The U.K. Department for International Department boasted its many successes in Africa over the last 10 years, including helping 28 million children get education, training nurses in Malawi, improving access to basic water and sanitation services in Ethiopia, and combating AIDS in the continent. But what it failed to mention, according to Jonathan Clayton of The Times, is that nearly a third of those girls dropped out of schools and many of the trained nurses opted to seek employment in the U.K. National Health Service, rather than work in Malawi, where the shortage is acute. Also, DFID’s treatment of some governments in Africa with questionable governance records like Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have caused problems for aid operations. “We are constantly faced with pulling the plug on our own programs or holding our noses and staying in … The host governments know that perfectly well – but DfID types say you can?t make poor people suffer more for the fault of their governments. That is oversimplistic,” a retired British ambassador revealed. (Feature: Department for International Development has diplomacy in Africa - Jonathan Clayton/Times Online)
