NationStates Jolt Archive

Yeah. Did you, especially as a child, ever get those little orange boxes, and go around "collecting for UNICEF"?

Look what your efforts have done:

http://www.unesco.org/courier/2001_01/uk/planet.htm

The story beggars belief. In the 1970s, international agencies headed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) began pumping millions of dollars of aid money into Bangladesh for tubewells to provide “clean” drinking water. According to the World Health Organization, the direct result has been the biggest outbreak of mass poisoning in history. Up to half the country’s tubewells, now estimated to number 10 million, are poisoned. Tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands will die.
Why? Because nobody tested for the natural poison, arsenic, widely found in underground water. And when a doctor did find traces of the metal, and when Bangladeshi villagers did start turning up at doctors’ surgeries with the tumours and telltale signs of arsenic poisoning, the results were swiftly buried so that nobody made the connection.

Bad news.

Indeed the WHO released a report in September estimating that between 35 and 77 million Bangladeshis may be drinking water containing more than the safety limit of 10 parts per billion of arsenic. According to the report’s author, Allan Smith of the University of California, Berkeley, the scale of the disaster is “beyond Bhopal; beyond Chernobyl.”

And an interesting commentary on another site:

http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/001578.php

Let us perform a small thought experiment. Let us suppose that a commercial mining company had, in the course of its operations, poisoned the water supply of 70,000,000 people in this quite specific way. Would that have been regarded as "a sad irony", an unintended consequence of its search for profit, or perhaps as something rather more sinister and indeed typical of the way such companies operate? Would there not have been large demonstrations, probably turning soon to violence, against that company by those in the developed world who habitually express their solidarity with the impoverished victims of exploitation by their own nations' multinationals? It is unlikely that we would ever hear the end of the matter - in such a case, quite rightly.

When people buy their UNICEF Christmas cards, how many of them know what the organisation, and others like it, have wrought in Bangladesh? It isn't even as if such organisations feel any institutional guilt - The Lancet reports that:

For such a massive disaster, the response by international aid agencies has been small, especially since researchers estimate that substantial mitigation could be achieved for less than US$100 million.

In a way this is understandable. As Professor Graziano puts it:

The challenge now is to try to influence policies in Bangladesh, but very cautiously. We don't want to be a bunch of white guys going in and saying, "we know what to do" - the way the international agencies that promoted the original well-digging programme did.

As it happens, I don't really believe that the situation in Bangladesh is a sad irony at all, though of course I don't go as far as to say that it was wished by anybody. I worked for a number of years in another country, Tanzania, in which foreign aid did, or at least permitted and actually paid for, a great deal of harm to be done. It was foreign aid, and foreign aid alone, that enabled the government to remove a very high percentage of the rural population from where it was living and dump it in collectivised villages, as well as to destroy the viable commercial farming sector, thus condemning the country and its inhabitants, apart from senior members of the ruling party, to many years of quite unnecessary pauperdom.

So, when the UN comes in and says, "we'll fix your lives, we'll make things better for you" is it really just a bunch of ignorant do-gooders and consultants making money and pontificating solutions who really are more likely to fuck everyone over?

Millions may die now, over the course of years of arsenic poisoning, because you helped them with your little orange box of coins...

I, for one, merely glutted myself on candy(and tped a few houses. *) :)


*'tped a few houses' also includes egging kids, streaking trick-or-treaters wearing nothing but boxers and the glowing goo from several carefully harvested light sticks, drive-by water balloonings, strategic moonings, dressing all in black and frightening the urine out of young children and other assorted antics.

I volunteered for Unicef when I was like in the 2nd grade, we learned about what they did in countries with kids who were starving and also we had to make speeches around town and mine was on my state capital's steps. I had no clue what I was talking about, just memorized it and said it quickly. I think the cute factor was more important than them actually telling me what we were doing.

I, for one, merely glutted myself on candy(and tped a few houses. *) :)


*'tped a few houses' also includes egging kids, streaking trick-or-treaters wearing nothing but boxers and the glowing goo from several carefully harvested light sticks, drive-by water balloonings, strategic moonings, dressing all in black and frightening the urine out of young children and other assorted antics.

so not much has changed?

so not much has changed?

That was just last Halloween. :)

So, when the UN comes in and says, "we'll fix your lives, we'll make things better for you" is it really just a bunch of ignorant do-gooders and consultants making money and pontificating solutions who really are more likely to fuck everyone over?


No, thats the World Bank and the IMF you're thinking of. This is a mistake. The others fuck ups usually aren't.

I'm glad of your symathy towards the (majority muslim) Bangladeshi population. Will you be changing your attitudes towards all muslims now? Or just when its nessecary to get a dig in at the UN?

No, thats the World Bank and the IMF you're thinking of. This is a mistake. The others fuck ups usually aren't.

I'm glad of your symathy towards the (majority muslim) Bangladeshi population. Will you be changing your attitudes towards all muslims now? Or just when its nessecary to get a dig in at the UN?

Bangladeshis don't seem to be too militant.

I'm just getting a dig in at Western organizations who think that all problems in the Third World are "easily solved". I also think that the UN should get the same kind of bad press and scrutiny that Union Carbide gets when they fuck up.

I would say that it's the thought that counts but how could they make a mistake so huge like this and not even check the water fully.

Click Stand;13025034']I would say that it's the thought that counts but how could they make a mistake so huge like this and not even check the water fully.

Because they really didn't give a shit. Most of these people are consultants, who will say, "the program was working when I left..."

Yeah. Did you, especially as a child, ever get those little orange boxes, and go around "collecting for UNICEF"?


Happily, I never did. The UN needs a HUGE reform to get my support. Also, we all already pay for the UN - we pay taxes to our countries and our countries give money to the UN.

Anyway, two things:

1.This shit happens when aid is wasted just to make propaganda claims ("We saved 10000000 people from thirst this year!" *smile* "Ooohh!" *flashes*) instead of doing a good, proper job by putting developing countries in the conditions of getting along without anymore international aid.

2.Hey... this report was in the UNESCO online journal? Attacking the UNICEF? What's happening at the UN? Power struggle?

Happily, I never did. The UN needs a HUGE reform to get my support. Also, we all already pay for the UN - we pay taxes to our countries and our countries give money to the UN.

Anyway, two things:

1.This shit happens when aid is wasted just to make propaganda claims ("We saved 10000000 people from thirst this year!" *smile* "Ooohh!" *flashes*) instead of doing a good, proper job by putting developing countries in the conditions of getting along without anymore international aid.

2.Hey... this report was in the UNESCO online journal? Attacking the UNICEF? What's happening at the UN? Power struggle?

I think that the people at the UN, rather than work on things that generate wealth, keep their eye on half-baked solutions to keep people poor (sounds like the World Bank and IMF...). Thus, we get a lot of damage like this "solution".

I posted the UNESCO link because if I hadn't, people would say I was making this up about the unassailable and all-good UN.

Nah, I threw them away or used them as buildings for my toy soldiers.

Yeah. Did you, especially as a child, ever get those little orange boxes, and go around "collecting for UNICEF"?

Look what your efforts have done:

http://www.unesco.org/courier/2001_01/uk/planet.htm

Bad news.

And an interesting commentary on another site:

http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/001578.php



So, when the UN comes in and says, "we'll fix your lives, we'll make things better for you" is it really just a bunch of ignorant do-gooders and consultants making money and pontificating solutions who really are more likely to fuck everyone over?

Millions may die now, over the course of years of arsenic poisoning, because you helped them with your little orange box of coins...

Who says it's "easily solved"? Whose idea was the tubewells in the first place? How much of the arsenic contamination would have happened anyway? Why do you place the blame only on the UN and let the government of Bangladesh off scott free? Or rather, why do you shift the blame over to the people who supported UNICEF in the 70's? After all, would you claim that a quarter of a million children dying each year would be preferable to the possibility of twenty thousand people dying each year?

Of course there could be more... But why is that? Because the World Banks “fast-track project” is slow? Because the government of Bangladesh aren't allocating resources properly?

Bah. This was six years ago anyway. What's the status today? Is the UN "Arsenic Mitigation and Measurement Project" a dud or not? I mean, has training (http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/wes_420.htm) 15,000 health workers, 8,000 arsenic testers and 1,600 doctors just been a waste of time?

So really, by not adressing any of these question, your magical blame-shift maneuver fails.

I used to argue that UNICEF was the only good thing the UN ever did.

Apparently the UN never did anything good.

Who says it's "easily solved"? Whose idea was the tubewells in the first place? How much of the arsenic contamination would have happened anyway? Why do you place the blame only on the UN and let the government of Bangladesh off scott free? Or rather, why do you shift the blame over to the people who supported UNICEF in the 70's? After all, would you claim that a quarter of a million children dying each year would be preferable to the possibility of twenty thousand people dying each year?

Of course there could be more... But why is that? Because the World Banks “fast-track project” is slow? Because the government of Bangladesh aren't allocating resources properly?

Bah. This was six years ago anyway. What's the status today? Is the UN "Arsenic Mitigation and Measurement Project" a dud or not? I mean, has training (http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/wes_420.htm) 15,000 health workers, 8,000 arsenic testers and 1,600 doctors just been a waste of time?

So really, by not adressing any of these question, your magical blame-shift maneuver fails.


If I've said it before, I'll say it again anyway. I love you and am glad you are here. :)

Yes. I was in a group called Key Club (part of the Kiwanis's) in High School, and for Halloween, we had to go around asking for spare change and such. It was very humiliating. :(

I used to argue that UNICEF was the only good thing the UN ever did.

Apparently the UN never did anything good.
And how would you defend that statement?
If I've said it before, I'll say it again anyway. I love you and am glad you are here. :)

No, it's your first time :D :fluffle:

Who says it's "easily solved"? Whose idea was the tubewells in the first place? How much of the arsenic contamination would have happened anyway? Why do you place the blame only on the UN and let the government of Bangladesh off scott free? Or rather, why do you shift the blame over to the people who supported UNICEF in the 70's? After all, would you claim that a quarter of a million children dying each year would be preferable to the possibility of twenty thousand people dying each year?

Of course there could be more... But why is that? Because the World Banks “fast-track project” is slow? Because the government of Bangladesh aren't allocating resources properly?

Bah. This was six years ago anyway. What's the status today? Is the UN "Arsenic Mitigation and Measurement Project" a dud or not? I mean, has training (http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/wes_420.htm) 15,000 health workers, 8,000 arsenic testers and 1,600 doctors just been a waste of time?

So really, by not adressing any of these question, your magical blame-shift maneuver fails.

QFT.

Thanks.

No, it's your first time :D :fluffle:

Well I am 100% positive that I've thought it several times.

:fluffle:

*teeth rot out*

This amuses me.

Yes. Oh and I was unaware that they used every single penny they ever gained on this. But hey, now I know, the whole thing was such a waste of time, eh, and the UN is always getting it wrong, right?

This just shows the UN organizations never can do any good. I challenge you to find one good deed UNICEF ever supposedly did!

Anywhoo, if there actually was one instance, it couldn't possibly erase this travesty!

I, for one, merely glutted myself on candy(and tped a few houses. *) :)


*'tped a few houses' also includes egging kids, streaking trick-or-treaters wearing nothing but boxers and the glowing goo from several carefully harvested light sticks, drive-by water balloonings, strategic moonings, dressing all in black and frightening the urine out of young children and other assorted antics.

Trivia note, the "blood" of predators in all the films they've appeared in is a mix of that fluid and KY jelly.

This just shows the UN organizations never can do any good. I challenge you to find one good deed UNICEF ever supposedly did!

Anywhoo, if there actually was one instance, it couldn't possibly erase this travesty!

You want one instance?

Go read this: http://www.unesco.org/courier/2001_01/uk/planet.htm#e3

That shows UNICEF doing something good.

You want one instance?

Go read this: http://www.unesco.org/courier/2001_01/uk/planet.htm#e3

That shows UNICEF doing something good.

LOL

Are you really expecting me to believe anything you can find in a UNESCO website. Lemme tell you something about UNESCO; they have declared the Egyptian pyramids as World Heritage site. That blatantly condemns the poor egyptians to poverty, when they could do what other people do with their pyramids (http://www.planet99.com/pix/7687_1.jpg) - money. Nice going UNESCO!

And you want more proof of the Evil that is UNICEF? Here you see a UNICEF worker stealing a lollipop from a child (http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1030000/images/_1034048_crossing300.jpg)!

But do go on. Defend UN.

LOL

Are you really expecting me to believe anything you can find in a UNESCO website.
You know what's funny? I linked to the same article that's presented in the OP. You accepted it without question then.... Strange, non? ;)

Lemme tell you something about UNESCO; they have declared the Egyptian pyramids as World Heritage site. That blatantly condemns the poor egyptians to poverty, when they could do what other people do with their pyramids (http://www.planet99.com/pix/7687_1.jpg) - money. Nice going UNESCO!

And you want more proof of the Evil that is UNICEF? Here you see a UNICEF worker stealing a lollipop from a child (http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1030000/images/_1034048_crossing300.jpg)!

But do go on. Defend UN.
I don't really have to. You're amusing, but do a terrible job of attacking the organisations. Carry on :)

I, for one, merely glutted myself on candy(and tped a few houses. *) :)


*'tped a few houses' also includes egging kids, streaking trick-or-treaters wearing nothing but boxers and the glowing goo from several carefully harvested light sticks, drive-by water balloonings, strategic moonings, dressing all in black and frightening the urine out of young children and other assorted antics.

I use to do that exact same thing. Damn, I miss the good old days.