Comments on: Moyo Ignites Debate with “Dead Aid”

By: Momentum Builds on the Hill for Foreign Aid Policy Reform « The World InSight

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:54:52 +0000

[...] Literacy rates have risen, anti-retroviral drugs are more readily available, and great strides have been made in the fight against polio and other preventable diseases, but poverty, inequality, starvation, and disease continue to plague the developing world. While it’s tempting to blame paltry investment in poverty-fighting development assistance for this (the U.S. lags far behind other industrialized countries in terms of percentage of GDP), developmental economists, humanitarian aid agencies and students alike have started to question the overall effectiveness of U.S. foreign aid (“Moyo Ignites Debate with ‘Dead Aid’”). [...]

By: Happy International Day of Cooperatives! July 4, 2009 « The World InSight

Happy International Day of Cooperatives! July 4, 2009 « The World InSight — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:41:14 +0000

[...] for producers. As the US and international community question the value of foreign assistance (“Moyo Ignites Debate with ‘Dead Aid”), cooperatives empower workers to help themselves rather than rely on charity. Additionally, co-ops [...]

By: ruben eberlein

ruben eberlein — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:36:42 +0000

Bitter-Sweet Chocolate: The Latest Kickshaw of Lazy Journalists

This is the stuff that many media in the West love to publish: Dead Aid, the book by Zambian academic Dambisa Moyo, advocates a stop of all development finances to Africa. The German monthly magazine Cicero for instance, in its July edition, exercises itself in prose dedicated to the beautiful, young exotic coming from the dark, wild continent in a heroic mission.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:49:58 +0000

This has turned into a fascinating debate. I, too, applaud Moyo for bringing to light some overlooked problems associated with aid in Africa. Africans are ready and eager for economic and ideological independence, but I, like Sachs, worry that swiftly withdrawing all foreign aid as Moyo has called for could do much more harm than good.

The Boston Globe published an article on Sunday (“US faces global health aid dilemma” 6/14/09) discussing some of the consequences of US aid policy, particularly under the Bush administration. It argues that the emphasis on HIV/AIDS relief was misdirected in many instances, where other development issues and more general health concerns begged attention but were neglected. This jives with some of Moyo’s arguments but suggests that reforming US foreign assistance policy, rather than wholly abandoning the idea of international aid, might provide a better solution to the problem.

Recent legislation has called on the Obama administration to draft a National Strategy for Global Development and reform the US Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The Act is old and getting older – it hasn’t been comprehensively updated since 1985. The challenges, targets, and goals of foreign assistance have changed dramatically since then, not to mention US relations with Africa. A more streamlined, coherent policy that accurately reflects the needs of today’s developing countries is of increasing importance. Foreign aid might still have something to offer Africa, if it can only be utilized in an effective manner that respects the dignity and sovereignty of African nations. Policy reform in the US is a great place to start.