Free Card Friday: Development Assistance Good

 

Today’s Free Card Friday is for the Public Forum debaters: two cards supporting development assistance. One says it’s key to military security, while the other relies on recent history to argue development assistance solves poverty. Both of these cards will be highly useful for PFers looking to bulk up their pro cases.

 

The strength of both of these pieces of evidence is that they both draw on recent world history to warrant their claims. Rather than theorizing about the future, they form conclusions based on what has happened in the past. You can argue that this kind of empirical data offers a more solid foundation for making tough choices than pure conjecture.

 

Here are the cards:

 

DEVELOPMENT IS KEY TO LASTING PEACE—HISTORICALLY UNDERDEVELOPED NATIONS TEND TO SLIDE BACK INTO VIOLENCE, BECAUSE THE ROOT CAUSES HAVEN’T BEEN ADDRESSED

(Jordan Ryan, assistant administrator of the U.N. Development Programme, The Guardian, “Countries in crisis: a new approach to rebuilding the future,” http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/nov/04/conflict-peacebuilding-undp-burundi, 11/4/13)

Around the world, 1.5 billion people live in a place affected by conflict or violence, waiting, often for decades, for something more than a temporary respite from death and destruction.

A definite end to conflict, however, is difficult to achieve. While negotiated endings, such as ceasefires and peace settlements, are rightly celebrated, the history of recent conflicts, in countries ranging from the Central African Republic to the state of Palestine, has taught us never to take the success of peace deals for granted.

Throughout my 20 year career at the United Nations, I have seen my share of conflicts come to an end. For instance, Liberia recently marked a decade of progress towards building lasting peace. However, often countries relapse into violence and chaos because underlying economic, social and political causes are not properly addressed.

But if donors and organisations took a longer-term view of conflicts and crises, and continue to build upon immediate humanitarian responses to focus on sustainable development goals, they could help prevent recurring violence and eradicate the sources of conflict.

 

Here’s the second piece:

 

DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE HAS ALREADY SUCCEEDED AT HALVING EXTREME POVERTY; WE NEED MORE OF IT

(Erik Solheim, former Norwegian Minister of International Development, The Australian, “Foreign aid more than a moral crusade,” http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/foreign-aid-more-than-a-moral-crusade/story-e6frgd0x-1226803581170#, 1/17/14)

DEVELOPMENT assistance has been a huge success story. Extreme poverty has been halved in less than 25 years. The world is a better place than at any other point in history. For the first time in history, we have the resources and policies necessary to eradicate extreme poverty. Development assistance from richer countries is a crucial aspect for some of the poorest countries. Of course, economic growth is the most potent remedy against poverty. China has lifted 600 million people out of poverty through rapid economic growth. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop should be applauded for focusing on the importance of economic development. Development assistance is good, economic growth is even better. Aid, investments, loans, guarantees and trade. The world needs more of everything.

 

What do you think? What are your favorite pro arguments? Tell us in the comments!

 

And don’t forget to check out our guides to the January PF topic for both sides.

 

Good luck!

 

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