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Alexander Sanchez

Professor Moore

English 1301

21 March 2017

Aid Turned Hindrance

It is evident that there is a common belief among people today to help those in need.

There is a myriad of organizations that any citizen in the United States can donate to, and there

are even companies that vow to donate a pair of shoes or clothing to a poor kid in another

country when a customer buys that same item. On top of that, the U.S. government devotes a

percentage of its federal budget to provide relief and aid to developing countries or countries

facing a crisis, whether it be caused by war, economic recession, or a natural disaster. With so

many organizations, both governmental and non-governmental (NGO), and ordinary people

contributing to the effort of bringing nations out of crisis or poverty, it would make sense that

they make their way to development or stability eventually. What NGOs, government agencies,

and good hearted citizens fail to see, or even discuss, are the negative effects that their

intervention has on its recipients. Effects such as local people making a living off selling basic

necessities such as food or clothing are put out of business, oppressive leaders remain in power,

and newer generations become dependent on donations. Since donors are so oblivious to these

effects, organizations continue to provide help to countries even when it is no longer beneficial

to the recipients. NGOs are able to stay in countries even longer than other federally budgeted or

less funded church organizations because all of their funding comes from donations. The

continuous and unorganized donations and aid by donor entities create dependency on foreign
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aid, help oppressive leaders remain in power, and encourage non-governmental organizations to

continue their disastrous work.

Continuous donations and foreign aid contributes to economic stagnation by creating a

dependency on foreign aid. By providing countries with money or cheap or free food and

clothing, the people become more dependent on it. After a few years of this pattern, people will

completely abandon local products putting local businesses and farmers out of work, which also

reduces the cash flow within that country. Should the aid ever stop coming in, there will be great

demand for the products that were being given to them, such as food and clothes, but since the

outside products put the local products out of business, there will be no one to supply them. For

instance, after the Haiti earthquake in 2010, the whole world came together to provide relief. As

of 2015, 80% of Haitis dependency on grain stocks comes from cheap U.S. imports (Stanford).

Local farmers quit producing rice and the agricultural sector of Haiti became stagnant. The

negative effects of monetary aid are arguably even more detrimental to the development of

countries. One reporter best describes it Unlike loans, which need to be paid back, aid does not

have any requirement for being repaid and thus is far less likely to be utilized efficiently

(Tirmizi). The troubled nations governments receive money and do not spend it wisely and as a

result, the country will continue to need money, donors will continue to supply it, and soon the

recipients will not be able to sustain themselves without these donations. Because of repeated

donations, recipient countries become dependent on aid and make no progress in development.

Foreign aid is also responsible for keeping some tyrant, oppressive, or inept leaders in

power by giving them money. Since aid coming from federal budgets is given directly to

recipient governments for distribution, there is no way of ensuring proper use of aid. James

Peron describes in The Sorry Record of Foreign Aid in Africa how one of Ethiopias past
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communist military leaders received relief funds which he withheld from areas where his

opponents lived in order to starve them (Peron). Leaders can use relief money to maintain

political power, and not a single penny will be spent on the welfare of citizens. Money is also

used to feed and build the militaries that these dictators used to establish and maintain power.

Another way leaders use money to stay in power is by simply keeping the money for themselves.

Since there is no way for impoverished citizens to revolt or compete against rich leaders,

leadership is passed down to sons who will do the same thing with their sons. These sons will

continue the cycle of letting their people live in horrible conditions while they live luxuriously

off another governments money. In the end, the citizens who were supposed to be helped by the

relief money are instead left in poverty while their leaders use the money to maintain political

power and live comfortably.

In most cases, non-government organizations overstay their welcome and become so

entangled in a countrys domestic affairs that they begin to hinder development or relief. In the

wake of the Haiti disaster, NGOs flooded the country and until today have not left. Haiti today

has the most NGOs per capita in the world. This is a major issue when unelected NGOs provide

80% of the countrys services (Edmonds). Because they are unelected and are funded by people

out of the country, there is no way for the people of Haiti to vote for changes in services or even

changes in leadership. These organizations are in charge of rebuilding Haiti, yet are not held

accountable by any citizens, but instead by whoever is funding them. The claims that the strategy

of giving money and free stuff to countries to get them out of poverty is ineffective is supported

by empirical evidence, such as the situation in Haiti. There were about 10,000 NGOs in Haiti

before the 2010 earthquake, and with the amount still lingering around today, the state of Haiti

has not changed (Edmonds). Instead the Haitian government is powerless, the shanty towns (also
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built and designed by NGOs) that housed thousands of people and were built on the fault line

still lay in ruin, businesses still cannot compete with free or subsidized products being dumped

into the country, and the NGOs in charge of fixing all these things show no signs of changing

policy or strategy. Former Haiti President Michel Martelly voiced the frustrations of all Haitians

when he questioned where all the money given to Haiti went and asked for a better system that

yields results (Lockhart). Evidently, NGOs damage the development of countries when they

begin to help more than what is needed.

Although wanting to help comes with good intentions, generosity without organization or

careful planning can become detrimental to the cause. This is the case when it comes to the

plethora of aid that is provided to countries in poverty or crisis. Instead of boosting a country into

development and stability, foreign aid often creates a nation plagued with issues that are dealt

with by people who are not affected by the countrys conditions. As a result, people get stuck in a

cycle of need and momentary relief because of the uncoordinated and myopic efforts to help

them. These countries will remain in instability and turmoil, and their people in distress, unless

an improvement in foreign aid that ensures efficiency and progress is made.

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Works Cited

Edmonds, Kevin. "NGOs and the Business of Poverty in Haiti." NACLA.

http://nacla.org/news/ngos-and-business-poverty-haiti. Accessed 1 April 2017.

Lockhart, Clare. "Fixing US Foreign Assistance." World Affairs, vol. 176, no. 5, Jan/Feb2014, p.

84. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=f5h&AN=93548317&site=ehost-live.Accessed 5 March 2017.

Peron, James. "The Sorry Record of Foreign Aid in Africa | James Peron." FEE. Foundation for

Economic Education, 01 Aug. 2001. https://fee.org/articles/the-sorry-record-of-foreign-

aid-in-africa/. Accessed 26 March 2017.

Stanford, Victoria. "Aid Dependency: The Damage of Donation." This Week in Global Health.

31 July 2015. https://www.twigh.org/twigh-blog-archives/2015/7/31/aid-dependency-the-

damage-of-donation. Accessed 21 March 2017.

Lockhart, Clare. "Fixing US Foreign Assistance." World Affairs, vol. 176, no. 5, Jan/Feb2014, p.

84. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=f5h&AN=93548317&site=ehost-live.Accessed 5 March 2017.

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