Good Intentions Are Not Enough

Is International Aid Making Things Worse?

In an article in the Daily Star - Regional, John Holmes, the United Nations undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, wrote a "First Person" article in which he says:

"Roughly 75 percent of Gaza's 1.5 million residents require some kind of aid. But even the most essential imports are subject to intense limitations by Israeli authorities. Only food and a few other items are allowed in. Reconstruction materials and essential spare parts of all kinds are banned. An Israeli ban on exports, apart from a few lorry-loads of flowers, has exacerbated the situation by further crushing Gaza's job-creating industries"

Purchasing goods locally supports the economy

If food is being imported then I would assume that no food is available in the area. Purchasing goods locally supports the economy, while importing goods and then giving them away for free undermines local shopkeepers, factories, farmers and hurts the local economy. For more on this see my post Should the Maersk Alabama have been there in the first place?

Mosquito Nets, Condoms, and Recycling

From the Kenyan newspaper the Daily Nation:

Mosquito net manufactures are teaming up with the provincial administration and village elders in several parts of Kenya in an effort to apprehend and prosecute people who use the products for purposes other than covering beds.

According to Dr Elizabeth Juma, who is the head of malaria control under the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, there has been evidence of people turning the nets into fishing gear especially in Nyanza Province. Now a different group has discovered another lucrative business venture, and are using the nets to make wedding dresses.

Upon reading this news clip in William Easterly's blog "Aid Watch", I was reminded of condom training in the Peace Corps. The rampant AIDS problem in Thailand meant we were all trained on teaching rural Thai's to use condoms, even if we weren't health volunteers.

If aid were like McDonald's

Menus vary according to local taste and preferences

Craving beef I stopped by a McDonald's in Indonesia looking for a hamburger. I was surprised at the menu filled with fried chicken and only one hamburger choice. Both McDonald's and international aid are affected by market forces. At McDonald's local tastes of the diners affect what's on the menu. In international aid the "menu" is too often based on the taste of the donors, not the diners.

Where did all the money go?

From USA today

"Speaking about U.S. aid to Africa, Clinton told Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., that she "didn't know where a lot of it ends up." Also, she said, "we waste way too much money on contractors."

Half of the money spent on foreign aid "doesn't even end up ... serving the people it should serve," Clinton said. That makes "it really hard to make the case that our aid over decades has made the difference it should have made in the lives of the people of so many African countries."

"I think we have to start over, Mr. Chairman," Clinton said."

This situation is not unique to USAID programs, international assistance is a multi-billion dollar industry. With that much money changing hands over several countries, money can be spent be in ways that are not in the best interest of those it is meant to help.

Who deserves to receive aid?

"I wish my parents had died so I could get all this stuff too." An aid worker overheard a student say while visiting a school receiving tsunami recovery assistance. Rumors of people pulling down their own houses to claim tsunami assistance were also common. Why did this happen? Because people that were "directly affected" received far more assistance than those that were "indirectly affected".

Should aid only go to those "touched by the water"?

Directly affected usually meant that their house was damaged or destroyed or one of their parents died. Aid workers began to call this "touched by the water". However, many more people were "indirectly affected" losing their livelihood, transportation, or extended family.

Advertising images tell you a lot about an aid agency

Think about the most memorable photo in a recent advertisement from an aid agency. What emotion did that photo create? Did it inspire you to give money?

Now imagine that it is your child, sister, or parent in that photo. Would you want that picture used in an advertising campaign?

Does the photo show the aid recipient as helpless or able?

Recently I've seen several of my friends give to an aid agency that uses the picture of an emaciated African child on death's door. We've all seen the type of photo I'm talking about (in writing this article I tried to find some sample photos by typing "starving child" into google image, it came up with thousands of them, and almost all of them were from an aid agency website). Each time I see someone donate to an agency that uses this type of photo I think NO, DON'T DO IT!

Is Oxfam right?

Does an increase in the rate and severity of disasters mean that more money is needed for international disaster relief?

While it is a fact that the rate of disasters is on the rise, it has yet to be proved that increased donations from wealthy countries to international aid will improve disaster recovery.

In a recent report titled The Right to Survive: The humanitarian challenge in the twenty-first century Oxfam argues that due to the increasing rate and severity of natural disasters there is a need to increase funding for international aid to $42 billion per year. While I agree with many of the ideas in the report, I disagree that increasing donations is a good solution. At least not until fundamental changes are made to how and when that aid is provided.

Should the Maersk Alabama have been there in the first place?

My attention was caught by an article stating that the Maersk Alabama was transporting food aid to Somalia, Uganda and Kenya. I immediately wondered what food could we possibly be sending that would be worth the time and expense shipping it from the US.

What was the Maersk Alabama shipping?

"This food aid shipment from the United States contains vegetable oil, corn soy blend, wheat and dehydrated vegetables and will be distributed in Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda by USAID's implementing partners including the World Food Program and Private Voluntary Organizations."according to USAID

However the typical diet in Uganda is not wheat and corn soy blend - whatever that is - instead they eat:

"plantains, cassava, sweet potatoes, millet, sorghum, corn, beans, and groundnuts." according to Countrystudies.us.

Beggars can't be choosers, but are they really beggars...

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" and "beggars can't be choosers" are platitudes I hear when I talk about inappropriate and unhelpful aid.

Misconception #1: Aid recipients can't be choosers

Those who say beggars can't be choosers mistakenly assume that people that receive aid are begging for help and therefore any aid is helpful. The truth is that most aid recipients are not out begging for assistance, instead aid agencies have decided to provide assistance for a variety of reasons - which will be the topic of another post.

Sending sports equipment to needy children may seem like a good idea, but is it...

Sending donated items can undermine the local economy

Recently the local news featured the story of an aid group seeking donations of slightly used soccer balls and shoes to send to children in Afghanistan. Although this sounds like a great way to get involved and help out sending donated goods can actually undermine the economic recovery of the people you are trying to assist. By importing items and then giving them away for free, instead of purchasing them locally, you out compete the local shop keepers trying to sell similar goods. They, in turn, do not purchase more these items from local manufactures and farmers. If enough goods are given away for free it can bankrupt the local businesses that are struggling to survive.