Grades 7-12, College, Adult
Directed by Ben Summers
Produced by Television Trust for the Environment
DVD Purchase $195, Rent $45
VHS Purchase $195, Rent $45
US Release Date: 2006
Copyright Date: 2005
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-587-3
VHS ISBN: 1-59458-586-5
Subjects
African Studies
Anthropology
Developing World
Economics
Geography
Globalization
Humanities
International Aid
International Studies
Millennium Development Goals
Poverty
Sociology
United Nations
The Donor Circus
Zambia tries to change the conditions for international aid.
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"The visual impact of the gripping documentaries in the Life 5 series make them extremely powerful teaching tools." Dr Jeremy Sarkin, Visiting Professor of International Human Rights, Tufts University |
Zambia, southern Africa, is one of the poorest countries in the world, where one in every six children dies before reaching their fifth birthday. Its economy depends heavily on international aid: over 40% of the Zambian government's budget comes from foreign donors. In 2003 that was $560 million. While the EU prefers to channel most of its aid through the government, the US and the Japanese still fund individual projects, such as the building of a new school which is being completed by a Japanese contractor.
There are many individual NGOs in Zambia involved in local projects, independent from government and funded directly by international donors. But now the government is arguing that it should be in control of dispersing all international development aid. The days of individual donors funding individual projects could be a thing of the past.
The other titles in the series are:
1. Roma Rights - Breaking the cycle of Roma poverty and persecution.
2. School's Out! - Is the private school option better in a Lagos shantytown?
3. Srebrenica - Looking For Justice - Examines the massacre at Srebrenica on its 10th anniversary.
4. Killing Poverty - Has the corruption in Kenya lessened under its new president?
5. The Great Health Service Swindle - Reversing the brain drain in doctors and nurses from developing countries.
7. For Richer, For Poorer - In Brazil the gulf between the rich and the poor is one of the biggest in the world.
8. Kill Or Cure? - India's $4.5 billion dollar pharmaceutical industry that serves the world's poor is at a crossroads.
9. The Silent Crisis - The Central African Republic struggles to avoid economic and social chaos.
10. Cash Flow Fever - One in ten people on the planet either send or receive money from abroad.
11. Back In Business? - After 11 years of civil war, can Sierra Leone expect tourism to improve the economy?.
12. Kosovo - A House Still Divided? - Resentment and property ownership issues remain as the UN Housing Property Directorate Mission ends.
13. Trouble In Paradise - Local inhabitants of the Maldives wait for promised tsunami aid.
Reviews
"The visual impact of the gripping documentaries in the Life 5 series make them extremely powerful teaching tools for university, and indeed, other classrooms. In succinct episodes they raise and contextualise some of the most critical issues in the world today. These episodes are produced in an extremely objective manner and allow an audience easily to come to grips with an array of complex problems. They ought to be an indispensable part of the teaching curriculum."
"The importance of these films is that they are intended to raise awareness about global issues in young people, and can be used by anyone for this purpose. The quality of the films is excellent. They are documentaries about the U.N. Millennium Development Goals and include brief interviews with people who are actually involved in MDG programs, from various institutions and from the grassroots to executive level...The objective evidence about the current global crisis of insecurity, poverty, gender inequalities, environmental degradation, and lack of international cooperation is presented in a way that is both realistic and non-inflammatory.