Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa

by Stephen Lewis

In 2000, the United Nations laid out a series of eight goals meant to guide humankind in the new century. Called the Millennium Development Goals, these targets are to be met by 2015 and are to lay the foundation for a prosperous future. In Race Against Time, Stephen Lewis advances real solutions to help societies across the globe achieve the Millennium Goals. Through lucid, pragmatic explanations, he shows how dreams such as universal primary education, a successful war against the AIDS pandemic, and environmental sustainability, are within the grasp of humanity. For anyone interested in forging a better world in the third millennium, Race Against Time is powerful testimony.

Genres: Nonfiction, Africa, Canada, Politics, Health, History, Essays

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Stephen Henry Lewis is a Canadian politician, broadcaster and diplomat. He was the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. After working for several years as a labour mediator, columnist and broadcaster, in 1984 Lewis was appointed Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations, serving in the post until 1988. From 1995 to 1999, Lewis was Deputy Director of UNICEF. From 2001 until 2006, he worked as United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. In his role as Special Envoy, he worked to draw attention to the HIV/AIDS crisis and to convince leaders and the public that they have a responsibility to respond. He has been widely praised for his effectiveness in this role. He is currently Distinguished Visiting Professor at Ryerson University in Toronto and is a member of the Order of Canada.

In addition to being a passionate and articulate spokesperson for the plight of Africans suffering from the AIDS pandemic, Lewis established the Stephen Lewis Foundation to assist the victims of this disease. In 2005, Lewis presented the CBC Massey lectures and these, in turn, were transcribed into the best-selling book "Race Against Time", where he describes the disjuncture between what the international community promises and their actions in responding to the pandemic in Africa. Lewis is also a prominent spokesperson for the Canadian chapter of Make Poverty History.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been twenty-five years, and if anything, the HIV/AIDS pandemic is getting worse. In South Africa alone, there are six million people requiring treatment. Suffering from the "perverse economic policies" of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF); the poaching of professionals by the UK and other countries; colonialism and neo-colonialism; the USA's right-wing policies and a myriad of other external problems, Africa is also under the burden of famine, huge numbers of orphans, and greedy dictators.

Stephen Lewis is a famous Canadian humanitarian, whose father was one of the founders of the CCF - later the New Democrat Party (NDP). His son is Avi Lewis, his daughter-in-law Naomi Klein. That'd be one hell of an intimidating family to have dinner with. Currently the UN's special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, Lewis draws on long years working for the United Nations and its various divisions, his travels to Africa and his participation in many a conference, to offer a searing indictment on the lamentable response of the wealthy western world to the plight of Africa - a plight that we should at the very least share the blame for.

Lewis speaks directly to the debt, the mistaken macroeconomic policies of the World Bank and IMF that have helped to cripple Africa, the lack of education and the fact that there are entire generations of Africans missing - people in their late twenties, their thirties and forties, simply gone because of AIDS. He also speaks to gender inequality and the flaws of the United Nations, as well as offering alternatives and clear targets. And all with so much passion that I wanted to cry every second page.

At the time of writing, 2005, Africa had $294 billion of debt. Of that, they had paid back $260 billion by 2002 - in interest, leaving another $230 billion owing. Obviously, they will never be able to pay off this debt. The debt is ridiculous in the extreme, especially considering how many billions in foreign aid - the "Global Fund" - the countries need in order to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS. What is especially criminal are the "cost-sharing" conditions imposed against all advice by the World Bank and IMF, conditions that have effectively crippled the economies of these countries - the direct opposite of what they were supposed to do. These countries were prevented from putting any money into the public sector: education, health, government (including the control of clean water etc.) The only source of funds for this is the Official Development Assistance, but over 60% of this money is "phantom aid", being spent by the donors on overpriced consultants, goods and services from the donor country's firms, and admin costs - "otherwise known as inflated overhead."

In June 2005, $40 billion of debt for eighteen countries was wiped clean - but Lewis points out that that still leaves $200 billion "shackling [Africa's:] future". Countries had committed themselves to donating 0.7% of their GNP to African aid, but only Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland and Luxembourg have reached or surpassed it - countries not known for their wealth. Compared to the 1 trillion spent on the military and arms, worldwide, the $50 billion Africa needs is small change.

Lewis comes down hard on the wealthy nations of the world for their procrastination, for not giving what they promise to give, and for attaching conditions like the US's abstinence-only teaching requirement (as part of PEPFAR) - a seriously damaging policy that Lewis himself came under fire for critiquing - as well as the UN's silence. As he quotes one man from the World Bank when trying to get them to give money towards treatment, not just prevention, in Rwanda, "You see, Stephen, it's difficult. Let's face the painful truth: the people with AIDS are going to die. The money would probably be better used for prevention. It's all a matter of trade-offs." This kind of thinking Lewis likens to poison, and with good reason.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. The sorry state of affairs surrounding debt and aid is shocking. No less upsetting is the condition of the people themselves, the many orphans being cared for en masse by grandmothers, the missing generations, the lack of farmers - all tied into the famine. What happens when the grandmothers have passed away? The countries' governments have no idea, they are completely at a loss. There is no money for these orphans, or not much anyway. Simply scrapping school fees so the international law of the rights of the child, that every child have free access to a primary education, is problematic in Africa. All the children that Lewis has met in Africa, wanted one thing above all else: to go to school. They're desperate for it, and when they get it they shine. The path for a prosperous future Africa lies in educating its children, today.

But the twisted inner paths of the UN thwarts their own goals, and until AIDS is dealt with, no real progress can be made. Tied into AIDS is gender equality - women are the backbone of Africa, Lewis says, the unpaid farmers and caretakers and the very weave and fabric of their culture and society. Until the UN establishes a department that deals solely with women's rights, and gives it the same funding and power as UNICEF, nothing will change.

Lewis does have some good news, little glimpses of hope, schemes that have worked, a few success stories. And some heart-wrenching anecdotes from his travels in Africa that help give a face to the millions of people suffering there.

This book won't give you a history of the plague of AIDS - a pandemic that African leaders refer to as an extermination, and a holocaust. What it focuses on is the western world's response to the situation, or lack of, and the Millennium Development Goals that won't be met. It's a passionate but level-headed and factual diatribe as well as a plea. It's educational, informative and hopeful. That Lewis loves Africa is abundantly clear. He also has tremendous respect for the UN and other agencies, for the amazing people of Africa who have made great in-roads, and for individuals who have likewise brought hope and help. He makes an excellent case for Africa, and a justification for helping them when it is so easy to simply shrug and say, "well it's Africa, it's their problem." But it's not.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen Lewis is a firebrand. A well qualified firebrand, who deeply loves Africa - and he is angry with many of the huge and bureaucratic organisations involved with the country. He is passionately interested in
* the treatment in Africa of HIV/AIDS
* equality and support for women
* the AIDS orphans
* free education for children
* and money, money, money.

Thanks to an initiative by the World Health Organisation (The Three by Five campaign), the virus is slowly being turned around. Before 2005 it was in the ascendant, but now real efforts are being made to treat people. Whilst some argue that prevention should take priority over treatment, Lewis is adamant that prevention and treatment go hand in hand. One is not more important than the other. “With treatment comes hope, with hope there comes testing, with testing there comes prevention....” It makes sense to me.

He mentions the wonder drug Nevirapine, given to mothers during the birthing process (followed by the babies being given a liquid equivalent), and this cuts down transmission of the virus from mother to child by 53%. In the West, full antiretroviral treatment is given for the last 24 weeks of pregnancy, and the transmission rate is only 1-2%. But in Africa 53% reduction is a vast improvement on what there was before. More and cheaper generic drugs are now also being used, to prolong the lives of people who have AIDS. Elsewhere he mentions the huge tragedy of children who have to experience the trauma of their parents’ deaths, and the result of this sometimes being child-led households, without any adult at all to offer them support. Drugs that can support the lives of people with AIDS seem invaluable within this context.

About women - he says that Africa is now a country largely dependent upon the grandmothers – women who have had to bury their children, and are now raising their grandchildren – and sometimes other orphaned children as well. Often their traditional role as farmers has to fall by the wayside, as they are now committed to full time child care, and they are horrendously overstretched. He says that at all levels, women’s needs are being overlooked.

Another big bugbear for Lewis is universal primary education. When the IMF or World Bank give loans, they often impose strictures on the countries concerned – and in many instances this included imposing fees on schooling – either in terms of straight payment by school users, or payment for books, a compulsory uniform, or a payment to take exams. All of these things stopped children from being able to go to school. Later the IMF and World Bank changed their position about wanting school fees, but Lewis feels the damage was done, and that they should now help subsidize free schooling. He also says schools are not only about teaching children, they can also be about giving them food and medical help as well.

The money is the really difficult bit.
*The need for cancellation of debt.
* The shortfall between the monies promised by governments and the monies realised.
* The reluctance of many countries to give generously.

He also mentions an Action Aid (UK) study on G8 foreign aid in 2005. It says that over 60% of overseas development aid should be called “phantom aid” because it is never available where it is needed. It goes to over-priced consultants, the purchase of goods and services from donor countries, and inflated administration costs. Ouch! I hope that since then these charges have been looked at closely, and changes made to rectify the situation....

Finally, he mentioned those organisations whose presence in Africa he feels is really constructive.
*Médecins Sans Frontières
*Partners in Health
*Jeffrey Sach's Millennium Village projects
*The Clinton Foundation.

All in all this was a very good book for someone as ‘overwhelmed’ and ignorant of Africa’s problems with HIV/AIDS as I was. Its one shortcoming is that it is very time specific. The problems being addressed are very much happening in the here and now. I just wish I could have bought a 2012 edition with a lengthy update.

[Ocrema · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was actually cool.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The timing of my reading this was interesting. I had just finished a three-week African Summer Institute, where professors from Nigeria, Burundi, Kenya, and Tanzania taught us about Africa from a much more Afro-centric perspective than I've been used to. And then I read Dambisa Moyo's Dead Aid, which aims to reject all foreign aid to Africa entirely. And then I read this and I'm kind of conflicted.

Stephen Lewis makes a lot of good points and I think on a moral level he's absolutely correct about a lot of them. Western nations haven't done much to help Africa fight AIDS and that has had a disproportionately negative effect on women and children in Africa. I absolutely agree with that and I think he makes a compelling argument that we need to do more on that front, especially in terms of providing HIV retroviral drugs and making sure that aid gets to women in children. But I'm not sure he really very manages to get at how this can/should be done efficiently. And that needs to be addressed because the current solutions aren't working yet they continue to be accepted by large chunks of the international community. And I felt like the final chapter of the book fell short of answering the "how?" questions I had was asking when I finished reading.

I also found his writing to have a preachy tone to it, which made it hard for me to swallow. And I realize he had to do this but all of the name-dropping ("I met with Mr. So-and-so of the ZYZ Fund") annoyed me to no end. I guess in general I felt pretty annoyed with the writing style. So it took me way longer to read this than it should have.

In all, I wish he had written a more concise, more substantial text but this was still very insightful.

[Mary Jane Hele · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was tough read and of course as the lectures were from 2005 it is a little dated. I know so little about the issues and if the millennial development goals were reached or fell far short in terms of poverty, health and education (I suspect fell far short). The book leaves you with so many questions about the present situation in Africa. I feel the need to do some more research and reading to update the information. Stephen Lewis is so passionate for the wellbeing of Africa and the health of it's people. He is one of my country's great statesmen.

[Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start this review by saying that academics are underrated in business school. Everyone says that you do an MBA for the network and for the parties, but in Tulum I found myself having conversations with classmates that I didn’t expect to have 1 year ago, on topics that I previously knew little or cared about.

An appreciation of this book — on the damages inflicted by the IMF on African economies — would be lost if not for a module on business and government in international economies. In this book, Lewis provides a damning portrait of how world organisations like the UN, World Bank, G8 and IMF don’t do enough for the AIDS crisis in Africa; how a lot of good intentions are lost in bureaucracy, how there is a lot of strategy but no execution and scale. As former Permanent Representative to the UN for Canada and UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, he pulls back the curtain on the workings and inefficiencies of the UN, and praises organisations like Doctors Without Borders for doing actual work. I thought essay 4 was the weakest in its lack of focus on the intersectionality of feminism and black women, but this book, written in 2005, still remains timeless, especially given that the world has lived through another pandemic, this time a global one. The stark difference is that it’s been 35+ years since AIDS was discovered and no vaccine has been developed yet; the Covid-19 vaccine came out in a year. Cue class discussions about pharma, neglected diseases, pricing strategies and the importance of cash flow management.

Finished this book in Tulum.

Quotes:

IFIS — the collection of International Financial Institutions dominated by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Africa Development bank and other regional development banks. The result of the IFIS’ destructive power over Africa was to compromise the social sectors, particularly the health and education sectors.

IFIS launched the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPS) were Reagonomics gone berserk. For almost 20 years, those rigid fundamentalist policies did extraordinary damage to African economies. They were driven by “conditionality”. The conditions ranged from the sale of public sector corporations, to the imposition of “cost sharing” (user fees imposed on health and education), to savage cut-backs in employment levels in the public service, mostly in the social sectors. […] Macroeconomic limits on the numbers of people (think nurses and teachers) who can be hired, financial limits placed on the amount of money that can be spent on the social sectors as a percentage of GNP. […] Curtail and decimate the public sector; enhanced at any cost, the private sector.

Both the Bank and the Fund were treating Africa as though it consisted of mature economies to whom western economic protocols would apply. The upper echelons of the bank and the fund talked the worldly language of “macroeconomic adjustment”, while Africa shredded its social sectors, and poverty intensified.

IMF simply doesn’t understand the combined ravaged of HIV/ AIDS and poverty; fails to understand that you can’t deny the hiring of health professionals in the face of an apocalypse, just because you adhere religiously to some rabid economic dialectic which says that no matter how grievous the circumstance, you can’t breach the macroeconomic environment. […] They we’re complaining bitterly about the limits imposed by the IMF on Malawi’s public sector pay levels and hiring intentions. It was surreal: here you had a country with huge human capacity problems that desperately wanted to retain its professionals in health and education, and increase their numbers, but the IMF wouldn’t allow (this sovereign government) to do so, […] because it would breach the macroeconomic straitjacket.

Camdessus is a learned and charming man, but I’ve seldom heard such an accomplished dissertation of disingenuous claptrap.

Many individual African countries were spending more money on serving the debt, both bilateral and multilateral, than spending on health or on education. […] It paid back $260 billion mostly in interest. Much of the bilateral debt had been cancelled, but the multilateral debt, that is, the debt owed to the World Bank, the IMF and the ADB, continued to plague the treasuries of African countries.

So much of today’s staggering debt was irresponsibly lent and irresponsibly borrowed would matter less if the consequences of such folly were falling on its perpetrators [African dictators]. Yet now, when the party is over and the bills are coming in, it is the poor who are being asked to pay.

This exercise in self-hypnosis; you get caught up in the sense of power and excitement and influence, and lose perspective.

Over 60% of ODA should be called “phantom aid”; the money goes to “technical assistance” (overpriced consultants), “tied aid” (purchase of goods and services from the donor country’s own firms); and to “administrative costs” (inflated overhead). The UK Department of International Development paid the Adam Smith Institute half a million pounds to “advise” the government of Tanzania aid (which they counted as “foreign aid”).

The problem [shortage of medical personnel] is grievously compounded by the practice of “poaching”, and the resulting brain drain from Africa to the outside world. There are more Malawian doctors in Manchester than in Malawi, more Zambian doctors in Birmingham than in Zambia.

[With orphans] The transfer of love and knowledge and values and experience from one generation to the next is gone, and with it goes the confidence and security and sense of place which children normally take for granted. Children, already traumatised by the death of their parents, are left reeling as they confront the void in the aftermath.

There is no master plan for children orphaned by AIDS. There are endless studies, and individual projects and frameworks. But nothing is yet taken to scale. The gap between analysis and action yawns like the proverbial chasm.

Prevention consists of far more than life skills classes, or learning modules; it consists of affirmative action for girls that undoes all the cumulative damage done over time, to their perceptions of themselves, their egos, self-confidence, sexuality.

Children must be able to turn to schools as places of learning, inclusion, stability and life-saving information about HIV/ AIDS. Orphan children need friends and teachers and attention, one meal a day that could come from a school feeding program, the sense of self-worth that education could bring, want so much to learn.

These annual speakathons gave credence to the proposition that if you talk about something for long enough, the illusion will be created that progress is being made. And I suppose there has been some progress in the world of reports, analyses, figures, tables, diagrams, and at least a thousand PowerPoint presentations, not to overlook thriving intellectual rumination, but very little progress that’s discernible in the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children on the ground.

The Poverty Reduction Strategy [..] First, give priority to satisfying the World Bank and the IMF and the donors, rather than the developing country; second, pay far too little attention to job creation and the need for increased incomes to alleviate poverty; third, depreciate the value of public investment; fourth, support privatisation of public services like water and electricity, with mixed records.

There were far too many [donor diplomats] who resented their posting to a minor African country, and glowered their way through every meeting. What’s more, a surprising number of Western diplomats had seldom ventured beyond the capitals; they lived lives off rumour informed by gossip. And they were so stubbornly opinionated, so omniscient. You have to ask yourself how the donors had the presumption to decide that they, and not the government, would determine public policy.

What we need is the country makes the decisions, designs the interventions and abolishes school fees of every kind, and UNICEF provides expert technical assistance on the one hand, and organises collective financial international response on the other.

The Japanese government, which had been resisting an increase in its annual contribution, suddenly promised to double aid to Africa in three years. Everyone recognised that Japan’s sudden change of heart was tied directly to its pursuit of a seat on the Security Council.

US policy requiring all NGO recipients of foreign aid to sign an agreement that they will not support prostitution. This ideological fiat has the effect of compromising projects involving commercial sex workers, who are obviously key to fighting the AIDS pandemic. No one promotes prostitution, but it’s counter productive to dismiss and isolate a group that’s so important in the fight against the pandemic. […] The disproportionate emphasis on abstinence was serving to diminish the importance of condoms.

Pavlovian obeisance to the United States. Apparently, criticism is permitted of the G8, Tony Blair’s Commission in Africa, the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO, the Government of South Africa, Zimbabwe, the King of Swaziland, and the UN itself, but almost never the sacrosanct “integrity” of the USA.

[Scott Pearson · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the biggest accolades often put on George W. Bush’s US presidency is addressing the AIDS pandemic in Africa. That required an international effort, and Stephen Lewis, a former Canadian ambassador and UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, details how that effort fell short on many fronts. He calls out contradictions between the aims and implementation of US policy. In so doing, he exposes how both the US and the UN become embroiled with petty details instead of focusing on the big picture of saving lives.

This book was originally given in 2005 as a series of five lectures in one of Canada’s most prestigious university lecture series. Lewis explains how the UN set eight Millennium Development Goals in 2000 to reach by 2015, but is falling woefully short. He provides a counter-narrative to the Bush administration’s stories of renewed success – something I suggest gave these lectures added notoriety in the mid-2000s.

Lewis clearly cares about the African situation. He details how the educations of children and lives of women are dramatically affected and how steps by the international community can directly impact these outcomes. He relates stories of how many families are run by grandparents because the parents have died from HIV/AIDS. Tragically, many families are run by the older children because older generations have died. This situation still plagues the continent, and human and national potentials are being limited.

Unfortunately, descriptions of this situation does not comprise the bulk of the lectures; rather, the complicated internal politics of the UN dominate Lewis’ discussion. I imagine that Lewis does not like this difficulty either and would rather talk about positive actions being done for Africa. However, this book degenerates into a case study in international dysfunction. Because I am not a part of that bureaucracy and only a general American citizen, I found some of the jostling to be difficult to follow. I imagine that in 2005, these facts were more important to bring to light, but to me, reading in 2021, this overbearing narrative simply seems petty and distracting.

To audiences involved in international humanitarian aid and in international diplomacy, this book chronicles important issues related to governmental policies about Africa. It captures some facts which make many leading international leaders of that era uncomfortable – especially the leaders of wealthy G8 economies. Neither individuals nor nations always live up to their highest portrayed ideals, and this case certainly prevails here. Sadly, millions continue to die and to remain in poverty despite the existence of some simple – but costly – solutions that could ameliorate 95% of the problem. To his credit, Lewis identified the specifics of these solutions in this book. Though I write 16 years hence, I’m not sure the situation has advanced that much further. For that reason and for the value of the human lives involved, Lewis’ lectures still deserve our consideration today.

[Nami · Rating 3 out of 5]

even though i only gave this book three stars, i still really recommend people to read it.

stephen lewis (the author) is the UN secretary general's special envoy for HIV/AIDS in africa and in this book, reflects on each millennium development goal and concludes that we will be no where near achieving these goals.

i really liked the first half, as he does a wonderful job on how unjust the situation in africa is and how we, as citizens of humanity, have the obligation to be active in addressing these injustices. and while i'm happy to see that stephen lewis, who has real-life, on-the-ground experiences in africa, is doing policy work, i just don't see how the policy changes he urges in the second half of the book will make a real impact on the lives of those living in africa. but of policy makers, i think he's one of the better ones...

[Darren Donahue · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very interesting to read this in the midst of the COVID-10 pandemic while the book references the HIV/AIDS pandemic that is still a massive problem throughout African countries.

This is an important book to read, NOT to understand the state of HIV/AIDS throughout Africa, but rather to understand how international agencies (mainly the UN) work & are often overburdened by the great wheels of bureaucracy that have resulted in major failures around the world.

As with the climate emergency now: the answers are already there. We don't need more conferences & reports; we need money & resources put in the right places now.

[Alicen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having seen Stephen Lewis speak at Hopkins back in 2006, I picked up this book then but just now got around to reading it. Lewis details his career in the UN and his opinions on how various international agencies might work better and faster to stem the tide of HIV/AIDS. Understandably the material is a bit dated, but is an interesting read for anyone interested in this field of work.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a required read for anyone who wants to make a difference in AIDS ravaged Africa. Stephen Lewis is a champion for the millions of victims of this horrible pandemic.

[Taha Tariq · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will frustrate a reader beyond belief. It does this by laying bare the UN and international process of policy creation/implementation that led to the HIV/AIDS pandemic having far more impact than necessary. The bureaucracy drips off the pages as Stephen Lewis describes what feels like diplomacy on eggshells.

This book serves as a product of its time, but the issues and challenges in it are still at large in the modern world. Stephen paints a picture in these 5 lectures of the key intersectional failures of the UN and international community in meeting the Millennium Development Goals. It’s a sobering and well captured look at how the wealthy countries shun responsibility and drown developing countries in debt and interest that directly diminish their ability to build effective social security and emergency response to a deadly pandemic.

The IMF and World Bank are presented as having the potential for enabling prosperity, but routinely putting private interests and profit at the centre of their policies in place of human wellbeing.

I particularly appreciated Stephen’s grounded approach of sharing direct stories and grounding his lectures in the humanity that international affairs requires. He also contrasts this with how the structure and “manners” of the UN directly strip that humanity from its decisions.

I can feel Stephen’s anger and frustration, but I can also feel his regret. Too often he felt like fell in line and I appreciate the recognition of that. As someone who has felt that pressure to conform in this system, I can relate to that. I can feel his guilt as I felt my own.

This book is his penance. His attempt to outline some solutions and plead his case. Although it may be in vane, I think much can be gleaned from his writing and experience. I think only when we start to address the barriers he has made clear can we progress as a society.

I feel a deep sense of despair as I write this review. I’m reading this book 20 years from its publication and I feel we are facing greater challenges than ever. It feels as though we have gotten even further from our goals, and as we face the ever increasing threat of climate change, the crisis’ in our future will not be far away, but increasingly impactful at home in the west. We need to realize that we occupy one world and are one people. We need to hold our systems to account for people’s needs instead of the wellbeing of a few wealthy.

I recommend this book because I think it is an important read. It is a compact and powerful look at the AIDS crisis and how we failed to meet the needs of people. It mixes some direct stories with broader discussions on international affairs. I learned plenty that I had never heard about in school or throughout my education. I think everyday the lessons from this book are more pertinent.

[Christina Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen Lewis’s 2005 Massey Lecture, “Race Against Time” is a highly critical overview of the UN Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), eight goals with aims to significantly improve the lives of Africans. Lewis, Canada’s former Ambassador to the UN from 1984-1988, UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa from 2001-2006, is in a unique place to comment on the state of the socio-political environment vis-a-vis the AIDS pandemic. Focusing on the MDGs and giving some historical background to the status of women and children, as well as the macroeconomic impositions of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, Lewis proposes concrete solutions towards achieving success on the MDGs and calls out Western Nations for their unwillingness to live up to their promised 0.7% of GNP financial support (about $50 billion per year in 2005, across developed nations). He points out the folly of the IMF/WB loans and conditions - pointing out the incongruency of pay-for-system fees in healthcare and education, especially in the face of a devastating AIDS pandemic. He makes more than a few suggestions that the more than $200 billion dollar debt across Africa should be forgiven in order to further meaningful development across the continent, while improving the lives of children, including the many orphaned by AIDS and of women. Access to education, to free AIDS treatment, and to steady food supplies being the needed support.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a direct and clear call to action. It is aggressive in its bluntness and not an easy read.

I wish I had read it earlier, because now that the book is 17 years old, I do not know how accurate the representation of Africa is any longer. I hope to do more research in the area. That being said, continued relevance is not something that should be asked of books like this which describe a moment in time, and in fact I am sure Stephen Lewis was hoping that the book would no longer be relevant in 5 years except as a historical record.

It was clear and well-written, however, it is not a good fit for a new or unnatural reader. There are many big words and big ideas which meant that you had to continually focus on the content. I'm sure it is a little smoother as an oral lecture.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was born in Canada and while I am proud to be American (where at least I KNOW I'M FREE), my Canadian heritage still informs my identity. But I have not read any of the Massey Lectures (with the exception of Jean Vanier's Becoming Human). So thus begins my penance.

Stephen Lewis delivered wrote these lectures in 2005. At the time he was a UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. It is now a dozen years later, and my understanding of the politics of Africa and humanitarian aid is cursory enough that I have no real ability to evaluate how much of this is dated, and how much still holds true. But it was an informative look at what was happening a decade ago with AIDs/HIV in Africa, and how the global community responded.

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

« I’ve often given messages so mixed that listeners must wonder, wherein lies the truth? But the truth is that truth inhabits both ends of the spectrum. At the level of the grand design — more money, more drugs, more prevention, more care — hope is instinctive. On the ground, where people live and die, where the grand design has yet to be felt, the pandemic is hell on earth. »

Interesting to read from a historical perspective...and from a respected Canadian diplomat - the politics and approach taken to the AIDS epidemic in Africa...the questions it raises for how we handle our current pandemic...

[Isabella Grandic · Rating 3 out of 5]

* Interesting lectures on international debt, pandemics and governments
* Great insight and must read for people interested in working at the UN / in international development
* Illustrated the slowness of governments / public health
* Built a great perspective on humanitarianism
* Ideally, you should read this with some background on colonialism / globalization; very important to understand the historical context of these events
* A bit dated, but info and lessons seem relevant.

[Christian Muller · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an excellent pull no punches discussion of how rich nations and the UN have let the African continent suffer and die in desperation and nightmare over the last 20 years (1985-2005). But it’s not all doom and gloom, Stephen Lewis shows us rays of hope and offers solutions which we only need to enact.

[Linda Galway · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Gets pretty detailed so is a little dry at times

[Sayo -bibliotequeish- · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books that deal with tough subjects can often feel daunting.
All I can say is if you are going to read any of the Massey Lectures, this one should definitely be on your list.

[Aimee Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lewis is one of a few public figures who seems built on integrity. Mixed with a passion for people who suffer innocently from poverty, his writing ought to be required for every Canadian student.

[Makayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story/message was great. The writing (in my opinion) was a bit bland.

[Chinook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Race Against Time, Stephen Lewis
"It seems to me that those of us who care about the United Nations have an ethical responsibility to point out its failings and to suggest constructive alternatives. There is a tendency to think that dissent should be contained or that self-censorship is to be applauded. I regard both sentiments as the last refuge of an intellectual wimp."

"The Bank and the Fund were fully told about their mistakes even as the mistakes were being made. It's so enraging that they refused to listen. It's so enraging that they refused to listen. They were so smug, so all-knowing, so incredibly arrogant, so wrong. They simply didn't respond to arguments which begged them to review the human consequences of their policies. The fact that poverty became increasingly entrenched, or that economies were not responding to the dogma as the dogma predicted, made no difference. It was a form of Capitalist Stalinism. The credo was everything; the people were a laboratory."

"Three years ago, former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere asked the question "Must we starve our children to pay our debts? That question has now been answered in practice. And the answer is "Yes." In those three years, hundreds of thousands of the developing world's children have given their lives to pay their countries' debts, and many millions more are still paying the interest with their malnourished minds and bodies...
The fact that so much of today's staggering debt was irresponsibly lent and irresponsibly borrowed would matter less if the consequences of such folly were falling on its perpetrators. Yet now, when the party is over and the bills are coming in, it is the poor who are being asked to pay.
Today, the heaviest burden of a decade of frenzied borrowing is falling not on the military or on those with foreign bank accounts or on those who conceived the years of waste, but on the poor who are having to do without necessities... on the women who do not have enough food to maintain their health, on the infants whose minds and bodies are not growing properly... and on the children who are being denied their only opportunity ever to go to school." Peter Adamson, UNICEF State of the World's Children, 1989

"There's just no way around the constant neglect in addressing the priorities for women. Perhaps the most recent glaring example of that truth is the report on the celebrated Commission for Africa, appointed by Prime Minister Tony Blair. I can't get over it. Let's start with the commissioners. There were seventeen in total, three of whom were women. Three, or 17 percent. Prime Minister Blair had the whole world to choose from, and he could come up with only three women... That commission was fatally flawed from the outset, simply by way of gender representation."

"It was evident to the mission that although the prevalence of HIV infection is highest among women and girls - who also take on nearly all the responsibilities of caring for the sick and orphaned, in addiction to their regular obligations such as providing food for the households - very little is being done to reduce women's risks, to protect them from sexual aggression and violence, to ease their burdens or to support their coping and caring efforts." Paula Donovan,

"We're in a desperate race against time, and we're losing. It's simply impossible to reduce poverty, hunger, gender inequality, disease, and death significantly at the present pace, and other than the contrapuntal beat of hyperactive rhetoric, the necessary acceleration is nowhere evident. Alas, man and woman cannot live by rhetoric alone."

"In 2005, the world will pass the trillion-dollar mark in the expenditure, annually, on arms. We're fighting for $50 billion annually for foreign aid for Africa: the military total outstrips human need by 20 to 1. Can someone please explain to me our contemporary balance of values?"

[Mook · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth CBC Massey Lecture book I've read and I have enjoyed all of them Without fail they are well written and really make me think about topics and ideas in ways I usually don't.

"Race Against Time" is a bit dated. Stephen Lewis published this in 2005, addressing his beliefs about how the world was failing to pull itself together in order to adequately fulfill the Millenium Development Goals. The fact that it's dated doesn't subtract anything at all - the goals were supposed to be accomplished by 2015, so putting together Lewis' predictions of failure next to the accomplishments and shortcomings made the book better for me. For anyone interested, the short fact sheet can be found here:http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/201... and the full report can be downloaded as well.

Stephen Lewis eloquently described the frustrating, bizzare, and slow moving politics and bickering that occurs behind the scenes. For someone like me, who did not know very much about how the UN worked or how things like the MDGs come into being it was a fascinating peek into a world of international interaction.

Of course, you can't talk about "Race Against Time" without mentioning Africa. Lewis has a lifetime of experience of living, working, and traveling to various African countries and is deeply invested in the wellbeing of those countries. The Sixth MDG "Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other diseases" was one he stressed as crucial. He laid out exactly why he felt it would be impossible for African countries to meet any of the other MDGs if this one was not addressed as quickly as possible. The epidemic in some African countries is so bad that it's being described as a genocide, with entire generation being lost to disease.

Lewis shared several personal narratives of people living with disease and dying with it. He stressed the need for immediate action and laid out various ways the disease could be fought. I won't lay out his arguments here; they stand better in his own words.

Lewis wrote this in 2005, 5 years after the MDGS were set out. It's been 10 years since then. How did we do? According to the fact sheet, for HIV/AIDS "new infections fell 40%" That's better than no progress but it's not what Lewis had in mind. "By June 2014 13.6 million people living with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART)" - Lewis had mentioned how incredibly difficult it was for people in less developed African countries to get access to ART but apparently those countries were doubling or more the amount of people receiving therapy, though 13 million falls short of the 15 million goal.

Other issues are harder to address - the draconian measures imposed on countries by the International Monetary Fund that restricted social services, included desperately needed health care, to unsustainable minimums; the impracticably massive debts owed by the countries; the refusal to keep promises of aid, or increase aid by wealthier countries; social unrest etc.

Obviously, as Africa is a massive continent with hundreds of countries and billions of people, Lewis focused on the people he felt needed the most help: those too sick to work, to afford medical care, to afford education for their children. And it's for those people that he tried to stir up awareness and action with "Race Against Time." It's an excellent read.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen Lewis, former Canadian ambassador to the UN and head of the Stephen Lewis Foundation which fights AIDS in Africa, writes 5 lectures as part of the CBC Massey Hall Lecture Series.

It provides an insider's perspective into the machinations of the UN and how its so bogged down with bureaucracy, politics, and self congratulatory back-patting that it often fails to meet its own objectives.

Published in 2005, much of his critique it directed at the UNs Millennium Development goals for Africa which aimed reduce poverty, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality, etc, by 2015. But by 2005, it looked like they had already failed.

Lewis is clearly pissed off. He is very passionate about Africa and it is very interesting to hear him talk about visiting Africa in the 60s when it still wasn't a rich place but it was culturally vibrant and the people were happy and optimistic. It wasn't until the 80s and 90s that AIDS got out of hand and eviscerated a whole generation of people.

It's not a long book, and the five lectures help break it up. I'd recommend it to anyone who wonders what the heck is going on over there and why is it so hard to fix?

PS. I bought this a Value Village. In my copy was a photograph taken in 1998. In it are three white women standing in an African classroom full of kids. All the kids are wearing paper masks they clearly made and everyone looks pretty happy. Yeah, there are Africans on the cover but I found the amateur photograph - taken by a non-professional - to be more compelling. It certainly looked at the photo differently before and after reading the book.

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed to find that this book was more focused on UN politicking than Africa. Not that the UN doesn't need the critique, but reading about its problems 6+ years after the fact (I really should have picked this up when it first came out), and in every chapter, just wasn't that compelling for me.

I was also bothered that Lewis seemed to be cutting the exact same circuit through Africa that every other diplomat/aid giver/politician does. He visits schools and communities where locals sing and dance for him and then tell him their most pressing need is for coffins or something equally bleak. Such joie-de-vivre, contrasted against such misery! If they had a nickel for each book by a Westerner that contains a similar story, designed to tug at the heartstrings of readers back home... well, no one would need foreign aid. I'm really longing for more authors to go to Africa and come back with a story, any story, that isn't cut from that mold.

Anyway, I put the book down after reading 3 of the 5 lectures contained within, and decided, with exams coming up, to just return it to the library lest it linger even longer. If Stephen Lewis ever releases another book, I'll probably pick it up.

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an amazing read on so many levels. Stephen Lewis is a humanitarian who has dedicated his life to the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic and for advocating for the most vulnerable members of the humanrace in the most challenging nations on the planet. To say he is inpirational is a gross understatement -- he rocks you to the core with his passion and resolve and unfledging commitment to this cause. He is the voice of outrage at our inaction to solve what he believes are solvable problems facing humankind. He is master of the English language and for those of us who have a love affair with words and language, his are delicious. He provokes thought; he throws down the gauntlet and he reminds us what it means to be a loving, caring, compassion member of the tribe that is the human race. If you enjoy non fiction and you have an interest in the world around you, you will enjoy this collection of lectures from a great Canadian - and a personal hero of mine.

[Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

- Lewis is the United Nations' Secretary-General's Special Envoy for H.I.V./A.I.D.S. in Africa. He has served as the Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations, as special advisor on the continent of Africa to the U.N. Secretary General; and as deputy executive director of U.N.I.C.E.F..
- In 2003 he was listed by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and chosen by McLeans Magazine as Canadian Of The Year for 2003.
- this is the published version of his five Massey Lecture Series
- "I have spent the last four years watching people die!"
- a world-renowned diplomat and humanitarian, Lewis is determined to bear witness to the international community's failure to adequately assist the plight of 10's of millions of Africans.
- along with the brilliant insights that only an 'insider' (of the 'system') can see, he mixes scathing criticisms with attainable solutions

[Ryan]

Stephen Lewis is one amazing person & makes me proud to be Canadian. I think we WILL see drastic change (for the better) in years to come from the international community, with respect to treatment of AIDS in Africa. The other issues like malnutrition and inaccess to primary education and how it all ties together with AIDS is also presented really well. More than anything though, this book was written with such overwhelming passion that it's hard to not want to see what more each of us as individuals can do to to help.



He also has some massive vocabulary which reminded me of the time I tried to read Lord of the Rings when I was 11 or 12. Keep a dictionary handy if you want to get the most out of this book. But if you don't, you can still get through it reasonably well.

[Wendy Caron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the Massey Lectures given by Stephen Lewis in written form. I admire Stephen Lewis very much as an orator and humanitarian. I couldn't escape his voice and articulation while reading which made the read enjoyable. I was prompted to read this book because I wanted to learn more about the Millennium Development Goals I had heard so much about and Lewis' perspective was an added bonus. However, I made the mistake of reading this book 7 years too late; written in 2005 the information is woefully out of date and circumstances changed - perhaps for the worse. I now need to find out the current state of affairs with respect to the MDGs from as reliable and credible source as Lewis. Perhaps he has written an update...the search is on.