Solutions to the Problems
Facing Sudan
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the World Bank and G8,
I stand before you this very evening to preach about the goodness of giving in the modern world, I am going to focus my aims on Sudan. Sudan owes you from the World Bank and others a total of 29.69 billion dollars, a massive amount of money, especially for a country who has been independent for little over 50 years. The British people here may know that it was, in fact, 51 years ago just earlier this month. It had been a British Colony since 1898, and had used the country for little more than to take its natural resources and to maintain control over the Red Sea, a vital area for ships to go through to get to India from Britain. To get back on its feet after the reign of Britain took huge amounts of money, billions of dollars were used. As an effect Sudan now has a debt equalled only by its ex-colony sister countries. As a result of all Sudan’s debt only 37% of its population have a full education, as opposed to the UK’s 93%. Not even 70% of Sudan’s adult population can read, as opposed to the UK’s 99%. The GDP Per Capita is a mere $1,949, as opposed to the UK’s estimated GDP Per Capita of $31,400, over 16 times the amount.
However, every single one of the people sitting in front of me here, listening intently, has the power to abolish these debts, and with the debts abolished Sudan could do so much. First thing would be to set up a proper education system, one matching that of the UK’s. With the education system set up, the adult population in a few years will have the know-how, and Sudan will have the money, to mine the vast amounts of natural gas underground. With this sorted out Sudan could be exporting hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of natural gas every day, making millions, probably even billions every year, especially with the prophecy of impending scarcity. With money made from the oil being drilled, it would easily cover the costs of the new education system, but also a more modern health system, allowing better coverage and lowering the death rate and the infant mortality rate. The new education system would lower the birth rate (if the trend keeps) and the life expectancy for the population would grow gradually higher. With all the new, properly educated, citizens there are a massive variety of people to accommodate any job needed. It would be a simple task to make more efficient services, and producing better goods. Better quality means more money going around the economy, and cities will start to expand with the new-founded opportunities Sudan would have to offer.
Thank you very much for your attention on the subject and I do hope to be meeting with you all again another time.
(Applause)
Are My Solutions Sound?
I feel my resolutions to the problem at hand are both reasonable, and almost easily done, although it is not 100% guaranteed to work. However, if the World Bank and the others did decide to abolish all the debt owed to them, it would be a simple task to carry out. How my solution works is all based around money. With the debt aside Sudan will have all of its yearly profits to spend, a total of $7.9 Billion. With this extra ‘pocket money’ the Sudanese government can spend it on just about whatever they want without the lingering worry of having to pay a certain amount to pay off their debt. So, the best place to start would be a public (free) education system; with an educated population you have the ability to manipulate them for many different job purposes (doctors for a better health system, engineers for drilling natural gas). As the percentage of the population having a full education rises, the best thing to do would be to reap the benefits. There are high reserves of natural gas in Sudan, and many new engineers on the market. The best way to go would be to use both resources and start making more money by exporting and using the natural gas drilled. With the new-founded profits the next step is to set up a proper health system, using the new doctors. I feel this solution affects, but benefits the whole population of Sudan. This is a long-term solution, as it would only come into affect after between 3-8 years, and would not really affect the country in the two years after the action had been taken.
Measuring the Success
The best way to measure the success would be to watch the indicators which really affect the solutions:
Bibliography
The Netherlands Facts-
Human Development Report 2006-
Netherlands HDI Data-
The CIA Factbook-
Netherlands Factsheet-
Sudan Facts-
Human Development Report 2006-
Sudan HDI Data-
The CIA Factbook-
Netherlands Factsheet-