Articles
Opinion
Often what is required is simply to spread the knowledge needed for people to resolve their own problems, in their own way and at their own convenience. Development cooperation is well aware of a very real crisis: a crisis of concept. This crisis involves attempts to establish economic and technological models that themselves create strong dependencies, to the extent that they destroy social structures and identities in host societies. It has also led to important levels of bureaucracy within the NGOs promoting cooperation, which increases operating costs to the point where they exceed the cost the aid proposed. A lack of training for many aid workers means that results cannot be optimised and creates additional problems in cooperation programmes.
The crisis has also been caused by the way Spain has acted, illegally taking money that citizens have voluntarily donated towards the aims of NGOs and using it instead for the political activities of the party in power at the time.
There is a crisis due to the downturn in donations and due to ideological interference that has little to do with clearly humanitarian objectives, at times confusing the aims of development cooperation and humanitarian solidarity with the political and commercial interests of certain initiatives.
To overcome poverty, malnutrition and health problems or provide fair housing, security and freedom – to name just a few of the most serious problems faced by a large part of humankind – we need mass online education in the corresponding fields of scientific and technological knowledge. This is the fast, efficient, cheap and coherent solution to comprehensive development of those societies that aspire to resolve their own problems by themselves.
And this is the mission of the UOC’s Campus for Peace, School for Cooperation and International Graduate Institute.
Eduard Vinyamata
Director, UOC Campus for Peace
