#5 An Assault on Innocence: The Third World and Faux Aids

"Dependency arguments often come from elites - either aid agencies or governments - and say something about attitudes to poor people."-Paul Harvey

"A country that relies on aid? Death is better than that. It stops you from achieving your potential, just as colonialism did." -Imran Khan

"By pouring money and goods into devastated regions, foreign aid workers sometimes compound the disruption and debauch the survivors." -James Buchanan

Foreign, Aids?

PRIOR TO my true understanding of foreign aid, I was one of the many people who was used to be amazed with the kindheartedness of these many great nations. Before I thought, that they are helping poor countries genuinely for the sake of true development. It was later on when I realized that Foreign Aid (or Development Aid for that matter) is actually like the creations of foundations by very big companies - they do it for the sake of tax credits while looking good in the eyes of their customers.

My fifth blog entry focuses not on the numerical contributions of foreign and development aid to poor countries but rather the nature of it. I am not privy to the reality and exchange behind a granting of aid. I once thought that it is genuinely for the sake of helping the need. Now, I have come across the trade-offs, the off-the-table deals and also, the payback. 

What is Aid?

Basically, there are two types of aid (in light of International Relations). The first is Humanitarian Aid. When we speak of humanitarian aid (or emergency aid), we refer to the "rapid assistance given to people in immediate distress by individuals, organizations, or governments to relieve suffering, during and after man-made emergencies (like wars) and natural disasters". It is often thought that humanitarian aids are for natural calamities and conflicts only but rather, it can also include poverty reduction measures. The second type of aid is development aid. Development aid refers to aid "given by developed countries to support development in general which can be economic development or social development in developing countries." There are many sub-types of aids. However, these two are the most dominant.
 

The Less-than-ideal trick of the trade

When it comes to trade-offs, everything else becomes less ideal. Usually, economically and politically powerful countries (and their dummy international agencies) use aid in order to elicit compliance and forge alliances. There are others, like the World Bank, which require institutional alterations based on their pre-set standard that must be adhered upon. Now we know, the Neoliberalism [Approach] did not elicit much of the development hoped by the WB. And this is but one of the many dangers of the trade. And this is one of the many clandestine workings of an aid.

The Malabon Flooding Problem

For a much concrete example, I will be talking about JICA OR Japan International Cooperation Agency (独立行政法人国際協力機構 dokuritsu gyōseihōjin kokusai kyōryoku kikō). JICA has been one of the many governmental agencies that aid the Philippines - it had helped various local communities and even in Mindanao, they were able to erect school buildings in far flung areas. This may appear ideal and good at first glance but let us take the discussion at a much deeper level by using our local community of Malabon as case study. During one of my major classes in political science (POLITEC or Political Economy), my partner (Rowen Macapagal) and I investigated the failure of the Malabon Megaflood Control Project. As we all know, Malabon is one of the flooding capital of the Philippines aside from Marikina. JICA was the agency that provided the aid for the construction of dikes that will redirect high waters from the fishing community. However, nearly a decade after the erection of the first dike, flooding still persists. What seems to be the problem? Well, there are lots. There is the problem of miscommunication among the international governmental agency, national government and local government. There is also the ever present issue of corruption which has always been the tagged-along problem when it comes to the granting of aids around the world. But the more disturbing aspects of the agreement are these: first, it is not entirely a gift but a loan with added interest coupled with the agreement that all materials to be used in the construction of the dikes will be purchased from Japan. Yes, purchase. Not one part of the agreement is free. It could be a chance for local industries to profit if only JICA allowed for the procurement of these materials locally but they didn't.
The worst part? According to our personal research, there was at least 6 months of consultation with the local government and the locals. However, JICA had other plans in mind. According to the OIC of the city engineers' office, most of the agreed terms were not followed. JICA ignored the recommendations of the local government and local residents as to how the problem should be addressed. The result? A dysfunctional and useless set of dikes that are at the brink of collapse. Now the city resorts back to its previous means of averting flood waters: by using sand bags.

There are lots but I would be focusing on less that controversial aspects of aids. I will be focusing on the question: given that there is much aid that were provided by well-off countries and their respective proxies, how come poverty alleviation measures have not developed entirely?

Well, because according to many scholars, foreign aid creates more harm than good.

1. Nothing is free. Everything needs to be paid, increasing the debt burden of those countries which could not even support itself.
2. Increase in Production Cost: "increase in the cost of project because of interest, heavy remuneration and other fringe benefits, which are given to foreign experts"
3. Dependence on Foreign Loan and Misuse of Aid: "Aid receiving countries including Pakistan do not exert and do not make policies to develop their economy with their own domestic resources. They do not pay attention for development of technology. They just become entirely dependent on others. Major portion of aid particularly commodity aid is misappropriated by the concerned Government officials"
4. Exploitation of Donor Countries: "Sometimes loan giving countries interfere in the defense and foreign affairs of Pakistan. That’s why it is said that there are always political strings attached to the bilateral loans."
5. Dependence of Imported Raw Material from Donor Country: "If donor country has assisted in establishing imported substitution industry then raw material for the industry will have to be imported from loan given country otherwise industry will not continue its production because particular raw material is not available locally. This causes heavy foreign exchange burden on economy"

The Non-existence of Genuine Help

 

Poverty, as one of the many focus of foreign aid is indeed one of the many socio-economic evils that we should mitigate. However, how could this be possible if developed countries (and their proxy institutions and organizations) continue to find ways on imposing their interest amidst the dire situation? Not unless we value the importance of genuine help, foreign aids would be as useless as the motivations behind their creation. So long as the rich and powerful refuses to let go of their self-interest, genuine development is nothing but an oblique and obscure end goal.

How poor nations cling on to this double-pointed dagger is heartbreaking. Sometimes, I ask myself: If man is indeed created good, then why do most of us continue to cling on the bad in order to amass their everlasting wants?

Indeed, it is very saddening. In a world where lots of people die every second due to poverty, hunger and thirst (among many others), we no longer need pretentious heroes, but rather a global consciousness that certain issues must be address for the equal preservation of our race. Without this, every attempt to eradicate the most posing evils of our world's societies will be futile, useless.✻



(2012, 01). Disadvantages of Foreign Aid. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 01, 2012, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Disadvantages-Of-Foreign-Aid-893612.html