Donor fatigue
Encyclopedia
Donor fatigue is a phenomenon in which people no longer give to charities, although they have in the past. On a larger scale, it can also refer to a slowness to act on the part of the international community
or any other donor base in response to a humanitarian crisis
or call-to-action.
International community
The international community is a term used in international relations to refer to all peoples, cultures and governments of the world or to a group of them. The term is used to imply the existence of common duties and obligations between them...
or any other donor base in response to a humanitarian crisis
Humanitarian crisis
A humanitarian crisis is an event or series of events which represents a critical threat to the health, safety, security or wellbeing of a community or other large group of people, usually over a wide area...
or call-to-action.
Examples
- TICADTokyo International Conference on African Developmentis a conference held every five years in Tokyo, Japan, with the objective "to promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners." Japan is a co-host of these conferences. Other co-organizers of TICAD are the United Nations Office of the Special Advisor on Africa...
was formed at a time when the international community’s interest in AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
was starting to wane, and donor fatigue was setting in. - United Nations Security Council Resolution 1087United Nations Security Council Resolution 1087United Nations Security Council Resolution 1087, adopted unanimously on December 11, 1996, after reaffirming Resolution 696 and all subsequent resolutions on Angola, the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Angola Verification Mission III until February 28, 1997.The importance of...
: There was slow progress in the peace process, including implementing the Lusaka ProtocolLusaka ProtocolThe Lusaka Protocol, signed in Lusaka, Zambia on October 31, 1994, attempted to end the Angolan Civil War by integrating and disarming UNITA and national reconciliation. Both sides signed a ceasefire as part of the protocol on November 20.-Negotiation:...
. The Council approved the Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-GhaliBoutros Boutros-GhaliBoutros Boutros-Ghali is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996...
's recommendation to reduce the size of UNAVEM III during February 1997, due to donor fatigue. - In combatting HIV/AIDS in UgandaHIV/AIDS in UgandaThe very high rate of HIV infection experienced in Uganda during the 80's and early 90's created an urgent need for people to know their HIV status. The only option available to them was offered by the National Blood Transfusion Service, which carries out routine HIV tests on all the blood that is...
, USUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-sponsored abstinence promotions have received recent criticism from observers for denying young people information about any method of HIVHIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
prevention other than sexual abstinence until marriage. Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
says that such programmes "leave Uganda’s children at risk of HIV". Alternatively, the Roman Catholic organization Human Life InternationalHuman Life InternationalHuman Life International is an American-based Roman Catholic activist pro-life organization. Founded in 1981 by Father Paul Marx , HLI is located in Front Royal, Virginia. Human Life International describes itself as "the largest international pro-life organization in the world", noting that it has...
says that "condoms are adding to the problem, not solving it" and that "The government of Uganda believes its people have the human capacity to change their risky behaviors." Other critics have argued that Uganda's success story has been hugely exaggerated as a combatant to donor fatigue, and to bolster the US Republican case for Abstinence only campaigns in Africa.
See also
- AIDS fatigueAIDS fatigueAIDS fatigue is a phenomenon wherein individuals or societies who previously were concerned about the impact of HIV or AIDS become desensitized to the having a strong emotional response to HIV issues after receiving continual messages about the danger over a long period of time.-Causes:Anthony...
, when public health messages are ignored for similar reasons - Information fatigue
- Voter fatigueVoter fatigueIn politics, voter fatigue is the apathy that the electorate can experience when they are required to vote too often.It is often used as a criticism of the direct democracy system, in which voters are constantly asked to decide on policy via referenda...
, voting apathy related to too-frequent elections