(July 5) Writing in The National, Tom Hussain reports that international aid flowing into Pakistan is being abused, as the country suffers from extreme nepotism within its government and non-government organizations.
Foreign aid in Afghanistan: what goes in must come out
(July 2) Brady Yauch writes that Afghanistan is, once again, facing allegations of corruption.
UK to inquire into misuse of India education aid
(June 14, 2010) Britain has launched an inquiry into reports that millions of pounds of aid for education and the ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’, has disappeared into the depths of corruption without any benefit to the poor children the aid was intended for.
Mozambique typifies aid dilemma
(June 1, 2010) Questions about the effectiveness of aid have given rise to a lively debate. Conventional wisdom holds that it is still essential if Africa is to have any chance of reducing poverty. But some development economists dissent from this view, arguing that aid fosters dependency, encourages corruption and undermines the ability of Africans to manage their own economies.
The EU agrees: No representation without taxation
(April 27, 2010) Replacing foreign aid with tax revenues will promote a democratic society where political and economic leaders can be held accountable by their citizens. Not only should there be no taxation without representation, there will be no representation without taxation.
‘Quiet corruption’?: The World Bank on Africa
(April 15, 2010) The ‘Africa Development Indicators 2010’ report on ‘quiet corruption’ is one more example of the World Bank’s distractive politics. Distractive because it seeks, wittingly or unwittingly, to sidetrack issues that are fundamental to understanding the continuing poverty and underdevelopment of Africa. Distractive also because it seeks, probably consciously and purposely, to exonerate the World Bank from its own role in perpetuating Africa’s mal-development.
How U.S. policy affects other countries’ tax rates
(April 7, 2010) According to Probe International, an independent advocacy group, foreign aid provides financially unsound countries with a crutch – and gives little incentive for reform as long as free money is flowing in from other parts of the world.
Corruption biting the hand that feeds: food aid industry facing tough questions
(April 5, 2010) The food aid industry is facing a number of scandals and criticisms that are providing fresh evidence that not only does food aid hurt Third World farmers, it is also a revenue source for corrupt politicians and terrorists.
Moyo: international aid to Africa spurs corruption
(April 2, 2010) Billions of dollars in international financial aid do more harm than good on the African continent, economist and best-selling author Dambisa Moyo said in a lecture to students on Thursday. In the lecture, held in Filene Auditorium, Moyo argued that continued financial aid to African nations allows political leaders to ignore their responsibilities to the population in favor of appeals to potential donors.
Foreign aid and Salvadoran corruption
(March 7, 2010) In the midst of the financial turmoil that rocked the international capital markets last year, the World Bank proudly announced a new $250 million "assistance package" for this country. A few months later a scandal erupted over why a similar amount of money was never accounted for on the government’s books.
Rebuilding Haiti depends on redeveloping Haiti’s government
(March 31, 2010) Yet if there is to be any hope of breaking the cycle of aid dependency that has haunted the impoverished nation, building up Haiti’s government to the point where it can manage its own affairs is critical. Unless that succeeds, de facto trusteeship, perhaps even direct responsibility for the country, could last for years.
How best to help Haiti
(March 31, 2010) All past international efforts to turn Haiti into a functioning democracy have failed. There are better ways forward.
Tackling corruption in Haiti is possible. Here’s how
(March 30, 2010) Haiti and its donors need to face up to bad governance and failed aid. They need to develop a strategy against corruption. This means more than controls and audits, more than training and technical assistance, needed though they are. We must ask how the design and implementation of Haiti’s reconstruction and development strategy might address what public administration experts Derick Brinkerhoff and Carmen Halpern called the sanctioned plunder that was and remains the core of Haitian politics.
The NS Interview: Dambisa Moyo, economist
(March 5, 2010) Interview with Dambisa Moyo from The New Statesman.com.
Foreign aid takes another blow–this time in Australia
(March 3, 2010) Criticism of the high salaries being offered to contractors working with AusAID, Austrialia’s national aid agency, is the latest example of the increased scrutiny facing aid agencies around the world. The criticism comes after a recent audit showed that a number of aid workers are earning more money than the country’s Prime Minister. And they’re doing so tax-free.
Patricia Adams
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Mu Lan
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