An Ostrich Policy relate to the inability of governments or people to acknowledge that a real problem or danger exist. Many African governments have been accused of an Ostrich Policy concerning the AIDS pandemic, of which Thabo Mbeki's speech at the Opening Session of the 13th International AIDS Conference on July 9, 2000 in Durban, South Africa's president is probably the most notable.
According to African folklore, an ostrich prefer to close its eyes and hide its head in a bush or hole in the ground when facing danger. Since the ostrich can no longer see the danger, it believes that the danger no longer exists and that it is safe from the consequences of the danger, whilst the bulk of its body remains in the open and thus vulnerable to the original danger. An Ostrich Policy is therefore the inability to act appropriately to avert danger or the inevitable consequences thereof.
Famous quotes containing the word policy:
“Carlyle said “a lie cannot live.” It shows that he did not know how to tell them. If I had taken out a life policy on this one the premiums would have bankrupted me ages ago.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)