I read these two headlines today and wept:
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/afghanistans-multimillion-highway-to-nowhere-7922542.html
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18758148
Time and time again, research has shown that an effective and reliable way to lift economies out of poverty is to provide education and small scale business opportunities to women - micro credit facilities for example, and opportunities for female cooperatives to buy farm animals, hand sewing machines etc.
Yet once again, billions are being wasted in Afghanistan on dodgy roads that no one needs, poorly constructed police stations that lie empty and a expensive power station that is only used for back up power. With another 16bn to come - presumably to be wasted yet again on bribes and corrupt pet projects of the male patriarchy. Why? As far as I can tell because our governments base their economic analysis entirely on western male-centric models of economics which entirely discount the value of women in society.
Why the heck don't governments, the World Bank et al get the message that aid to big, government-financed projects is almost always going to end in corruption and failure? Give the money to women for heavens sake, and maybe, just maybe, Afghanistan will be a place worth living again in another generation.
Rant over. As you were.