USAID: Despair at Blair funding

In their own words, "USAID is following a new model of development emphasizing measurable results, more efficient national and local governments, thriving civil societies, and private investment, creating the conditions to eliminate the need for its assistance over time."

They have a budget of 20 billion dollars this year to do that.

If you've read any of my recent blogs you may be aware that I have issues with USAID, having found ourselves hung out to dry after sharing a development proposal with them.   In a nutshell. our founder died in poverty while his work was passed off as a joint initiative with the British Council and corporate sponsors.

Accordfing to an article about Cherie Blair's foundatiion in the Telegraph

The charity has cash in the bank of almost £1.5 million. It banks with Coutts & Co, the bank preferred by the Royal family and the super-rich, and uses Farrer & Co, the Queen’s solicitors, for legal work. Its wage bill rose from just over £258,000 in 2011 to £437,000 in 2012.

The foundation says it has helped 23,000 women entrepreneurs in more than 50 countries in the developing world. It is based on the seventh floor of a grand office block in central London, with views over Hyde Park.

The charity’s latest accounts, published last week, reveal: “The Foundation has confirmed funding commitments for future years for grants awarded in 2011-12 from USAID of $625,965.”

The article reveals that Tony Blair's Faith Foundation is also an USAiD beneficiary.  He's also been funded by an Ukrainian billionaire who was among those we identified in Death Camps, For Children as the primary cause of Ukraine's social problems, which have recently boiled over to become an international crisis,

As a barrister, Cherie Blair QC is a human rights specialist, potentially a valuable asset to human rights activists like ourselves. OTOH our legal systems and its super injunctions have done a great deal to conceal oligarchic greed.

In 2008 we'd called for support from USAID who'd been soliciting applications for grant funding. We'd applied for $25k to launch the first of the rehab centres that Ukraine's government had pledged in 2007 as described in this news article from later that year    

The most urgent component of the project below is relief and modern medical treatment for tens of thousands of Ukraine's children diagnosed as psychoneurologically handicapped. Many have died in state care, in primitive and inhumane conditions. Many are misdiagnosed, and end up in atrocious conditions. Following intense publicity and public discussion of the issue during final preparation of this project, Ukraine's government agreed on 5 March, 2007 to open more than 400 new treatment facilities for these children all over Ukraine. That commitment from Ukraine’s government was a major step forward, clearly demonstrating Ukraine’s willingness and ability to take initiative in childcare reform first and foremost.

USAID responded, saying that their "limited budget"  didn't allow support for this group of "retarded" children.

So there was nothing for these children yet plently for the plump Blair charities with their impressive payroll, while we operated as a social enterprise under our own funding.  

There's another aspect to the "Genesis letter", which has more recenty taken on greater relevance. That is the application of business in international development.  Copied to the US Senate Committee on Foriegn Relations where Senators Obama and Biden are to be found. It called for their support in an anti-corrution network and infrastructure development of $1.5 billion, saying:

There is increasing congruence and synchronicity in play now, to the point of attunement. What Ms. Fore is describing has been central to P-CED’s main message, advocacy and activity for a decade. That, and helping establish an alternative form of capitalism, where profits and/or aid money are put to use in investment vehicles with the singular purpose of helping the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. The paper on which that is based is in Clinton’s library, dated September 16, 1996, author yours’ truly. That is reflected in P-CED’s home page and history section. In fact, you might notice a number of ideas and writings there that have now made their way into the mainstream of economics and aid thinking, how to make business and aid work smarter and more effectively in relieving poverty and the misery and risks that result.

.As we learned only days ago again in the Telegraph, Barack Obama has announced plans to support up to $33 billion of business investment in Africa: :

Speaking to 45 African heads of state and government gathered in the US capital for a historic three-day summit, Obama said the United States wanted to work with Africa for long-term development.

But he stressed that African leaders had to do their part, even as foreign investment and trade surges.

"Capital is one thing. Development programs and projects are one thing. But rule of law, regulatory reform, good governance: those things matter even more," he said.

"Because people should be able to start a business, and ship their goods without having to pay a bribe, or hire somebody's cousin."

To us that's a familiar plea, for example in this 10 year old interview about economic development Crimea:

The harder part, of course, is getting through the negative overall business environment imposed by the present government. It can be done, but it will take strong, focused effort and unity of purpose. I don't yet see the leadership for that at government level in Crimea, Crimean Tatar government officials notwithstanding. No one at government level seems to have any real concern about corruption, aside from trying to hide it from the outside world in order to pay lip service to the problem and try to lure foreign direct investment (FDI.) To date, FDI in Crimea and all of Ukraine is extremely low, and that's the main reason. And it remains the primary barrier, unfair though it may be to citizens in the community, to the development and recovery of the Crimean community - Tatars and otherwise.

The real "bottom line" is - you can't tackle corruption with corruption 

It was this project which put at at odds with USAID in 2003, when founder Terry Hallman refused to deal wirth corrupt governance and blocked his own work to prevent it. Dead men do tell tales and this is part of the story he left behind about Ukraine.  

At a meeting, Crimea's deputy finance minister had told Hallman that it wasn't his money so why should he care. He disagreed, it was his money, his and every tax paying American's. It is after all "From The American People". As he left, the minister was banging his own head against a wall in rage and frustration. He was removed from office within 18 months.      

From then on USAID weren't in our corner and they weren't about to let us have any part in what they and the British Council were doing. We'd been speaking up about abiused and neglected children .  

Opening up the reality of that situation resulted in threats against me and anyone else interfering with that system.  I came under direct assault by tax police, government's primary enforcement arm if anyone steps out of line.  This is not a research activity where many, if any, other people dared to participate.  UNICEF was willfully blind to the matter because it was just too dangerous to bother to intercede  Powerful interests remained entrenched with enforcers to make it dangerous.  Jurists were correct, in my view.  It was more a mafia operation than anything else, aimed at misappropriation and laundering of large money.  That was perfectly congruent with how Ukraine operated before the revolution.  USAID wanted nothing to do with it, nor would they fund any organizations or activists who might try.  Some things could be done and some things could not be done.  Helping these children was something that could not be done.  So, I exposed it and made it the central focus and metric of Ukraine's microeconomic development blueprint.  In that context, it was far more difficult to ignore, dismiss, or argue about.  For about six months, I really did not expect to survive.  Nevertheless, Ukraine's government finally conceded the point and announced the opening of more than four hundred new treatment centers for children who were theretofore invisible under tight and deadly enforcement.

Another of my direct appeals for support has been to Virgin Unite, Sir Richard Branson's foundation. He's been saying business should focus more on social problems. Left hanging again, of course.  

Remember the oligarch who gave money to Blair's foundation?  His wife is working with Sir Elton John, supported by BIG Lottery.

The bottom line is, plenty of support for vanity projects, while children are left to die.  

Now let me put all this together. The oligarch, Blair, Branson & all, The best way I can think of is a video from Davos, where they really are "all in together". It adds up to Jack Shit.

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