Italy Foreign Aid Overlooked

The US is considered the wealthiest, strongest and most influential nation. It is also considered the most generous. But Not calculated as a % of GDP !!!!

Italy contributes .02 % of GDP , while the US lags behind at .17 %. But even more so, around the world for numerous years, many have criticized the US for cutting back on its promised obligations and responsibilities, and that furthermore, when it has provided aid, it has been tied to its own foreign policy objectives

• Aid is primarily designed to serve the strategic and economic interests of the donor countries;
• Or [aid is primarily designed] to benefit powerful domestic interest groups;
• Aid systems based on the interests of donors instead of the needs of recipients’ make development assistance inefficient;
• Too little aid reaches countries that most desperately need it; and,
• All too often, aid is wasted on overpriced goods and services from donor countries.

The article below outlines Italy's Aid to Sierra Leone, Battling to re-build six years after a brutal civil war, and is ranked the least developed country in the world. Italy has provided Aid also to Mali, Senegal, Liberia and Guinea-Bissau, among many others, particularly Libya, Ethiopia , Eritrea, and Somalia, former Protectorates.

US and Foreign Aid Assistance: http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Debt/USAid.asp#RankingtheRichbasedonCommitmenttoDevelopment

Italy boosts Sierra Leone Food Aid
AFP The Times - Johannesburg,Gauteng, South Africa February 19, 2008
FREETOWN - Italy has extended 10 million dollars to help boost food production over the next three years in Sierra Leone, the African country’s Agriculture Minister Sam Sesay said. The deal will help "significantly contribute to food security through support for a modern competitive and commercially vibrant agriculture sector," Sesay told AFP. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) will provide the technical back-up to the scheme. Other states set to benefit from similar Italian-backed projects in the region include Mali, Senegal, Liberia and Guinea-Bissau, according to the Italian fund’s representative in Freetown, Arturo Rollo. Battling to re-build six years after a brutal civil war, Sierra Leone is ranked the least developed country in the world under the United Nations Human Development Index. http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=709358