Unmasking Global Aid: Inequity and Development Challenges

The author, through the composition of the image, tries to convey the different standards of living and the inequity and inequality that exists in the world, where the rich are at the top and the poor are below the social stratum. The water container represents the aid that rich countries seek to give to achieve global development in the form of humanitarian aid, but in reality, of all that can be allocated, they receive a very tiny part. It shows the continuing practice of rich countries turning their backs on the poor and the inefficiency of development aid destined to these countries. Additionally, we can see the gap in living conditions between the different realities.

What is important is that this message is widely spread nowadays, and there are increasing controls on institutions and governments to make sure the expected aid arrives to those who are actually in need. The problem here is that around 70% of official development aid is channeled through bilateral cooperation which, apart from solidarity and altruism, also entails hidden political or economic interests that lead to inadequate motivations of the donors towards the recipients. For example, it is seen as tied aid that involves the commitment of the recipient country to use the funds raised to purchase goods from the lending nation. That’s why the Pearson Report recommended to limit, institutionalize, and make a difference between development aid and short-term political aid, in order to avoid the politicization of aid.

Further Challenges in Development Cooperation

• The content of aid
• The effectiveness of the systems

I think both are correlated, and in the end, what remains is poverty and inequality without any progress. To give an example, if instead of allocating water and food (which is fine considering the level of need and basic needs coverage at the moment), technical and knowledge aid should be provided to teach how to build wells or other systems, in the long term, it would generate an environment for the development of the recipients’ capacities. However, for these systems to work, it is necessary to join efforts to build a strong political institutions network to avoid corruption, instabilities, and inequalities. As Deaton says, the aid that the rich provide to poor countries can actually corrupt governments and even slow down the growth of their economy and the progress of society, which is indeed true.

This vision reinforces the existence of the dark side of aid, where (as we can infer from the picture) the lack of transparency, corruption motives, and inadequate distribution of aid, as well as the lack of long-term strategies and maintenance of development projects, fail to provide hope for the development of these countries.

Conclusion: Key Aspects for Effective Aid

Two main aspects should be highlighted:

• The need for strong mechanisms in charge of the correct distribution of aid.
• Including the point of view of recipients in the process of development.

In my opinion, more than a compassionate vision of the West, developing countries need their insertion in the world economy, new development strategies, the protection of their democracies and economies in crisis through international cooperation, as well as the full respect of their autonomy and potential.