"Cameron threat to dock some UK aid to anti-gay nations"

[Almac]

I read this article while on my tea-break and thought it was so interesting, and I do believe that David Cameron is right to do this after all we are one of the biggest aid givers in the world. And if countries can't abide by the most basic of human rights then they should have some of their money docked.

[SIZE="2"][COLOR="Navy"]'Prime Minister David Cameron threat to dock some UK aid to anti-gay nations
David Cameron The Commonwealth must have strong values, and has threatened to withhold UK aid from governments that do not reform legislation banning homosexuality.
The UK prime minister said he raised the issue with some of the states involved at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia.
Human rights reform in the Commonwealth was one issue that leaders failed to reach agreement on at the summit.
Mr Cameron says those receiving UK aid should "adhere to proper human rights".
Ending the bans on homosexuality was one of the recommendations of an internal report into the future relevance of the Commonwealth.
Mr Cameron's threat applies only to one type of bilateral aid known as general budget support, and would not reduce the overall amount of aid to any one country.
Malawi has already had some of its budget support suspended over concerns about its attitude to gay rights. Concerns have also been raised with the governments of Uganda and Ghana. British empire
Mr Cameron told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that "British aid should have more strings attached".
But he conceded that countries could not change immediately, and cautioned that there would be a "journey".
"This is an issue where we are pushing for movement, we are prepared to put some money behind what we believe. But I'm afraid that you can't expect countries to change overnight.
"Britain is one of the premier aid givers in the world. We want to see countries that receive our aid adhering to proper human rights.
"We are saying that is one of the things that determines our aid policy, and there have been particularly bad examples where we have taken action."
Mr Cameron said he had spoken with "a number of African countries" and that more pressure had been applied by Foreign Secretary William Hague, who deputised for him during parts of the summit.
Some 41 nations within the 54-member Commonwealth have laws banning homosexuality. Many of these laws are a legacy of British Empire laws.
The discussion in the Ugandan parliament of an anti-homosexuality bill in 2009 sparked particular controversy, and earlier this year Ugandan gay rights campaigner David Kato was beaten to death in a suspected hate crime.
Nigeria's Senate is currently discussing a bill banning same-sex marriage, that includes penalties for anyone witnessing or aiding a same-sex marriage.
A spokesman for the Department for International Development said that budget support, which accounts for about 5% of the UK's annual aid budget of £7.46bn, is conditional direct assistance to governments. To qualify, recipients must adhere to rules on poverty reduction, respect of human rights, good governance and domestic accountability.
Malawi recently had £19m of budget support suspended following various infractions including poor progress on human rights and media freedoms and concern over the government's approach to gay rights, the DfID spokesman said.
Reacting to the news, Uganda Radio Network journalist, Charles Odongpho, said he was puzzled by the move.
I came across this article while on my tea-break, I think this is a good step forward? Britain is one of the biggest aid givers in the world and so there should be strings attached to the money we give to countries that deny the most basic of human rights.
"I welcome any move to pressure our government to be respectful of democratic values and human rights but speaking as a Ugandan I think we have much more important issues to deal with than the rights of homosexuals.
"This is your money and you know where you want to put it but we face very serious issues of corruption, poverty, education and hunger. These are the most critical issues for us, not homosexual rights."
Appointing a human rights commissioner to address this and other human rights issues was one of the 100-plus recommendations of the internal report, by the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group, which includes former UK foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind.
However, objections from a number of countries blocked adoption of the recommendation, according to Australia's prime minister Julia Gillard, speaking at the end of the three-day summit in Western Australia.' [/COLOR][/SIZE]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15511081

[jamiebfd]

I think its pretty cool. Its our basic human rights to be gay and it shouldnt be illegal anywhere no more.
But... how will the cuts in AID effect the population (including the gays) who live in those countrys. will they suffer so they can be heard?

[Almac]

Hi Jamie, I don't really know how the cuts will affect those countries but one thing is certain we can't support governments that don't allow basic human rights. :confused:

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Docking pay nor any punishment actually addresses the underlying cause of the behavior.

While it may give the punisher the satisfaction of having 'done something' to fix a problem, the problem isn't fixed and in many cases the punishment only has the opposite effect, making the underlying problem worse.

Human charity (Aid) should be free of strings. We don't feed the poor because we want to have control over them, we feed them because they are hungry.

Too often Aid is used as a tool to change a people to meet some criteria, and the real reason for the giving of the aid is all but forgotten.

If abused, giving aid becomes a way to enslave a people, granted we are not making them build pyramids for us, but we are attempting to enslave them to our ideals.

I know that Cameron's heart is in the right place, wanting to 'do something' to fix the problem. So I give him kudo's for that. But the general idea is just 'wrong' and should be shelved and we should seek better ways, healthier ways to address the underlying causes and thus work toward solutions that work to actually fix the problem.

[Genersis]

To quote what i said on another site:

"I think he mainly means countries where gay people are actively criminally prosecuted/executed.
So i think it's a good thing to be honest to that extent.

This isn't the food and water for the people kind of aid. This is financial aid for the governments we're talking about here. So i feel reducing this aid should(hopefully) have little effect on the actually living standards in these countries.
But maybe i'm wrong eh? It's hard to say. :frown:

I think our government is just trying to find reasons not to give aid to save money personally. This just happened to be the reason they picked. Perhaps i am being too cynical though.:redface:"

I also agree. Using aid as a bargaining chip is a low move. Regardless of whether it is the financial kind or not.

[Inchante]

Wow, I like it, but I hope such an implementation doesn't backfire and create more anti-western sentiment and a reactionary backlash within the countries themselves.

[zeon]

fuck em i say personally if they persecute peopole for anything cut the aid and make em all think twice... They obey our rules and give our countrymen the same freedom OR they starve

SIMPLES