I was a bit late to the webcast since I had class, but I tuned in to hear the speech made by Graca Machal. She is the third wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela and the widow of the late Mozambican president Samora Machel. She is the only person in the world to have been married to the presidents of two different nations, and now works as an advocate for women and children’s rights. Below are my notes from her speech:
– Differentiate between countries that look like the could achieve the MDGs, might achieve the MDGs and probably won’t: different progress so far means different plans for the future, the approach shouldn’t be the same everywhere.
– For countries that are far behind, governments need to show their commitment to the MGDs so they can say to donors, “this is the additional help we need,” not “we need everything from you and nothing from ourselves.”
– The impact of good governance can’t be ignored. Illustrated with two examples:
Example One: In 2002 Malawi had a severe crop failure and was terribly affected by famine, ~1 million died. Government formed a committee with donors, academics, international organizations, and government officials to collect and analyze rigorously information on food production and where interventions would have the most impact. In 2005, a drought again happened but this time there was no famine and no deaths because they had a system in place to support places that needed aid- and didn’t need the same level of international help. Within a year, Malawi was exporting food to Zimbabwe. Progress can work, even without vast natural resources.
Example Two: Rwanda. Government realized that if the country was going to succeed, it had to utilize all sources of brain power and talent, which meant placing women “center stage.” One of the fastest growing countries with the least corruption (um, debatable). A government that lets in women and utilizes all their national potential can succeed. Again, not a matter of being big or resource rich, progress can still occur.
– If MDGs are to be achieved, must focus on women and girls. They will be the major source of transformation on the African continent. Put them at the center of any kind of planning, whether political, social, economic, financial, etc.
– Everyone has a plan for Africa (the Americans, the EU, international organizations…). The Africans need a plan for Africa.
This was the end of Graca’s speech. Then the moderator pulled Melinda Gates up on stage and asked her how she got involved in this type of work. She responded that when she went to Africa on her honeymoon in 1993, she was touched by the hardships she saw among the women (particularly in former Zaire). Asked herself, how is it possible such poverty exists in a world where there is so much? She felt moved on a human level and Bill was moved on more practical level: how to find the data and explain the effects that they saw.
Melinda Gates’ one message from today: Change is possible.
