Trumped-Up Aid and the Challenge of Global Poverty

The number of extremely poor people in the world has reduced over the last decades but this not because of international aid. In some cases, aid has made matters worse. Even in the case of disasters, aid agencies get the attention of the media but the real work is usually done by local people and national governments. Aid agencies exaggerate their successes because aid is a fiercely competitive business. The agencies have become dependent on money from their governments and at the same time their governments have become more focused on 'global security' and trade rather than poverty. Aid provides a convenient 'slush fund' for governments. The aid agencies never criticize them and they get praise from celebrities. But closer analysis reveals that aid has not done much to address extreme poverty and aid agencies do not always tell the truth.

Tony Vaux has spent over forty years working for aid organizations including Oxfam, UN organizations and the UK aid department. He draws on personal experience and unpublished reports to argue that aid has had its day and should now be replaced by something more like a global welfare state, assuring a minimum income for the poorest people.

Although aid agencies are likely to resist such a call, the global order is changing. President Trump's retreat into American isolation may be useful if it allows space for the governments of poorer countries to take responsibility for the next steps in eradicating extreme poverty.

But international intervention may still be needed in the extreme cases of irresponsible governments, such as Syria and South Sudan. Western people may need to show more willingness to take risks in these extreme situations.