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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Oct 26 2010 - 09:50:39 EDT
<http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/international/ethiopia-shows-the-damage-that-
aid-can-do/> Ethiopia shows the damage that aid can do
Written by Sam Bowman
Tuesday, 26 October 2010 06:00
Human Rights Watch have published a timely
<http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/10/18/ethiopia-donor-aid-supports-repressio
n> report on the use of foreign aid money by the Ethiopian government in
repressing political opposition. Last week we spoke out against this
country's mistaken aid policy, and this report shows why the need by the
West to rethink its aid policies is so urgent.
HRW have shown in chilling detail how aid money given to the Ethiopian
government has been used to coerce people into supporting the regime.
Aid-funded education programmes are turned into government ideology
reeducation camps; projects aimed at feeding the country's poor are used to
deprive the regime's opponents of food; and other aid money is channelled to
fund 'retraining' of judges and teachers. In short, Western aid money is
being used by the Ethiopian government to create a totalitarian regime.
Some supporters of aid see the debate being between generous altruists in
favour of aid on one hand, and selfish 'Little Englanders' against aid on
the other. This could not be further from the truth - the evidence shows
that government-to-government aid is harmful to the people of the developing
world. Those who care about the world's poorest owe it to them to rethink
their ideological commitment to aid.
Last week I debated this on the radio with an Oxfam representative, who
replied that there is nothing inherently wrong with giving money to a
government. Maybe not, if the government is that of Switzerland or
Luxembourg (then again, maybe there is). But there is surely something
inherently wrong with giving money to a government that rigs elections, that
jails dissidents, and that uses aid money to fund reeducation camps to
brainwash children into supporting the ruling regime.
Likewise, many deniers of the harm that aid causes claim that the challenge
is to 'fix' aid. This misses the point - the problem is that it is
impossible to do so. Aid money is fungible, so it is easy for governments to
channel into whatever they want. There is no way to 'fix' this any more than
we can 'fix' the laws of thermodynamics. What is needed is a fundamental
rethink of how we promote welfare in the developing world that recognises
the laws of economics and human nature.
Human Rights Watch's report shows just how harmful aid can be to the weakest
people in the developing world. The report underlines the human price of
pursuing a development policy that seeks quick fixes through aid, and how
important it is for us to get this question right. I hope the Department for
International Development takes the time to read it.
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