The Aid Debate

On the way back from Fort Portal this weekend (more about that later!), I borrowed a newspaper from a fellow passenger and read this article by Dr. Ian Clark, The Aid Debate. It was an interesting article to be reading and made me think about several things.

Definitely read through, but the summary in a sentence: Aid by foreign governemts to Uganda is having little effect on the daily lives of the people.

I was interested that Americans were mentioned as primarily giving aid through their own organizations. Yes, it's more difficult, but real benefits can be measured.

"Donors put money in at the top, in the hope that the ministry will deliver results out the bottom, but sometimes all that can be measured are more four-wheel drive vehicles in the car park."

The article encourages the use of results and measurements in order to determine whether to give more aid.

Here in Uganda I've met with both the Ministry of Health (mentioned in the article) and smaller NGOs and I'm glad to see support for my decision to pursue the NGOs as a better option for donations. In addition to cutting the bureaucracy, it's more transparent and more possible to trace the money flow.

I also remember some outrage about the US cutting aid to Africa. Let me propose a different solution: instead of our government donating to the Africa governments, have that funding be donated to the local grassroots non-profits.

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Extra credit: Desist from Racist Tendencies by Deo Kabwende

A very interesting article to read from the Uganda standpoint. While I do sympathize with the woman somewhat because she may have genuinely been concerned that she was a muzungu being ripped off (probably wasn't the first time), her behavior didn't help the situation in the slightest and displayed racist tendencies that could have easily been avoided.