Technical Aid Brings Results

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30944, 28 December 1965, Page 2

Technical Aid Brings Results

f The Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance, created 15 years ago to help meet the technical needs of developing countries, has not narrowed the gap between the. economically advanced and the under-developed countries.

Nor can the Programme ’(with a few notable exceptions) be given credit for raising the living standards of a whole country. But, in one country after another, wherever the government and the people have been willing to take the initiative and to use the Programme's facilities in support of their own efforts, there have been a long series of tangible results. They have! improved and made more productive the lives of large num-! bers of men. women and’ children.

Health Production With the assistance of 11 international organisations carrying out the work, the Programme has freed millions! of people from the risk of] malaria and other diseases: it 1 has brought more food and the I means to produce it to the; under-nourished. It has been’ responsible for training men and women in new skills at home and abroad. New industries have been, developed and production increased: living standards have been raised by rural and community development projects. Planning and administration, transport and communications have been improved wherever technical advisers! have moved in. Plant and animal losses have been reduced: new scientific and technological facili-l ties have been installed; throughout the developing) countries. With a better | knowledge of their resources, these countries have opened up new avenues towards prosperity. Besides economic and social assistance, the Programme j has brought a deeper under-1 standing of problems of the peoples of developing nations. 1 Human Relations

One of the foremost lessons of the last 15 years is that technical assistance—contrary to its name—is more an exercise in human relations than anything else, says a newsletter issued by the Technical Assistance Board, United Nations, The records of the Expanded Programme overflow, not only with facts and figures, but with stories of people in the process of change. "Show Me” Since the very process of technical assistance is basically a series of practical demonstrations, the “show me” process has had a long string of successes ip convincing people to adopt new methods and ideas. But mistakes have been made. Not all innovations pass the test of practical application. In a Central American country a home economist noted that the women strained their backs cooking over their traditional floorlevel ovens. He designed a simple, inexpensive stand-up stove. It was enthusiastically adopted by most of the villagers, only to be discarded

some months later because of its disastrous effects on the family life of the town. Formerly, the whole family had remained in the oneroom dwelling after dinner, sitting around the oven and talking. The higher oven, right in the middle of the small room, made the practice uncomfortable to the point where the men and children tended to drift out of the house for the evening. The women, eventually tracing the source of the ; change in family living, dei aided that the stove was expendable.