There’s a big argument taking place over whether in these straitened times we should be continuing to fund foreign aid programmes. It’s quite right to have this debate – taxpayers’ money should be spent only if this is achieving good results.
Results show that between 2011 and 2015, Britain helped vaccinate 67 million children, saving at least 1.2 million lives from diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhea. Such financial help doesn’t benefit just the countries that receive that aid: money spent on international development is an investment in own security. If the poverty abroad is not tackled, consequences are to come: mass migration, epidemics, climate change and pollution. None of these respects national borders.
The debate shouldn’t be whether money is spent on aid: it should be how that money are spent. The answer is to shift the focus to address the failure of states to govern effectively, which is increasingly responsible for the suffering we see around the world. It used to be said that geography is destiny. It’s not. More than climate, culture or history, it is the strength of a country’s political systems that determines whether its people live in poverty. As it has been put before, bad governance is the main reason poor countries are poor. Governance is destiny.
There are so many countries where the governments lack legitimacy or authority, and where corruption, conflict and violence are rife. These governments are frequently unable to provide the most basic services, such as healthcare, education, security or infrastructure. The building blocks of democracy, such as a fair judiciary and the rule of law, are often completely absent. Crucially, there is no prospect of the creation of an effective private sector – and, with it, jobs. These are, in the development lingo, “fragile states”.
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’ve seen the effects at first hand, from Sudan to Afghanistan: gilded presidential palaces next to slums; people seeking justice from extremist organisations because there is no rule of law. As prime minister, I made sure that half Britain’s aid spending went to the most fragile states. With our presidency of the G8, we put tackling corruption at the top of the international agenda, as well as three of its cures: more transparency, fairer taxes and better trade. Today, state failure is increasing – and nearly half the world’s poor people will soon live in fragile states and regions.
One crucial question is how to enable the private sector to play its role. It is not just big companies but small and medium enterprises that are the bedrock of successful economies and vibrant societies. Another is how to help governments create a tax base so they can pay for their own development. With some fragile states raising only 12% of their GDP from tax revenue, there is much to do.
From defeating fascism and communism to spending 0.7% of our national income on aid – the only major economy to do so – Britain has always led the way when it comes to making this a safer, fairer, more prosperous world. Maximising every aspect of our soft power is even more essential in a post-Brexit world. And keeping our promises on aid makes us uniquely well placed to argue for a new approach. This new commission is determined to play its part.
Source: The Guardian. Read full article.
2 March, 2017
