Barack Obama offers hope to ‘people of poor nations’

They were just two paragraphs in President Barack H. Obama’s historic inaugural speech Tuesday, but the words contained in them will have a greater impact around the globe than any others because of what they promise.

“To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

“To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.”

Little wonder that the swearing-in of the first black president in the history of the United States was witnessed by hundreds of millions of people in nations big and small, rich and poor. For now, at least, Obama belongs to everyone.

He must use this power quickly and wisely.

If the new president’s promise of a caring, generous America has a familiar ring to it, it’s because Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, lay the foundation of what could be his greatest legacy.

AIDS

In 2003, Bush launched the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, to bolster what was being done by higher-profile charities and big state clinics. He persuaded Congress to commit $15 billion to expand prevention, treatment and support programs in 15 hard-hit countries, 12 of them in Africa.

There are an estimated 33 million people around the world infected with HIV/AIDS. By 2007, the Bush initiative, in conjunction with a World Health Organization campaign, put 3 million people on AIDS drugs.

However, more than 1.5 million Africans died in 2007 — the U.S. death toll is under 15,000 — and fewer than one-third had access to treatment. New infections continued to outstrip those receiving life-prolonging drugs.

Last year, at Bush’s urging, Congress passed legislation increasing the budget to $48 billion over the next five years.

Obama will undoubtedly continue the work that is being performed so successfully in countries that do not have the financial wherewithal to battle this scourge alone.

But there is another aspect to the new president’s pledge to help the people of poor nations that did not receive a great deal of attention from the Bush administration, namely, the suffering brought on by corrupt, dictatorial regimes around the world.

A prime example is the African nation of Zimbabwe, where one of the most corrupt leaders in the continent, if not the world, Robert Mugabe, has the blood of thousands of his countrymen on his hands.

Mugabe, who has been leader since the country gained independence from Britain more than two decades ago, has destroyed the economy through corrupt governance and has conducted a campaign of death and destruction against his political opponents.

Children, elderly

Starvation is rampant, the shortage of medicines has resulted in thousands of deaths — children and the elderly are at greatest risk — and a cholera epidemic is causing widespread misery.

Thus, when Obama said Tuesday that the United States and other nations of plenty “can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders,” he was offering a ray of hope to the people of Zimbabwe.

His administration must view what is going in so many countries in Africa and elsewhere as crimes against humanity. Words alone will not bring about the change that is necessary.

President Obama, the son of an African father from Kenya, has given hope to millions of people around the world. He must not disappoint them.