TabGroup Probe International works to hold both Canadian and international aid agencies, export credit agencies to account for the environmental, social, and economic harm they cause in developing countries. While Probe believes that public support for foreign aid begins with honorable intentions, its inevitable effect is destructive. More than five decades of state to state aid has given Third World governments financial freedom from their own citizens, thereby undermining political accountability and institutions in those countries.
By bankrolling unaccountable governments against their own people, agencies such as the Canadian International Development Agency and the World Bank have caused environmental havoc, financial ruin and social harm throughout the Third World. Despite "pro-poor" and "pro-environment" rhetoric, such agencies have financed hydro projects, hazardous mining operations, as well as road-building and forestry schemes that have led to widespread environmental damage and impoverished communities. Through it all, these institutions have shown a blatant disregard for the democratic rights of the citizenry and property rights of the people most affected by the projects they finance.
In the pages that follow, we lay out the evidence of 60 years of failed aid.
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If an identical earthquake struck two different countries of the same economic standing, but of a different political makeup, would the results be the same? And if one country was founded on a democracy, while the other was led by an autocrat, who would be worse off? Two professors, writing in Foreign Affairs, provide a convincing argument that citizens living under a democratically-run government would be much better off than those living under the rule of an autocrat. read more »
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As deadly floods continue to disrupt the lives of Pakistan's hapless flood-afflicted millions, the county’s government is defending itself from allegations that during the last humanitarian crisis—the Kashmir earthquake in 2005—corrupt officials diverted hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid to other unidentified government expenditures. Donors are now thinking twice about handing over millions more to a country where, says one critic, the “weakness of the state has reached extraordinary levels.” read more »
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The Chinese government is quickly learning how to milk the foreign aid game. In a recent report, China—despite holding on to more than $2.4-trillion of foreign reserves and, itself, giving billions of dollars in aid to less developed countries—has received $1-billion in aid money from the Global Fund, with the World Bank as its trustee, to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, making it the fourth largest recipient of the aid program, and putting it ahead of traditional aid favourites such as Ethiopia, India and Tanzania for the program’s grants. read more »
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Although it proudly lays claim as the second oldest republic in the Hemisphere, and the only nation whose slave population defeated a colonial power to become free,Haiti is, and has been, among the worst governed and most undemocratic states. Few places in the world, and no places in the Western Hemisphere, are poorer than Haiti.This paper2 explains why, after consuming billions in foreign aid over three decades, and hundreds of millions specifically for governance and democratization programs, not to mention billions for other programs, Haiti remains politically dysfunctional and impoverished. read more »
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All spin and no substance: Bill C-31 is a devious bill drafted to convince the public that EDC is doing something to protect the environment while, in fact, EDC is frustrating efforts to stop its environmentally-damaging activities. read more »
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In clear, uncompromising language the book explains where progress went wrong and the remedies needed to prevent foreign aid from doing more of the same in the future. read more »
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As calls for a “Marshall Plan for Haiti” continue to make headlines, an increasing number of reports are beginning to ask: is aid the answer? A recent report from PBS interviews a number of aid supporters and critics, asking them if a massive aid program to Haiti is the best option. read more »
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For Haiti, just about every conceivable aid scheme beyond immediate humanitarian relief will lead to more poverty, more corruption and less institutional capacity, says Bret Stephens, writing in the Wall Street Journal. After the immediate impact of the earthquake has passed, and the immediate relief efforts subside, “the arrival of the soldiers of do-goodness, each with his brilliant plan to save Haitians from themselves” will take root. read more »
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Dambisa Moyo, economist and author of "Dead Aid", discussing problems of foreign aid to the developing world. Moyo believes that pouring more aid into the coffers of African governments will do nothing to promote healthy economic growth. Instead, she calls for an opening of global trade, lower tariffs and a functioning tax system. read more »
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