Comments on: The (Sometimes) Futility of Good Intentions

By: Phil Whittall

Phil Whittall — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:55:29 +0000

Sorry meant to post this link http://www.givingwhatwecan.org/resources/myths-about-aid.php#2

By: Phil Whittall

Phil Whittall — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:54:32 +0000

I’ve been thinking about this one for a while and I’m not sure it all stacks up. So for example $2.3 trillion dollars has been given in aid over the past 50 years. In 2001 Donald Rumsfeld, announced that the Defense Department was so bad at keeping track of its funds that there were $2.3 trillion that it could not account for! But more than that take Africa, the subject of the book about $570 billion went to Africa, which over 50 years amounts to $29 per person per year. So what we’re upset about is why $30 a year hasn’t managed to lift an African out of poverty?

So I’m not sure Kevin your take home point “If just giving Africa more stuff were the answer, the problem would have been fixed decades ago.” is right or fair. I’m all for more targeted aid and more effective delivery of that aid, but I’m not sure throwing big numbers over long periods of tie around helps very much.

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:24:34 +0000

Taking away aid is not “abandoning Africa”. In fact, the latter phrase has some undertones in it that could be interpreted as offensive. Kenya has some amazing medical clinics that started through private money (i.e. samaritans), but all would agree they need better infrastructure to maintain them. If aid money dropped completely, would the medical clinics shut down? If so, what does that say about the whole situation?

Good comments from Coty and Dave. keep up the discussion…

By: Kyle Fox

Kyle Fox — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:09:49 +0000

I first was turned on to this thought a few weeks ago by this talk from TED

http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_mwenda_takes_a_new_look_at_africa.html

By: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa | DanielSpratlin.com

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:43:45 +0000

[...] DeYoung summarizes Dambisa Moyo’s book, Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for [...]

By: Paul Hunter

Paul Hunter — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:51:27 +0000

Moyo is bang on. My wife and I live and work in Jinja, Uganda and can verify first hand that what she says is true. There is little to show for the billions of dollars that have been dropped on governments, churches, and ministries. A similar book, WHEN HELPING HURTS, asserts that instead of making a focus on relief, a concerted effort on rehabilitation and development will much better rebuild and restore broken nations. A focus on relationships, and not agencies, events, and institutions, will help, one by one, decrease viral corruption and begin to see the Kingdom of God established in the marketplace and church.

By: Paul B.

Paul B. — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:46:15 +0000

I would cite the critical differentiation between government and private aid. Government aid, under force of law, quickly becomes an entitlement, all the more so with the humanistic governments we have now, which are congenitally unable to discriminate between those deserving aid and those not. The Church and individuals, however, have the ability – when the government lets them – to demand accountability for what amounts to their investments in people.

All this money, all these trendy, heady appeals for aid, and what do we have for it. Help has to happen on an intimate basis so that there can be (beneficial) discrimination and accountability, or else corruption, inefficiency and ineffectiveness will quickly arise.

By: Chasburge

Chasburge — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:56:16 +0000

Well said.

Passion an good intentions are not replacements for background & experience in any area, but especially overseas aid.

Development is key.

By: Coty Pinckney

Coty Pinckney — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:03:45 +0000

Think of it this way: A truly helpful intervention for the poor should raise the rates of return to investment in assets held by the poor. And remember that the primary asset for most of the poor is their labor. An intervention that does not raise such rates of return will have no long term positive effect, and may well do harm.

When considering how to respond to the ideas in Moyo’s book as an individual or church, Fikkert and Corbett’s recent book, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting The Poor – and Yourself, is exceptionally helpful – it is by far the best book written on the subject. Here’s a brief review: http://tinyurl.com/yg47zuw.

By: African Aid « Interstitial

African Aid « Interstitial — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:54:25 +0000

[...] Posted on November 13, 2009 by bkingr Keving DeYoung takes a look at Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way for Africa by [...]