labour Organisation, the UN Internation-
al Strategy for Disaster Reduction, UN-
HABITAT, and the UN Industrial Develop-
ment Organisation.
Of the organisations reviewed, DFID
deemed nine to offer very good value for
money, 25 to offer good or adequate value
for money, while nine were characterised
as offering poor value for money.
220
220 schools were
destroyed in Yemen
between 2009-2010
Only 79 % of children in conflict-affected
countries are literate, compared to 93 %
in other poor countries.
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 37
■  NORTH AFRICA  Crumbling Dictatorships

Revolution
without
Would you say Also, the drive against corruption - a very agendas (such as undermining the politi-
that these revolu- significant factor - has led the revolutions cal control of the judiciary) that are re-
tions are a-polit- to target many leading businessmen who sponsive to the revolutionary programs.
ical? had thrived on the economic changes of
No; just the op- the past two decades. So I think they will Is there a future for party politics in
posite. They are make neo-liberal policies more difficult, North Africa and the Middle East?

politics
Nathan J. Brown, pro-
deeply politi- but otherwise they do not have a specific Yes, the real question is whether pro-
fessor of political sci- cal. They are not policy agenda. test movements can transform them-
ence and internation- driven by a spe- selves into political parties. It is often
al affairs at George cific ideology, but Will the revolutionary movements be said that the Islamists are the only organ-
Washington Univer-
sity, and non-resident
the agendas of the able to influence the further political ized political parties. They are indeed
senior associate to opposition have development in their respective coun- organized, but the protest movements
the Carnegie Endow- largely focused tries? have shown an ability to mobilize large
ment for International

Is there such
on remaking - or Absolutely - at least in Egypt and Tu- numbers of people. Those mobilization-
Peace.
at least serious- nisia, they are continuing to drive much al skills could be translated into electoral
ly reforming - the of the political process. For instance, in ones if they are converted into perma-

a thing?
By: Nonje M. Viken and Harriet K. Rudd
There seems to be a broad consen-
sus that the revolutions sweeping
North-Africa and the Middle East are
rooted in deep social and political
dissatisfaction. The revolutions have
been portrayed as led by a broad
coalition of young adults with no
ties to political parties or ideologi-
cal organizations. It took them only
weeks to topple the governments of
Tunisia and Egypt. The question is
what next for these countries, which
are in need of governments who can
deal with broader political ques-
tions such as job creation, taxation,
education and a fairer distribution
of wealth. These questions are, how-
ever, inherently political.
One of the perceived strengths
political system. A host of economic,
cultural, and other grievances have been
presented in the form of demands for po-
litical reform. Constitutional reform - and
especially the concentration of authority
of the movements and individuals in the hands of the executive - has been at
central to the uprisings is their lack the centre of the entire controversy.
of ideology and political experi-
ence. Being perceived as non-polit- Can a-political groups or individuals
ical is increasingly associated with provide solutions to political prob-
concepts such as integrity, credibil- lems?
ity, fairness and unity. An expres- The groups leading the rebellions were
sion of this is the demand for so- often less ideological (though Islam-
called technocratic cabinets. ists and leftists were involved). They are
But is it possible for leaders with
neither political experience nor ide-
not pushing a specific set of policies, a
specific ideology, or even a specific ap-
ologically based beliefs to provide
credible and coherent solutions to
proach to policy. The solutions they are
pushing involve making a better political
fundamentally political challenges? system. That is not to say that their suc-
To what degree will the protest- cess would bring no effects on policy. For
ers be able to two influence the pol- instance, in Egypt, public sector workers
itics of the future? have played a significant role. If they gain
Perspective put the question to a greater voice in the political system,
experts on Middle East politics. this will work specific political effects.
Egypt, they brought down not merely nent organizations with clear programs.
the president, but forced the military to There are attempts to do that with liberal
appoint a different cabinet. As the pro- groups, labour groups, and so on.
cess of writing new constitutions goes
forward, they have articulated clear pro-
grams - for reining in the security ser-
vices, for cleaner elections, for more
effective parliaments, and for judicial in-
dependence. These demands will be dif-
ficult to ignore. n n  The real ques-
Is it likely that technocratic cabinets tion is whether pro-
will have the strength to confront the
old establishments and carry the rev- test movements can
olution forward?
Not by themselves but, if backed by
transform them-
strong social and political movements,
they might be able to. Technocratic cabi-
selves into political
nets, where they were created in the past parties.
in the Arab world - such as Salam Fayy-
ad’s in Palestine—have served in a largely
authoritarian context and had no political
basis. But the post-revolutionary ones in
Cairo and Tunis have been able to pursue

17 December 2010
The spark
The 26 year old street
vendor, Mohamed
Bouazizi, set fire to him-
self after his illegal vege-
table cart was confiscat-
ed by police. The event
triggered hundreds of
young Tunisians to take
to the streets in order to
protest against high un-
employment levels.
28 December 13 January 14 January 28 January 29 January 1 February 2 February 4 February 10 February 11 February
Jasmine revolution President promised Ben Ali resigned Curfew New Vice-President March of a Million Fighting in Tahrir Day of departure Fatal speech Victory
The first demonstrations took place in pro- to resign in 2014 Ben Ali stepped down Following days of wide- General Omar Suleiman was More than a million peo- square Large numbers of pro- Statements by mili- President
vincial towns, but unrest soon spread to Tunisian president and went into exile in spread protests, Egyp- appointed vice-president, and ple took part in demon- Fighting broke testers gathered in tary leaders suggest- Mubarak
the capital, Tunis. By this time, the demon- Zine al-Abidine Saudi Arabia. tian President Mubarak, thereby Mubarak’s successor. strations across Egypt. out between Tahrir Square demand- ed that Mubarak was stepped down
strations had evolved into anti-government Ben Ali said he imposed a dusk-to- In Cairo several hundred anti-government ing that Murbarak re- ready to step down.
protests. Several trade unions came out would not stand dawn curfew in Cairo, thousands joined in the protesters and sign. Instead, President
on strike in solidarity with the protesters. for re-election in 25 January Alexandria and Suez. 31 January demonstrations. Mubarak Mubarak sup- Mubarak made a tel-
Over the next days and weeks the pro- 2014. Unrest in Egypt The curfew was largely Army declares protests promised to step down af- porters in Tahrir evised speech saying
tests intensified. On several occasions the Anti-government dem- ignored, there were vio- “legitimate.” ter the presidential elec- Square. 6 February he would stay in office
police responded violently to demonstra- onstrations erupted in lent clashes between The army also said it would tions in September. The Talks until September. The
tions. According to the UN at least 219 Egypt. protesters and police, not use force against pro- protesters demanded he Suleiman held talks speech infuriated pro- Sources: BBC
people were killed in the uprisings. and reported looting. testers. resign by 4 February. with opposition groups. testers. and Al Jazeera

38 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 39
■  NORTH AFRICA  Crumbling Dictatorships
Would you say
that these revolu-
tions are a-polit-
ical?
The current so-
cial movements in
the Arab World try
to alter the poli-
ties not the poli-
Christoph Schumann, cies. By new polity
Professor of politics the demonstra-
and contemporary his-
tory of the Middle East tors want to see
at the Institute for the fall of the re-
Political Science, Uni- gimes (Arabic: ni-
versity of Erlangen- zam), but they do
Nuremberg
not want to over-
throw the states
(Arabic: dawla). In
other words, they want to see the end of
all emergency laws and a return to con-
stitutional government. The constitu-
tional changes they have proposed up to
now are fairly moderate. Most impor-
tantly, they strengthen the parliament
and the judiciary vis-à-vis the president.
This call for change of the political order
is tremendously political. However, the
large majority of the demonstrators do
not want to be involved in (party) politics.
From this perspective, we are witnessing
a revolt of the citizens, not the politicians.
Besides, the term «revolution» is prob-
lematic in the case of Egypt and Tunisia.
On the one hand, the backbone of the old
regimes, namely the army, is still in pow-
er. The transition to democracy, which
we all hope for, will take many years. On
the other hand, the demonstrators do not
even want to overthrow the existing po-
litical orders, i.e. the state. As mentioned
above, they rather aim at realizing the val-
ues that are already written down in the
constitutions of Egypt and Tunisia. This
is vastly different from the revolutions
led by Jamal Abd al-Nasser or Ruhollah
Khomeini, which completely replaced the
old order with a totally new one. This in-
cluded even the renaming of the state.
As regards Bahrain and Libya, the op-
position movement has revolutionary as-
pects. In Bahrain, the demonstrators call
now for the fall of the king, and many of
them go even further and openly ques-
tion the monarchy. In Libya, the demon-
strators show their criticism of the ex-
isting order by using the flag of the old
kingdom. This is not to say that they want
to re-introduce the monarchy, but they
question not only the rule of Muammar
40 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
Gaddafi, but also the state of the Social-
ist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya that
Gaddafi has created.
Can a-political groups or individuals
provide solutions to political prob-
lems?
The citizens who joined the social
movements will not be able to provide
solutions for practical problems. This
is not their job, but the job of the politi-
cians. However, the social movements
can keep the pressure on the political
elite to provide better solutions than in
the past.
Will the revolutionary movements be
able to influence further political de-
velopment in their respective coun-
tries?
If the social movements are able to mobi-
lize continuously for their political goals of
freedom, civic rights, democracy, and so-
cial security, they will be able to intervene
time and again in the political process.
Is it likely that technocratic cabinets
will have the strength to confront the
n n  The citizens who joined the social
movements will not be able to provide
solutions for practical problems. This is not
their job, but the job of the politicians.
Transition and democracy
Both Egypt and Tunisia are still in political tur-
moil, and the protests have continued with
varying intensity. The protesters have de-
manded the resignation of ministers linked
to the old regime, and that the interim gov-
ernments press ahead with reforms. In mid-
March, police opened fire on a demonstration
march through Tunis, killing several people.
Since the overthrow of Ben Ali’s regime, Tunisia
has had several interim governments. Ironically
the youth-led revolution has resulted in an in-
terim president and interim prime minister aged
78, and 84 respectively. There are plans to hold
elections for a national assembly in July. This
assembly will be given the task of rewriting the
constitution, before general elections are held.
old establishment and carry the revo-
lution forward?
If the technocratic cabinets are backed
by the social movements, they can con-
front the old establishment. For this rea-
son, they need to maintain their connec-
tions with the street. If they lose their
contacts with the social movements, they
will be without an autonomous power
basis.
Is there a future for party politics in
North Africa and the Middle East?
The roots of the Arab party system in
the Levant and North Africa go back to
the 1920s, if not the pre-World War I era.
With growing freedom, the party system
will flourish. Under authoritarian condi-
tions, the parties will remain a facade.
For the monarchies on the Arab Pen-
insular the situation is different. Politi-
cal parties have a weak tradition. The ar-
ticulation of societal interests has mainly
worked through family networks and in-
formal channels, while the engagement
in ideologically guided party activities
was limited to rather small groups of ur-
ban intellectuals.
After Mubarak stepped down in February, Egypt
has been under military rule. In late March there
was a referendum on constitutional reform. 77
per cent voted for the proposed changes. Many
democracy activists criticised the changes, say-
ing they did not go far enough, and demanding
a complete rewrite of the constitution before
general elections are held. The referendum re-
sult will probably lead to parliamentary and pres-
idential elections within months. Critics say early
elections favour existing political parties and the
Muslim Brotherhood, who already have organi-
sations in place. The new national assembly will
write the new constitution, and will therefore
play a decisive role in the shaping of the future
Egyptian political system.
perspectives
Egypt: Evaluating Proposed
Constitutional Amendments
The amendment to Egypt’s constitution recently an- is the master of its decision” by giving the Supreme
nounced by Chancellor Tareq Bishri’s commission Constitutional Court jurisdiction to rule on the validi-
– if adopted by the Supreme Council of the Armed ty of deputies’ membership in the People’s Assembly
Forces and approved by a majority of citizens in a and the Shura Council.
general referendum – will lay the foundation for con-
straining the near-absolute powers granted to the Article 189: Require the elected People’s Assembly
president by the 1971 constitution. and Shura Council to choose a constituent assembly
They are also a positive step toward administering of 100 members to draft a new constitution for Egypt
Amr Hamzawy is
research director and pluralistic legislative and presidential elections be- within six months of the election of the two cham-
senior associate at the fore the end of the current transitional phase. Some bers.
Carnegie Middle East of the proposed amendments would help rein in
Center in Beirut.
presidential power in Egypt by affecting the follow- Despite these proposed amendments, the 1971 con-
ing constitutional articles: stitution supports an authoritarian system of govern-
ment that gives too much control to the president,
Article 77: Shorten presidential terms to four years violates the powers of the legislative and judicial
and limit presidents to a maximum of two consecu- branches, and suspends citizens’ liberties and rights.
tive terms. It is therefore unsuitable for managing a safe transi-
tion to democracy, which requires a parliamentary
n n Article 148: Constrain the president’s powers to an- constitution and balanced powers among all three
They are also nounce a state of emergency and require a popular
referendum to extend the state of emergency be-
branches of government – along with strong mecha-
nisms of inter-branch oversight and accountability.
a positive yond six months. Amending the current constitution is not enough,
step toward but these proposed amendments help ensure that a
administering Article 179: Void presidential power to suspend citi- new constitution will be written for a free democrat-
pluralistic
zens’ civil liberties and political rights. ic Egypt after the legislative elections. n
legislative and Article 76: Allow for pluralistic presidential elections (Previously published in the Los Angeles Times)
presidential in which multiple candidates compete, rather than
restricting candidacies to members of the National
elections Democratic Party’s general secretariat. To be eligi-
before the end ble to run, presidential candidates must now secure
of the current either the support of 30 elected members from the
People’s Assembly and the Shura Council, or 30,000
transitional voters from at least 15 provinces – with at least 1,000
phase. votes from each province; or they must have mem-
bership in a political party with at least one elected
seat in the two parliamentary chambers. In addition,
the amendment states that a higher judicial commis-
sion oversee presidential elections.
Article 60: Stipulate that a higher judicial commis-
sion supervise the elections and the referendum.
This will restore complete judicial oversight of elec-
toral processes and place voting and vote counting
under the supervision of judicial committee mem-
bers.
Article 93: Abolish the principle that “the council
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 41
■  SPECIAL REPORT  “Shoot to Kill”

Abdel-Wahid points
to his gunshot wounds
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 6 – 7.
at least 85 migrants
and asylum seekers have
been shot dead by
Egyptian border ­g uards
on the Egyptian-Israeli
border since 2007.
BY: Robin Hammond and Marianne Alfsen Panos/Felix Features
Photo: Robin Hammond Panos/Felix Features

42 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 43
■  SPECIAL REPORT  “Shoot to Kill”

 T 
he mixed flow of migrants,
refugees, and asylum seekers
entering Israel via the Sinai
Desert has increased in the
course of the past few years
– and especially after 2009 - when Libya
and Italy signed an agreement that effec-
tively shut down one of the most popular
migrant sea routes from Africa to Europe.
According to William Tall, the United Na-
tions High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) representative in Israel, more
than 1,000 people a month, illegally
crossed the Egyptian-Israeli border in
2010. In Israel they seek a better life and
refuge from violence and abuse. Very few
achieve this goal.
Abdel-Wahid’s (name changed for pro-
tection reasons) story is sadly familiar.
He is from Darfur, one of Sudan’s most
conflict-torn regions, which erupted in
violence in 2003. His mother hid him un-
der the bed when Janjaweed militiamen
dragged away all the male members of
his extended family in the age range of 15-
40. He lay there all day. The family feared
the worst when, in the evening darkness,
gunshots could be heard at no great dis-
tance from the village. The next day their
fears were confirmed. The bodies of 40
men lay face down in the dirt. All had
been shot in the back. Abdel-Wahid was
the village’s only male survivor. He knew
what he had to do to stay alive. Run.
THE LONG TREK
Thus the long trek began: firstly, across
Africa’s largest country, Sudan, there-
after into Egypt and across the Sinai
Desert to the Israeli border. When, at
night, he finally reached the border, he
had nothing but the clothes on his back.
The Bedouin people-smuggler who had
guided him across the desert had stolen
his remaining possessions. It was of no
consequence – some ten metres ahead
of him, behind a myriad of barbed-wire
fencing, he could discern the promised
land: Israel.
Along with his eight travelling com-
panions he had to leap, or crawl on his
stomach in order to negotiate the wir-
ing. Then he heard gunshots. The men
scattered. Abdel-Wahid tried to follow,
but his clothes became entangled in the
barbed wire, ripping open his skin, and,
at the same time, leaving him trapped.
Suddenly the firing stopped and silence
ensued. For ten minutes Abdel-Wahid
tried to free himself without attracting
the attention of the border guards. He
could hear them searching for survivors.
The noise of their approach came closer
and closer. Then a flashlight blinded him.
A voice (in Arabic) yelled:
“Hey, you bastard! Today will be your
last.”
And with that the guard fired seven
bullets into Abdel-Wahid’s body.
Lying in bed in a women’s hostel in Is-
rael Abdel-Wahid recalls that moment.
He was sure he was going to die. He
thought about his mother and father.
How would they survive? His two broth-
ers had already been murdered, and now
he was going to die too. There would be
nobody to take care of them. Shaking un-
controllably, Abdel-Wahid tries to stand
with the aid of a walking frame, but he
falls back on the bed, sobbing. His shoul-
ders shake and he covers his face with his
hands. “I used to run and jump. I was a
good football player. Now I cannot even
stand,” he says.
MANY FATALITIES
Human Rights Watch, maintain that - in
the period between June 2007 and Janu-
ary 2011 – at least 85 people were shot
and killed by Egyptian border guards
when trying to cross the Egyptian-Israeli
border illegally. Of these, at least 28 were
killed in 2010 alone.
There are no official Egyptian statistics
by, a man from a rival tribe, and they
feared that the nature of their relation-
ship would result in their being killed.
Consequently, the couple left the Ivory
Coast and travelled across the entire Afri-
can continent in order to reach Israel.
It was a long and difficult journey.
Eventually only one obstacle remained –
a set of three barbed-wire fences. Charles
and his wife managed to get past two of
them. Then, they heard the alarming rat-
tle of empty cans; Egyptian border guards
hang such cans along the fences to alert
them of illegal border crossings. Confu-
sion instantly followed. It seemed as if
there was gunfire and lights everywhere.
Voices could be heard shouting “they
shot me, they shot me,” Charles recalls.
Charles quickly flattened the barbed
wire fence in order to help his wife across
the last barrier. Then, suddenly, she
dropped to the ground. He picked her up
and there was blood everywhere. He car-
ried her over the last fence and into the
arms of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF),
who, alerted by the gunfire, had just ar-
rived. An ambulance took her away.
Three days later he was informed that
she had died.
PARALYZED: Abdul-Wahid was paralyzed when he was shot seven times on the Egyptian-Israeli border. He is very worried about how his parents in
NECESSARY SHOOTINGS war-torn Darfur are going to survive and he has no idea how he will support himself in the future either.
Why do Egyptian border guards shoot
and kill unarmed migrants and asylum
seekers trying to leave Egypt? According
to the Governor of North Sinai, General
Muhammad Shousha (in an interview rationale for the use of lethal force. Ac- material assistance offered to asylum a person more than once if you really are
with the English edition of the independ- cording to the Christian Science Monitor, seekers and refugees in Egypt. Instead, just trying to stop them and arrest them.
ent Egyptian newspaper, Al Masry Al Lt. Commander of the Liaison Agency the overwhelming majority of those pre- It shows that Egypt is shooting these peo-
Yuom, 9 September, 2009) the policy of with International Organizations told re- sumed to be asylum seekers and refugees ple to kill them,” she says.
shooting illegal migrants is necessary. porters in September 2008: “We shoot in- have so far used Egypt as a transit coun- Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for
“Of course it’s not a mistake that we filtrators. We do not shoot migrants.” try to reach Israel. When trying to cross Human Rights, corroborates her view:
shoot them – it is necessary to shoot the border, these people enter a prohib- ”The sheer number of victims suggests
them. To deal with an infiltrator, he has SHOOT TO STOP OR SHOOT TO KILL ited military zone and obtain help from that at least some Egyptian security offi-
to be fired at. If we say, ‘stop where are According to Mohamed Dayri, the UN- people-smugglers, who at times shoot at cials have been operating a shoot-to-kill
you going?’ he is not going to stop so we HCR representative in Egypt, Egyptian Egyptian border staff, sometimes causing policy. It is unlikely that so many killings
have to shoot him.” border troops have rules of engagement casualties. would occur otherwise,” she wrote in
In their report, Sinai Perils, Human allowing shoot-to-stop measures and not The Egyptian authorities claim that The Huffington Post on 2 March, 2010.
Rights Watch say that these harsh tac- shoot-to-kill ones. “All migrants, poten- border guards have orders to fire pre- ”While migrants often lose their lives

n n  Of course it’s on how many have been killed or injured

along the 266 kilometre-long border, the
not a mistake that total length of which is defined as a re-
stricted military zone. There have been
we shoot them no investigations into these shootings,
and the number of people killed is prob-
– it is necessary ably much higher. The youngest known
victim is a seven-year old girl.
to shoot them. Charles’ wife was among those who
General Muhammad Shousha,  did not survive. She had the misfortune
the Governor of North Sinai. to fall in love with, and become pregnant
tics are aimed at smuggling networks, at
those smuggling arms into the Gaza Strip,
and at the passage of Palestinian fighters
in and out of Gaza.
Egyptian officials also cite anti-terror-
ism objectives, referring to the terrorist at-
tacks that have been directed against tour-
ist and government targets in the Sinai
since 2004. In an official statement issued
on 11 August, 2007, the Egyptian military
authorities provided a national security
tial asylum seekers and refugees are tar-
geted by these measures, because all are
deemed to illegally cross the border as
‘infiltrators’,” says Mohamed Dayri.
Dayri explains that the position of the
Egyptian government is based upon the
legal principle that genuine asylum seek-
ers and refugees, though entering Egypt
illegally, should present themselves to
the Egyptian authorities or to UNHCR to
receive and benefit from the legal and
liminary warning shots. However, none
of the more than 100 asylum seekers
accidentally when travelling in crowded
boats, or trying to cross remote land bor-
and migrants we spoke to had heard any
warning shots before being fired upon.
ders, I know of no other country where
so many unarmed migrants and asylum
Sara Robertson, a volunteer with Phy-
sicians for Human Rights, an organisa-
seekers appear to have been deliberately
killed in this way by government forces,”
tion offering free medical help to asylum Pillay continued.
seekers in Israel, is in no doubt what the
policy entails: ISRAELI PRESSURE
”We have had two cases of people shot ”The use of lethal force, which began in
seven times. There is no reason to shoot mid 2007, may be a result of Israel’s pres-

44 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
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NO. 01.2011 45
■  Special report

n n  I held him through

his dying breaths and
eventually closed his eyes.
Tommy who served with the IDF on the border to Egypt

BULLET WOUNDS: Gabriel was shot five times PEOPLE SMUGGLERS: Gabriel paid a group of Bedouins 2500 US dollars to guide him across Egypt to the Israeli border. He travelled together with seven fellow Eritreans. One of his travelling companions was
and seriously injured by Egyptian border guards killed when the border guards opened fire.
whilst trying to cross the border into Israel. For
the last seven months he has been chained to a
hospital bed in Israel.

sure on Egypt to reduce the flow of peo-
ple crossing the border into its territory
without authorization,” Amnesty Inter-
national stated in 2009.
Both Israel and the United States have
put pressure on Egypt to stop the flow of
goods and people across the porous Sinai
frontier. In June 2007 former Egyptian
President, Hosni Mubarak, and the then
Israeli Prime-Minister, Ehud Olmert, met
to discuss the issue of border security.
According to a briefing on the Israeli For-
eign Ministry website, posted on 1 July,
2007, the two reached an agreement by
which Egypt would re-admit migrants
who cross into Israel, and would take
measures to prevent further infiltrations.
According to Human Rights Watch,
the first known border-shooting fatality
was reported only a few weeks after that
meeting, and occurred even before the of-
ficial posting: Haja Abbas Haroun, seven
months pregnant, and fleeing the bloody
conflict in Darfur, was killed on 22 June
2007 as she attempted to cross into Israel.
FRUSTRATED SOLDIERS
The rows of barbed wire, that mark
where Egypt ends and Israel begins, cut
across an astonishing desert landscape of
sand dunes and craggy mountains.
Tommy, (name changed for protec-
tion reasons) who recently completed his
three-year compulsory military service,
part of which he served with the IDF on
the border, says that the people the IDF
encountered coming over the border
were for the most part very exhausted,
hungry, and completely dehydrated.
Usually the IDF would know that people
were crossing the border because they
heard gunfire. Every time there was a
border crossing they had to assume there
would be injuries.
Tommy particularly recalls one in-
cident. When his team arrived at the
scene, 16 refugees had succeeded in pass-
ing the barbed-wire fences. Two had not.
One of the victims was very young, per-
haps no more than 14 years old. A bullet
had pierced his heart.
“I held him through his dying breaths
and eventually closed his eyes,” says
Tommy, and adds that in his opinion, no
matter what attitude one has to immigra-
tion, no country can afford to have this
kind of blood on its hands. No one can
justify the killing of people for no other
reason than for trying to cross the border
from one country to another.
Tommy is not alone in his concern.
The UNHCR is in dialogue with the Egyp-
tian authorities concerning the shoot-
ings. UNHCR’s representative in Egypt,
Mohamed Dayri, says that the UNHCR
has encouraged the authorities to deter
illegal border crossings by other means,
and has initiated a discussion with the
Egyptian government to provide Egypt
with a set of measures and concrete pro-
posals on how to tackle the issue of illegal
border crossings in a humanitarian way.
“Indeed, the phenomenon of ‘irregular
movements’ of people is growing along
the Egypt- Israeli border with worrisome
consequences,” he concludes.
NO SAFE HAVEN
Even for those refugees who do succeed
in entering Israel, the ordeal is not over.
Many are summarily returned to Egypt,
despite the fact that Israel is well aware
that Egypt violates its obligations under
the Refugee Convention. Egypt has, for

46 Perspective
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■  SPECIAL REPORT  “Shoot to Kill”

instance, forcibly returned asylum seek-

ers to Eritrea and Sudan without allow-
ing them the opportunity of formally
applying for asylum, or in complete dis-
regard of the fact that their asylum cases
are still pending. In Eritrea and Sudan
returned refugees face persecution and a
substantial risk of torture. Egypt also de-
tains asylum seekers on grounds of ille-
gal entry. Such cases are brought before
a military tribunal and carry a penalty of
between one and three years in prison.
For those who are allowed to remain
in Israel, life is in limbo. “Israel offers a
form of temporary protection for Suda-
nese and Eritreans”, says William Tall.
They are granted renewable three-month
visas, but no permit to work.
“The authorities are afraid work per-
mits will be an incentive for more people
to arrive,” Tall explains.

A LIFE WORTH LIVING

Gabriel (name changed for protection
reasons) is from Eritrea. He does not
want to discuss why he fled his home-
land. When he crossed the border into Is-
rael he suffered five gunshot wounds. For
seven months Gabriel has been lying in
a hospital bed in Israel. When he sleeps
he sometimes dreams, and in his dreams
he is able to do the things he was able to FROM SUDAN: Two Sudanese refugees on their way to the Israeli border. LIVING ROUGH: Levingsky Park, a stones throw from Tel Aviv’s enormous bus station, has become home to hundreds of immigrants from Africa.
do before; the ordinary everyday things Many refugees crossing the Sinai Dessert suffer abuse at the hands of
that occur in any family. Then he wakes people-smugglers.
up, and the sight of his mutilated body
makes him feels as if he is a completely
different person. Israel grants him only
Abuse at the Hands
Israel’s Dilemma
basic medical treatment, as he, of course,
has no health insurance and, consequent-
ly, there is no hope of the physiother-
of People Smugglers
apy or counselling required to helping
him regain some semblance of a life. His Being shot at the border is not the only risk facing migrants
greatest fear is what will happen when trying to cross the border between Egypt and Israel. Abuse at Until 2005, Israel had received only a torical identification with the plight of have refugee status, and even they have
he leaves the hospital. People fleeing the the hands of people-smugglers is rampant. few hundred non-Jewish African refu- people escaping from violence and per- to apply for renewal of their status an-
brutal Eritrean regime risk imprisonment In late November and early December 2010, traffickers shot or gees and asylum seekers. Today the secution. nually.
or even execution if returned to Eritrea. beat to death six Eritreans. They were among a group of several number is 35,000, and poses a serious “Israel prides itself on being sophisti- Mr Tall says that the Israeli authori-
”To be optimistic is okay, but this life is... hundred asylum seekers and migrants who had been held at a lo- dilemma for the authorities. cated when it comes to integrating refu- ties are alarmed by the sharp increase
it is better to die." n cation near the Israeli border since late October. Human Rights gees, but they have no experience in in arrivals, and as a result more spe-
Watch reports that traffickers at that time held more than 100 Eri- The majority, 85 per cent, are from non-Jewish immigration”, says Tall. cific policies are underway. Among
Sources: Initial research and interviews treans captive for ransom in underground rooms. Eritrea and Sudan. Many, particularly “Integration of non-Jewish immi- the measures to stop the influx is the
­conducted by Robin Hammond in Israel.
The organisation has reviewed 30 statements from people for- among the Sudanese, have struggled grants in Israel is not a possibility,” construction of a barrier wall along
Additional research and interviews with
­U NHCR-s representatives William Tell (Israel) merly held by people- smugglers. The former captives report hav- for years to make a living in Egypt, be- claims the UNHCR representative, the border with Egypt, the building of
­and Mohamed Dayri (Egypt), conducted by Mari- ing been shackled burned with hot iron bars, whipped with elec- fore coming to Israel. Others have trav- pointing to the fact that non-Jewish im- which started at the end of 2010. Israel
anne Alfsen. Amnesty International, Human trical cords and beaten. Women are particularly vulnerable. Many elled directly to Israel from their coun- migration, in the long run, will threaten is also planning to open detention cen-
Rights Watch (particularly the reports Sinai Per-
ils and Rights on the Line), Christian Science
are raped. try of origin. the state’s Jewish foundation. Israel is tres in which to hold migrants.
Monitor, BBC Online, Huffington Post, and the ”We have recently received serious reports of abuse, torture and Israel has been the safe haven for per- a signatory to the Refugee Convention, “The nature of the centres are not yet
report African Migration to Israel, by the Fein- systematic sexual abuse in the hands of smugglers,” confirms Wil- secuted Jews, and, says William Tall, but their policies to deal with non-Jew- known”, says Tall, and adds that the
stein International Center. liam Tall, the UNHCR representative in Israel. UNHCR’s representative in Israel, the ish asylum seekers are underdeveloped UNHCR is concerned about develop-
Jewish population feels a special his- and indecisive. Less than 200 people ments. n

48 Perspective
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■  MICROFINANCE
For several years, microfinance was believed to be a miracle cure for lifting peo-
ple out of poverty, but today this financial model is subject to mounting criticism.
Why Microfinance
Does Not Work
BY: Grete Gaulin
”Microfinance policy was a brilliantly
marketed and politically vital concept,
but it was actually an empty vessel,” Mil-
ford Bateman writes in his book Why
Doesn’t Microfinance Work?
Microfinance was pioneered by Mu-
hammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen
Bank, almost 40 years ago. Yunus has re-
ceived both the United States’ highest ci-
vilian honour and the Nobel Peace Prize
for his work. Even so Yunus’s theories
are disputed.
We often identify poor people with
small-scale economies and production,
a small patch of land, a home-made irri-
gation system, or a few dollars credit to
establish oneself as a seamstress or a tele-
phone-cards salesman.
Small-scale entrepreneurship is exactly
what microcredit is all about, and it is
exactly this small-scale way of thinking
that Bateman vigorously challenges in his
book.
NO MIRACLE CURE
While Bateman’s book has been met with
fire and brimstone, he is by no means
alone in his scepticism. Two independ-
ent reports, published in 2010, under-
pin the conclusion that microcredit is no
miracle cure for poverty. Some critics go
even further, arguing that micro- finance
is actually preventing money from being
used in the most effective manner, and
thereby reversing years of effort invested
50 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
in poverty reduction. The picture emerg-
ing from thirty years of microfinance is
startlingly grim.
Both the reports and Bateman’s book
come to the following conclusions:
●● To some entrepreneurs, microcredit has
been helpful, leading to the establish-
ment or expansion of a few microenter-
prises. The payoff, on the other hand, is
not measurable in the terms of income,
consumption, health or education.
●● A majority of the borrowers do not use
their loans to start or expand a busi-
ness; instead they finance other needs
such as “household consumption, TV,
or a daughter’s wedding”. Between
50 and 90 per cent of microloans are
spent on ordinary consumption.
●● Microloans have reduced, rather than
increased the workforce. Studies indi-
cate that this is the result of unproduc-
tive workers, employed on request
from local loan sharks, being laid off.
●● Microfinancing does not empower
women; instead their husbands take
over the business.
●● Rather than benefiting the poorest, mi-
crofinancing mainly helps low and me-
dium-low income groups.
All this refutes the myth that, in the
long run, microfinance helps reduce pov-
erty. At the same time a new type of mi-
croloans has emerged. These loans are
provided by commercial banks in and out-
side of Wall Street, hedge funds, and other
formal financial services at average rates
of between 20 and 40 per cent and are
designed not only to benefit the poor, but
also to secure profit for Western loan insti-
tutions. The banks maintain that the high
interest rates are brought about by the
high administration costs associated with
small loans. However, the high interest
rates also result in poor people incurring
debt burdens far beyond what would be
accepted in the western part of the world.
Not surprisingly, this has led to harsh
criticism from institutions who still be-
lieve that microfinancing should remain
an idealistic business. One of the largest
players in this new market is the Mexican
Microcredit: this hair salon is one of 16 million small enterprises found in various corners of the world and which, according to the World Bank, have
bank Compartamos, which is accused by been established with the help of microcredit.  Foto: Alfredo Caliz/ Panos Pictures/Felix Features
Muhammad Yunus of committing “a mo-
nopolistic exploitation of poor people”.
AS POOR AS BEFORE
To Milford Bateman, microcredit for prof- concludes that in 2007 the village was August 2009, Asia Times Online reported the majority of people in developing and
it is tantamount to reallocating resources just as poor as when the project was that poor Cambodian farmers in heavy transition countries, their country’s di-
away from the poor in order to enable it launched at the beginning of the 1970s. micro-debt were lining up to sell their version into microfinance has actually
to be shared between wealthy western in- Sofia Begum ended her days living in ex- land. In India, Sudhirendar Sharma, a undermined previous and ongoing efforts
stitutional investors and stockholders of treme poverty, no wealthier than before former World Bank analyst, and now di- to reduce poverty, unemployment, ine-
microfinance institutions. He finds it even Yunus took his lending scheme to Jobra. rector of the Delhi-based Ecological Foun- quality and underdevelopment,” and, he
worse, however, that even in its purer The bigger picture confirms this trend. dation, thinks microfinance is partly to continues, “Rather than fight collectively
form, microcredit does not seem to fulfil In Africa, there is both an increasing ten- blame for 87,000 famers committing sui- through the state or trade unions or so-
its purpose. dency towards de-industrialization and cide between 2002 and 2006. “The rural cial movements and other forms of social
Jobra, in Bangladesh, was the first vil- a lack of investment in the agricultural suicides cast a dark shadow on the fledg- mobilization, or argue for land reform or
lage to implement Muhammad Yunus’s sector. Entire cities shift from large-scale ing microfinance sector,” Sharma says. wealth redistribution, or vote in a pro-
microcredit system, and Sofia Begum economies to private small-business com- poor government (if you had the oppor-
was his very first customer. A study con- mitments. In Mexico, small and medium- WASTE OF CAPITAL tunity), it was hoped that the poor could
ducted by the newspaper Bhorer Kagaj, sized enterprises are displaced, and in In his book, Bateman argues that “for now be encouraged to settle for informal
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 51
■  MICROFINANCE
Micro-advertising: a sign advertising loans in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya. 
microenterprise activity instead, support-
ed by microfinance.”
Essentially, critics claim, microfinance
is just a way for the poor to pay for their
own escape from poverty.
”It was soon clear that microfinance
programs were starting to absorb the val-
uable financial resources that might oth-
erwise have been channelled into institu-
tions, industrial districts, networks, local
industrial policy and , technology devel-
opment,” Bateman claims.
With that, Bateman places himself in
the middle of an ongoing debate about
which strategy is most effective: on the
one hand small-scale development or, on
the other hand, modernization, skills de-
velopment, and industrialization.
According to the authors of a research
report from the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, microfinancing draws the
shortest straw. The report concludes that
forty weavers working in a textile plant
are much more productive than forty
52 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
Foto: Jacob Silberberg/Panos Pictures /Felix Features
n n  There is a place
for microcredit in
the campaign to
help the world’s
poor; it is just not a
very big one.
Dean Karlan research and economy professor
weavers working by themselves. “There
is a place for microcredit in the campaign
to help the world’s poor; it is just not a
very big one,” research and economy
professor, Dean Karlan, says.
Bates agrees wholeheartedly with their
conclusion, pointing out that if:
“poor African, Latin American and
South-East Asian countries serious-
ly wanted to emulate the rich Western
Economies, or the newer East Asian Ti-
ger economies, and so also patiently
build relatively sophisticated and scaled-
up industrial and agricultural sectors
from the ’bottom up’, then the growing
emphasis on microfinance as develop-
ment policy was leading them in com-
pletely the wrong direction.”
SOLID BORROWERS
This was what happened in Eastern Eu-
rope in the decades following the break-
down of the Soviet Union, when many
medium-sized businesses went under and
were replaced by small-scale businesses.
”Africanizacija,” - Africanisation is the bit-
ter reaction among people who used to
participate in industrialized economies
now supplanted by tiny and individual
business initiatives. “Africanisation” has
become a synonym for neglect of indus-
trial development and major investment
in tiny and individual initiatives.
This type of criticism has yet to change
Popular loans: 27 year old Hibisat Kassaye has borrowed money from a microcredit scheme and
established her own shop in Nazreth, Ethiopia. Microcredit is very popular in many poor communi-
ties, and an impressive 98 per cent of them repay their loans.
 Photo: Petterik Wiggers/Panos Pictures /Felix Features
the opinions of humanitarian organiza-
tions; they are not convinced that re-
placing microfinancing with western
economic modernization is the right
path to choose. They say that micro-
finance has not been around for long
enough to determine whether it has po-
tential to develop.
According to the Economist, there
are, so far, surprisingly few credible esti-
mates on the effect microfinance has had
on poverty. Still, it is beyond all doubt
that microfinancing has made it possi-
ble for many poor entrepreneurs to start
their own businesses, and at lower inter-
est rates than were obtainable from the
local loan sharks, and thus many poor
entrepreneurs have improved their qual-
ity of life.
Earlier studies have concluded that
microfinance borrowers send their chil-
dren to school more often than other
families, at a ratio of 64 to 34 per cent.
However, experts have disseminated
this argument claiming that it is rather
the other way round – families with chil-
dren in school are keener borrowers
than others.
Microcredit is still popular. Despite
the high interest rates, poor people in
Latin America are queuing up to receive
financial assistance from Compartamos.
Microfinance institutions are popping
up all over the world, and an estimated
150 million poor people now have such
loans The Economist reports that 98
per cent of these borrowers repay their
loans.
This is a very good score, far bet-
ter than the so-called subprime loans.
So perhaps the question should be re-
phrased? With a solid customer’s share
equal to 98 per cent, why cannot the
poor be offered loans in ordinary banks
at ordinary interest rates? n
Translated by: Linda Jeanette Gresslien
Providers of Microfinance
services:
Providers of Microfinance services can be
divided into four general categories:
Informal financial-service providers
These include moneylenders, savings col-
lectors, and input supply shops. These pro-
viders are part of the local community; they
understand the financial circumstances and
can thus offer very flexible, convenient and
fast services, which may also be costly. In
addition, informal services involving savings
are often risky.
Member-owned organisations
Include self-help groups, credit unions and
a variety of hybrid organisations. They are
generally local and small. Poor people ma-
nage them, and operation costs are there-
fore low. However, such providers may lack
financial skills, and members, therefore, risk
losing money.
NGO s
NGOs, such as the Grameen Bank, are
popular providers of microcredit loans.
More specifically, the NGOs are non-formal
providers of microcredit loans. They have
proven innovative and pioneering banking
techniques, for example solidarity lending,
village banking, and mobile banking which
have overcome barriers in serving poor po-
pulations. However, with boards that do not
necessarily represent either their capital or
their customers, their governance structu-
res can be fragile, and they can become
overly dependent on external donors.
Formal financial institutions
In addition to commercial banks, these in-
clude state banks, agricultural-development
banks, savings banks, rural banks and non-
banking financial institutions. They are re-
gulated and supervised, offer a wider range
of financial services, and control a branch
network that can extend across the coun-
try and have international connections. Ho-
wever, they have proved reluctant to adopt
social missions and, due to their high costs
of operation, are often unable to deliver ser-
vices to poor or remote populations.
More than 2.7 billion people still have no
access to formal financial services that are
cheaper and more reliable than the informal
alternatives. Microfinance reaches 150 mil-
lion borrowers worldwide – no more than
a fraction of the global need. Nonetheless,
over the last 20 years, microfinance has
grown enormously, and is now a major sup-
plier of a wide range of financial services to
millions of people in the emerging world.
Sources:
http://microfinanceafrica.net/
www.microfinanceinfo.com
www.microfinancegateway.org
”Access for all: Building Inclusive Financial
Systems,” Brigit Helms
Microfinance Banana Skins Report 2011
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 53
Care International, one of the world’s leading humanitarian organizations,
has worked with microfinance for more than 20 years. They say
microfinance is helping the poor to create their own opportunities.
Changing Lives
With Microfinance
BY Linda Jeanette Gresslien
CARE sees access to affordable financial
services as central to addressing poverty,
and has promoted microfinance through
a variety of methods, and at various lev-
els, as a key part of its economic develop-
ment projects.
“Of the world’s 500 million micro- and
small business owners, less than 2 per
cent have access to financial services and
the business training vital for the suc-
cess of their enterprises,” says Dr. Ajaz
Ahmed Khan, Microfinance Advisor at
Care International UK.
90 PER CENT WOMEN
Currently, CARE has 131 microfinance
projects in 39 countries. 90 per cent of
the people being provided assistance
by means of the projects are women.
“We have seen that poor people in
general, and poor women in particular,
invest their loans wisely, not only in in-
come generating activities, but also in the
welfare of their families,” Khan says.
Khan stresses, however, that it is nec-
essary to recognise research showing
that in certain circumstances (for ex-
ample, in patriarchal societies, where
loans received by women have been
appropriated by male relatives) micro-
finance has had a limited or even nega-
tive impact on poverty, by - for exam-
ple - adding to the debt burdens of poor
people.
“Certainly, microfinance is not a pana-
cea, and on many occasions the provision
of microfinance by itself is not sufficient
to alleviate poverty. Often it must be ac-
companied by other investments such
as improvements to rural infrastructure,
technology, and services such as market-
ing and the provision of skills training to
have a more positive impact on the lives
of poor people,” Khan explains.
54 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES
Khan says the negative impacts of micro-
finance are partly a result of microfinance
institutions aggressively seeking out cus-
tomers, and of loans sometimes being
given to those who have no real capacity
to repay.
“It is apparent that in recent years mi-
crofinance has become a commercial
business, as it has become evident that
providing poor people with financial ser-
vices can be very profitable,” Khan says.
To some extent, providers of microfi-
nance have shifted their focus towards
less poor clients. “Ironically, something
that was created to help the poorest lift
themselves out of poverty may soon mar-
ginalise them once again,” he says.
PROTECTING LENDERS
As a result of Care’s microfinance activi-
ties and the potential vulnerability of the
poor people they work with, they have de-
signed a consumer-protection code that
protects the rights of the clients and part-
ners. Any microfinance institution that
CARE has established, developed or with
whom they are partners, must adhere to
the code of conduct - and also undergo a
strict screening procedure to ensure that
not only does it meet certain financial cri-
teria but, in addition, has a strong social-
development mission.
In the Lend-With-Care project in Indone-
sia and the Philippines, the microfinance
institutions that CARE co-operate with
are financial cooperatives that are owned
and often managed by the members (bor-
rowers and savers) themselves. Khan says
that in many cases senior members of staff
within these institutions come from the lo-
cal communities they serve. “They have
risen through the ranks, and continued to
be micro entrepreneurs,” he says.
CHALLENGES
Khan emphasises that microfinance does
not only include loans but, also, the provi-
sion of a range of other equally valuable
financial services. These include savings
accounts, insurance and money transfers –
most ‘good’ MFIs usually have many more
savers than borrowers. In fact, the greatest
benefits to poor people often come from
providing secure savings services.
Khan says that, as a whole, there are a
number of general challenges that are fac-
ing the microfinance industry. They in-
clude building permanent microfinance
institutions that can provide a range of
financial services to poor people and, in
addition, maintain a balance between
providing affordable and accessible fi-
nancial services and ensuring that their
provision is financially sustainable. In
addition, there is a need for improving
the management and governance of mi-
crofinance institutions; developing and
strengthening the supervision and regula-
tion of the sector to secure that best prac-
tices are followed as widely as possible.
It takes the right ideas
“Because I have seen microfinance at
its best, I know it is a valuable poverty
alleviation tool, but it is most effective
when, as with anything, best practices
to shelter our planet.
are employed and effective safeguards
are put in place to protect the poor and Konica Minolta products present concepts and features
vulnerable,” Khan concludes. n which make it easy to consider the environment.
Eco-friendly innovations can be found throughout the entire
lifecycle of every device, including strict production standards,
n n efficient operation and intelligent recycling. Furthermore, the
Ironically, something that was manufacture of consumables, the transport of products and
our procurement policy are part of the Konica Minolta mission
created to help the poorest lift to save resources and create new value.
themselves out of poverty may soon There’s only one world. We know it takes a great deal of
marginalise them once again. effort to keep it a friendly place.
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■  korea

Two Countries –
One Nation
The Korean people are divided by a 248 kilometre long and 4 kilometre broad de-
militarized zone. Both sides of the border are patrolled by heavily armed soldiers.
In spite of this divide, Koreans still consider themselves as part of one nation.
BY: Richard Skretteberg, SEOUL

56 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 57
■  korea
E
ven
  though Koreans think of them-
selves as “han nara”, i.e. one na-
tion, the division into two differ-
ent states is beginning to result in growing
dissimilarities. One example of this can
be perceived in language development.
The dialects are becoming distinctly dif-
ferent and, at the same time, in the south,
more and more English words are being
incorporated into the language, thereby
making the South Korean vernacular in-
creasingly more difficult to understand for
people from the north.
Today there is absolutely no commu-
nication between people in North Ko-
rea and people in South Korea: no tel-
ephone, no post, no e-mail connection. If
you escape from North-Korea you leave
all of your past behind you, for there is
no way back. If these two countries were
ever to reunite, it would mean the merg-
ing of two very different worlds, both
mentally and economically.
The older generation consider the
partition to be both unnatural and un-
fair. They remember the time before the
country was divided. Prior to 1953, the
Chosum dynasty had ruled Korea for
1300 years and, furthermore, Korea had
not been one of the aggressor-states dur-
ing the Second World War. Quite the con-
trary, they had been subjected to a brutal
occupation by Japanese imperial forces.
Nonetheless these elderly North Koreans
are realists: they know full well that, even
today, Korea is the victim of super-power
rivalry. With US, Chinese, and Japanese
interests in play, it is not surprising that
Ten years on: in 2001, Perspective’s journal-
ist, Richard Skretteberg, visited North Korea. Ten
years later, in February 2011, he met several
North Korean refugees now living in South
Korea. They told him of their dramatic escapes
from the north, and of the harshness that, for
years, has been the lot of the North Korean
people.  Foto: Flyktninghjelpen.
58 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
the Koreans say they feel like “shrimps
among whales”.
THE WORST OF TIMES
During my visit to North Korea in 2001, I
had a strange feeling that I was being sys-
tematically duped, presumably to direct
my attention away from what I was not
meant to see. If I had not, quite by mis-
chance, opened the wrong door in a hos-
pital in Haeju - a town situated south of
Pyongyang en route to the South-Korean
border – the dire situation of the North
Korean people would have remained ab-
stract - something I had been told by Unit-
ed Nation officials or in the form of dry
statistics, and which I had carefully writ-
ten down in my notebook.
However, I did open that door, and
heard a gasp from my guide as a row of
children appeared on the other side.
They were perhaps four or five years old,
all with hollow cheeks and straggly hair.
It was too late to prevent me from see-
ing what had so diligently been kept from
me. Quickly the children were ordered to
stand up and greet us. The boy closest to
me bowed deeply before falling over, ex-
hausted by the effort. To my dying day I
will not forget that scene.
The situation in North-Korea was at
its very worst at the end of the 1990s.
The North Korean regime continued as
before, even though the Berlin wall had
long been dismantled and various pieces
of the debris placed on souvenir shelves
in thousands of homes all over Europe.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, the
flow of subsidised goods being sent to
n n  2460 dollars in 1991 to 719 dollars in 1995.
5 million North Kor-
eans are dependent
on food assistance.
North Korea stopped and, without cheap
oil and industrial parts, the North Korean
economy came to a standstill. Satellite
photographs of East-Asia at night showed
an area the size of England in complete
darkness - North Korea. The shortage of
electricity, fuel, fertilizers, cheap food
and medicines was a serious blow to the
population of North-Korea. In addition
the country was hit by flooding and fail-
ing harvests. North Korea went from bad
Food shortage: along the bank of the Yalu river, which forms part of the border between North Korea and China, North Korean soldiers unload
sacks of food coming from China. As a result of the serious food shortage, the North Korean authorities have also accepted food assistance
from South Korea.
to worse. Per capita income fell from
At the same time the regime suffered
political backlashes; the Soviet Union
opened diplomatic channels with South
Korea in 1990, to be followed by China
two years later.
A FAMILY DYNASTY
Kim il-Sung died at the age of 82, on 8
July 1994, just in time to save at least a
fraction of his legacy after his death. All
grown-ups in North Korea remember this
day. All over the country people gathered
at bronze statues of the great leader to
leave bunches of chrysanthemums, Asia’s
flower of mourning. The country’s found-
ing father had died, but was proclaimed
President for Eternity. In the name of the
father, the son and the party, Kim il-Jong
succeeded his father as President.
Kim il-Sung had once promised that,
every day, all North Koreans should have
a meal of white rice and stew. But in the
1990s everything went into decline. Food
became scarcer and the quality poorer.
Many schools stopped providing their
students with school meals. Less and less
rice was available, and people started us-
ing grass or plants for food instead. Any-
thing edible, even frogs and small birds,
were caught, killed and eaten.
The public distribution of food col-
lapsed, and in 1995 the regime requested
assistance from the UN. By that time peo-
ple were totally dependent on their own
ingenuity if they were to survive. Rice
and food is the same word, bab, in Ko-
North Korea
Population: 2.9 million
Area: 120 540 sq km
Life expectancy at birth: 66.8 years
Government:
Communist, single-party state
■■ North Korea’s present ruler Kim ■■ The war ended with an armistice,
Jong-il is the son of former leader Kil which, however, has never been re-
Il-sung, who ruled the country from placed by a peace agreement.
1948 till 1994.
■■ North Korea declared itself a nu-
■■ The Korean War (1950-1953) clear power in 2005.
was a conflict between the commu-
nist Democratic People’s Repub- ■■ Through the so-called six-party
lic of Korea supported by China and disarmament talks, involving North
Korea, South Korea, Japan, China,
the Soviet Union and the Republic
of Korea supported by the Western the US and Russia, North Korea has
powers. An estimated 2.5 million been offered extensive economic aid
people died as a consequence of the and security guaranties in return for
conflict. abandoning its nuclear program.
Collective farm: a woman dries corn outside her home on a collective
farm in North Korea. This woman is old enough to remember the 1960s,
Foto: Scanpix. when North Koreans were more affluent than their fellow Koreans in the
south.  Foto: Scanpix.
rean. This clearly shows to which extent ous plants, and undernourished mothers
rice is the basic ingredient in all Korean did not have enough breast milk to feed
cooking. But, in the mid 1990s, it was no
longer available. Over the course of the
them.
1990s, between 600,000 and two mil- ESCAPE
lion North Koreans died as a result of the My recent visit to Korea took place in
crisis. People did not just starve to death. early spring, and I knew that the sun
Chronic undernourishment reduces the would soon be able to warm up the ice-
body’s ability to fight infections, and ill- cold houses in the north. However, it is
nesses that are normally non-lethal be- in spring that food shortages are at their
came deadly. Diarrhoea turned into dys- most extreme - yet the next harvest is still
entery and a common cold developed several months away. According to the
into pneumonia. As a result of a shortage Wold Food Program, 5 million North Ko-
of electricity the sewage system broke reans are dependent on food assistance.
down, and that lead to outbreaks of ty- In 2010 the food rations shared out to
phoid. Typhoid can be cured by antibi- each individual covered only 2/3 of the
amount required by a single person in or-
otics, but there were no antibiotics to
be had. Small children were unable to der to be well-nourished.
digest soup made from grass and vari- In March the ice starts to melt on the
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 59
■  korea
rivers that form the border with China.
Fewer people attempt to escape from
North Korea when the spring floods are
at their highest, although some do still
try. Between 1953 and 1998 only 923
North Koreans fled to South Korea. By
November 2010 the number had ex-
ceeded 20,000. In addition more than
100,000 North Koreans were living in
China.
In downtown Seoul I met two Korean
women at a little restaurant near the Ho-
tel Plaza. They had both escaped from the
hunger crisis in the north. Jae-Hee Kom
was pale and seemed tired. She was sitting
on the edge of her seat with hands folded.
She bowed her head and a tear ran down
her cheek. “I have a son, but I will never
see him again,” she said quietly.
SOLD INTO MATEROMONY
In February 1999, Jae-Hee Kim crossed
the frozen Tumen river, one of the riv-
ers that form the border between North
Buying wives: Disabled by polio, the disadvantaged Li “bought” a North Korea and China. The Tumen is nar-
Korean wife several years ago. His wife has since moved on to Beijing, but
row; it freezes early in the autumn, but
their son lives with his father. Many of the Chinese men who “buy” North
Korean wives are either poor or disabled, and have great difficulty finding a is easy to swim across in the summer.
wife in their local environment. Since the 1990s, thousands of North Ko-
 Foto: Qilai Shen/Panos Pictures/Felix Features reans have crossed the Tumen river into
China, usually in the middle of the night
or at dawn. The refugees slip money or
Chinese goods into the pockets of North
Korean policemen and soldiers, whilst,
on the other side, people-smugglers pay
Chinese border guards to look the other
way, until they have made contact with
the refugees.
Jae-Hee Kim fled together with ten oth-
er people. When they finally found their
guide waiting for them on the Chinese side
of the river, Jae-Hee Kim knew what sort of
future lay ahead of her. After a twelve hour
march they approached a house. There she
was sold to a Chinese man.
There is a large excess of men in rural
China, and North Korean women are of-
ten sold to older, single Chinese men. Be-
fore the people-smugglers left they whis-
pered to Jae-Hee that, after some time
had passed, she ought to run away so
that they could sell her a second time.
But Jae-Hee stayed. The man she had
been sold to was kind to her in the begin-
Graduation Day: North Korean, Lee Ryeon-hee (20), escaped ning and she thought she had been lucky.
HANAWO CENTRE: The Hanawo centre is situated 77 kilometres south of from North to South Korea as a child. In February 2011, she and
Seoul, the South Korean capital. All North Korean refugees are sent to 43 other North Korean students graduated from the Hangyeore MOSTLY WOMEN
Hanawo when they first arrive in South Korea. At this centre they are intro- Middle and High School in Anseong, an institution built specially
duced to all aspects of the new life facing their. for the education of North Korean refugees. Hand on heart, the Of the more than 100,000 North Koreans
 Foto: Scanpix. South Korean flag behind her, she proudly accepts her diploma. that have fled to China, three-quarters are
 Foto: Scanpix. women and more than half of them live
60 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
with Chinese men, according to the book
Ordinary Lives in North-Korea by Barbara
Demick, published in 2010.
Jae-Hee had hoped that once she ar-
rived in China, she would be able to lo-
cate relatives supposed to be living there
and that she would be able to engage
their help in order to travel on to South
Korea. There is a large Korean popula-
tion in Manchuria, so large in fact, that
signposts in the border area are written
in both Chinese and Korean.
It is an irony of fate that many Kore-
ans living in China fled to North Korea at
the beginning of the 1960s during Mao’s
“Great Leap Forward”, which led to cata-
strophic consequences for the Chinese
people. At that time the North Korean
economy was stronger than the econo-
mies of both China and South Korea, and
even Koreans living in Japan were attract-
ed back to North Korea. It is important to
recognise these facts in order to under-
stand present-day North Korea. North
Korea was not an underdeveloped coun-
try; it is a country that experienced a dra-
matic fall in living standards. The elder
generations of North Koreans remember
a time when they had a better supply of
electricity and more food than people in
the south.
n n  Of the more
than 100,000 North
Koreans that have
fled to China, three-
quarters are women
and more than half
of them live with Chi-
nese men.
Jae-Hee tells of a happy childhood. She
lived in the capital Pyongyang until she
was 14 years old, at which time her fam-
ily moved to Chengjin on the east cost.
There she went to university and trained
as a teacher. She specialised in The His-
tory of Kim il Sung and sang in the party
choir. Jae-Hee put off marriage because
she wanted to serve the party. North Ko-
rean authorities do not encourage early
marriage. Young people should serve
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 61
■  korea
n n  In the same way as the old caste system in China, family
status is inherited down through the generations and it is almost
impossible for a person of low status to better his position.
their country first. The ideal age for mar-
riage is considered to be 30 years for
men and 28 for women.
A CASTE SOCIETY
However, it was difficult for Jae Hee to
be accepted as a party member. Her
grandparents originally came from South
Korea. They had fled north during the
Korean War. The family therefore had
“tainted” blood, and in North Korea chil-
dren pay the price for the “sins” of par-
ents and grandparents. The authority’s
division of the population in different
categories has little or nothing to do with
Marxism. However, it fits well with Con-
fucian philosophy that all people have a
place within a social pyramid.
At the bottom of this pyramid are de-
scendants of landowning families, reli-
gious leaders and those who have shown
pro-Japanese or pro-American sympa-
thies. For example after the Korean War
many South Korean prisoners were nev-
er released. In 1956 these prisoners were
given North Korean citizenship. Many
ended up working in mines or in labour
camps. In the same way as the old caste
system in China, family status is inher-
ited down through the generations and it
is almost impossible for a person of low
status to better his position. The only mo-
bility in this rigid structure is downward.
LIVING WITH FEAR
“Kim il Sung was king, and Marxism was
replaced by Kim il Sung’ism in the 1970s.
I had no future. I had to leave, even if it
meant being sold,” says Jae-Hee. But her
amiable Chinese husband changed once
she had born him a son. Jae-Hee was
thrown out of the home and had to take
a job at a restaurant. She never found the
relatives she thought were living in China.
Every day she feared being caught by the
Chinese police and being sent back to
North Korea. If she had been returned,
she would, at best, have been placed in a
kyohuaso, a re-training camp for smug-
62 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
glers and people who had crossed the
border in order to find food. At worst she
would have spent the rest of her life in a
kwanliso, a labour camp for those found
guilty of political crimes.
Jae-Hee had every reason to be nerv-
ous. Prior to the Beijing Olympics in
2008, Chinese authorities increased se-
curity measures. Roadblocks were set up
in border areas and, in some instances
North Korean police were allowed on to
Chinese territory in order to infiltrate
refugee communities. The local popula-
tion were promised 40 US dollars if they
disclosed common-law marriages be-
tween Chinese men and North Korean
women. Feeling desperate, Jae Hee set
off on a life-saving journey, first she trav-
elled across China, then through parts of
Vietnam, before ending up in Cambodia.
With the assistance of the South Korean
embassy in Cambodia, she travelled on to
South Korea, arriving in Seoul on 31 Oc-
tober 2007.
ESCAPED LAST YEAR
Ji-Yeon Kim is 19 years old. She arrived in
South Korea a year ago and I interviewed
her together with Jae-Hi. Ji-Yeon spent her
childhood in the North Korean town of
Musan, close to the Chinese border.
“Life was very hard,” she said, “and
one day, in 2001, when I arrived home
from school my mother had left us.”
One year later her father remarried.
Her father’s new wife made Toufu, bean
stew, which she sold. The small, extra in-
come from the sales made life easier.
”Many families sold almost everything
they owned in order to buy food. The
only thing left hanging on the walls was
a portrait of Kim il-Sung. It was illegal to
sell that,” Ji-Yeon explained.
There was also severe political repres-
sion.
“The more there was to complain
about, the more important it was that no
one voiced displeasure. The authorities
were afraid that a black market filled with
43 MILLION DISPLACED
Chinese goods would undermine their
authority,” said Ji-Yeon.
An absolute regime is based on absolute
power – and that required that all supplies
be provided by the regime. Local neigh-
borhood informants, collaborated with
and reported to the Ministry for Protec-
tion of State Security, and there was at
least one informant for every 50th citizen.
Ji-Yeon was forced to make a heart-
rending choice when she learned that
her mother was in China. She loved her
father, step-mother and little sister, but
missed her mother terribly. On 3 Febru-
ary 2010 Ji-Yeon crossed the Tumen river.
Her mother was waiting for her at the
other side. Ji-Yeion turned and looked
back. North Korea and the rest of her
family were still close, but her farewells
were forever.
With the help of Korean missionaries
living undercover in China, Ji-Yeon and
her mother were smuggled to Thailand.
There they were first arrested as illegal
immigrants, but received help from the
South Korean embassy and were sent to
Seoul on 1 April 2010.
Hanawon
As the Chinese authorities do not allow
North Korean refugees to make contact
with the South Korean embassy in Bei-
jiing the refugee routes from China to
South Korea go either south, through
South-East Asia or, alternatively, north-
west to Mongolia.
In South Korea Ji Yeon was sent to
Hanawon, a repatriation centre, an
ORDINARY PEOPLE DOING
hour’s drive south of Seoul. All North
Korean refugees spend their first
EXTRAORDINARY WORK
months in South Korea at this centre,
where they undergo extensive interroga-
tion intended to uncover possible north-
ern infiltrators. In addition the refugees
must learn such things as the South Ko-
rean version of history, and practical
skills such as how to use a cash outlet.
Normally a refugee spends almost three
months at Hanawon. n
WWW.NORCAPWEB.NO
■  culture, books and MEdia

quiz
2 BILLION
ROLE OF NEW MEDIA IN ARAB UPRISINGS
“These are tools of communication. They don’t
determine what you are going to say. That requires
something more than technology. Some people don’t
INTERNET USERS: more than 2 billion people are now c­ onnected to the inter- recognize that.”
net world wide.  Source: International Telecommunication Union Gene Sharp, author of The Politics of Nonviolent
­Action, the work widely celebrated as having inspi-
red protesters across North Africa and the Middle
East, when asked by Reason Magazine of his gene-
ral feeling on the relationship between non-violent
struggle and new media.

Books to Read

David Bezmozgis
The Free World
Published: March 2011,
Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
This novel, by Latvian-born
People: What is the name of this top UN official?  Photo: Scanpix Bezmozgis, introduces
us to the young, Jewish,
Krasnansky brothers,
people ROME: Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, speaks at the launch of the exhibi- their wives, parents and
1.  What is the name of the top UN official depicted above, and what tion “Crossroads of the Ancient World” at the British Museum.  children, fleeing from
position does she hold?  Photo: Scanpix Soviet Latvia to Italy at
2.  Why is Eva Joly a well-known person?
3.  What made Thomas Malthus famous? the end of the 1970s.
British Museum They end up in an Italian vil-
4.  What is the name of the microcredit pioneer who founded
Grameen Bank?
5.  Who is head of state in North Korea?
Afghanistan, Crossroads lage surrounded by other Jewish ref-
ugee-families all waiting and hoping
Refugees and humanitarian affairs of the Ancient World to find permanent homes in the West.
1.  What characterises the largest group of people escaping from Together they experience the exciting
North-Korea? and confusing start to their new lives;
In 1989 staff at the National communications in the an-
2.  What does the abbreviation DFID stand for?
3.  And the abbreviation DAC? Museum of Afghanistan in Ka- cient world. Afghanistan lay on love affairs, money, crime, freedom and
4.  Name the three largest donors of humanitarian aid in 208? bul carefully hid away some of the Silk Road, the main trad- exile.
5.  What is the definition of humanitarian aid - as opposed the museum’s most priceless ing route from China to the
to development aid?
objects to keep them safe dur- Mediterranean, and was criss-
History
1.  In which year was Korea divided into North and South Korea?
ing times of unrest. In 2004 crossed by travelling routes Rome: National demonstration against the decree media law was held in the Piazza Navona, in June Peter Taylor :
they were taken out of hiding from all directions. last year. Photo: Scanpix
2.  In which year did the Russians launch Sputnik?
and since then they have been One of the finest treasures Talking to Terrorists
3.  The “green revolution” took place when?
4.  Which country occupies Western Sahara? touring the world. These ob- on display is a magnificent gold EU
Published: March 2011, Harper Press.
Press Freedom under Attack
5.  In which year did Egypt gain independence? jects are now on display at the crown, probably made for a
BBC-reporter Peter Taylor covered
Politics British Museum in London. nomadic princess. The crown
the Northern Ireland conflict for more
1.  Name the world’s three largest economies? The exhibition includes can easily be dismantled into
2.  What term is frequently used to characterise China’s involvement in than 30 years. After 9/11 he switched
200 Afghan artefacts, span- six pieces in order to make it Media professionals and experts are con- punish reporting that is not “politically
developing countries? his focus towards investi-
ning from 2,000 BC to the first easy to transport. cerned that press freedom is under at- balanced” has created serious tension
3.  What is the name of the Chinese currency? And the gating the Al Qaeda and
Japanese currency? century AD, and tell the story The exhibition is open until tack in several EU countries. At a confer- within the EU. According to the direc-
Islamist extremism. In this
4.  In which year is it projected that the Chinese economy will surpass of Afghanistan as a centre of 3 July 2011. ence organized by the EU parliament’s tor of Romania’s Centre for Independent
that of the US?
book, Taylor draws on his
socialist group in March 2011, in Hungary, Journalism, the Romanian parliament is personal experiences
5.  How large is Egypt’s population, and what per cent of the population
is below the age of 26? Bulgaria, Romania, France and Italy were currently discussing a law that imposes and face-to-face meet-
World Tour pointed out as of particular concern. annual psychiatric control of journalists. ings with terrorists and
World Press Photo Exhibition President Berlusconi’s extensive con- The criticism raised at the conference their victims in order to
trol of Italian media outlets has long been is supported by the latest Press Freedom shed light on questions
The 2011 World Press Photo winning photographs are criticized, and in France the newspaper Index, compiled by Reporters Without
4. 2027. 5. 84.6 million (52,3 %).
Politics: 1. US, China, Japan (in that order). 2. “Trade, not aid” 3. Yuan (China), yen (Japan). and dilemmas concern-
History: 1. 1953, 2. 1958, 3. 1950-1980, 4. Morocco, 5. 1922 Exhibition opens in Am- chosen for their news value Le Monde recently accused the president Borders. That organization expressed ing whom terrorists
reduction.
suffering, and maintain human dignity,” while development aid focuses more on long-term poverty sterdam on 22 April. In the and creative skill, and give a of using intelligence agencies to identify concern that several EU-member coun- are, and how they are being
EU Commission and Saudi Arabia (in that order), 5. Humanitarian aid aims to “save lives, alleviate
ment for International Development. 3. OECD Development Assistance Committee. 4. The US, course of the next 11 months unique insight into the news a source that had given it information. tries continued to fall on their index. dealt with by governments and security
Refugees and humanitarian affairs: 1.The largest group consists of women. 2. UK Depart- the exhibition will visit some events of the previous year. The most disquiet, however, concerns They even went so far as to say that: “If agencies.
45 countries worldwide. You can read more about the Eastern-European countries, all of it does not pull itself together, the Eu-
4. Muhammad Yunus. 5. Kim il-Jung
ric ratio (1,2,4,8,16), while the means of subsistence increase in an arithmetic ratio (1,2,3,4,5).
Essay on the Principle of Population. His central theory is that population increases in a geomet-
European Parliament, and a candidate in the coming French Presidential Election. 3. Author of the
On display are the winning the exhibition and touring which have imposed, or are discussing, ropean Union risks losing its position
OCHA), 2. She is a prominent French politician (member of theThe Green Party), a member of the images of this year’s World dates at: www.worldpress- new restrictive media laws. Hungary’s as world leader in respect for human
Press Photo Contest. The photo.org new legislation, allowing authorities to rights.”
People: 1 . Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator (Head of

64 Perspective
NO. 01.2011
Perspective
NO. 01.2011 65
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Internal displacement: Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Global overview of trends and developments in 2010 Bachelor`s degree programmes
• International Environment and Development Studies
Master`s degree programmes • Ecology - General
• Agroecology • Feed Manufacturing Technology
• Animal Breeding and Genetics • International Development Studies
the figures • Aquaculture • International Environmental Studies
and trends • Bioinformatics and Applied Statistics • International Relations
• Development and Natural Resource • Microbiology
650
Turkey
FYR Macedonia 954,000–
1,201,000
Russian Federation Armenia
6,500–78,000 At least 8,000
Azerbaijan
Up to
Uzbekistan
About 3,400
Turkmenistan
Undetermined Economics • Plant Science
Radioecology
593,000

•
Serbia

• Ecology - Tropical Ecology and Manage-

Kyrgyzstan
About About 75,000
225,000 Georgia

the countries
Kosovo Up to Afghanistan
18,300 258,000 At least 352,000
Croatia
2,300
ment of Natural Resources
and regions Bosnia and Herzegovina

Cyprus
Up to 208,000
113,400

Pakistan
At least 980,000

Israel
Undetermined
Nepal
About 50,000 We offer: High quality, frequent teacher-student interaction and a pleasant social and physical
Internal Displacement Occupied Palestinian Territory
At least 160,000 India
At least 650,000
environment characterise education at UMB.
Algeria
Undetermined
Global Overview of Trends and
Note: Public universities in Norway do not charge tuition fees, this also applies to interna-
Chad Bangladesh
171,000 Undetermined

Developments in 2010

the analysis
Iraq
Senegal 2,800,000 Laos

tional students.
Mexico 10,000–40,000 Undetermined
Syria Sri Lanka
About 120,000 Liberia At least At least
Undetermined 433,000 327,000 The Philippines
At least 15,000
Côte d´Ivoire Lebanon
Undetermined At least 76,000

UMB’s Main Objectives are:

Guatemala Togo Yemen Myanmar
Undetermined Undetermined About 250,000 At least 446,000
Eritrea Indonesia
Niger About 10,000 About 200,000 Timor-Leste
Undetermined Undetermined

• to be a major player in the field of life sciences, focusing on the core disciplines: biology, food and
Colombia
3,600,000–5,200,000 Ethiopia
Nigeria About
Undetermined CAR 300,000
192,000
Peru Somalia

environmental science, land use and natural resource management, as well as associated and
Sudan
About 150,000 4,500,000– Republic of About 1,500,000
5,200,000 the Congo Kenya
Up to 7,800 About 250,000

technical subjects;
DRC Uganda
About At least 166,000
1,700,000 Rwanda
Undetermined
Angola Burundi

• to actively contribute to business development and continue to strengthen the scientific basis for
Undetermined Up to 100,000
Zimbabwe
570,000–1,000,000

agriculture, aquaculture and other industries based on the utilisation of natural resources.
www.internal-displacement.org More information: www.umb.no