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“We encourage aid that helps us do without aid. But in general, the policy of assistance and aid has only disorganized us, enslaved us, and made us shirk our responsibilities.”

Source: Address to the UN General Assembly, New York, 4 October 1984

Context At the UN General Assembly, Sankara criticized the international aid system as he outlined his government's policies of self-reliance in Burkina Faso.

Portrait of Thomas Sankara
Thomas SankaraBurkina Faso · 1949–1987
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