The prospects are daunting. In the world of development the roles seem to be reversed, and the swift Achilles has been ahead from the start, while the tortoise continues to fall further behind.
Global wealth continues to accumulate in the North, and the gaps between the GNP of the rich and the poor countries continue to widen, in spite of 75 years of development aid.
But present and former UN staff never give up. They remain optimistic, they innovate and know how to accelerate impact.
But present and former UN staff never give up. They remain optimistic, they innovate and know how to accelerate impact.
Below is a list of suggestions. Add your comment with the proposals you favor. You may wish to add your own solutions, as we need to learn from each other.
Which of the following is necessary for developing countries to catch up with the global North?
- A tenfold increase in development aid, the bulk of which should be administered by the UN system. This could be achieved by doubling the taxes of the richest 1 per cent of the world population.
- A powerful UN Resident Coordinator, and strict compliance of all UN agencies with the instructions of the QCPR (Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review).
- Conferences and meetings with dictators to create awareness of human rights, and to inform them about the situation of their underlings.
- All of the above plus......(insert your own recommendation).
- None of the above. .... (insert your own recommendation).
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More Insights from Outside the Bubble, by Detlef Palm
Detlef can be contacted via detlefpalm55@gmail.com
None of the above - a minor shift in revenue collection by most governments of countries where we work would be a game changer - it would completely fill most of the resource gaps we whinge about. This would entail taxing the wealthy upper class and their diaspora as well as recalculating their cut of the international contracts they have to extract their natural resources. With revenue in hand - these governments would need to do to further in ensuring these resources get to their people in the form of better schools, medicine, health facilities, water supply, etc...
ReplyDeleteWhat I mean is: Not workshops, not frameworks, not private jets for the head of state, not a huge army, not huge football stadiums, not plans of actions, not task forces - plain and simple investment in the nuts and bolts that pave the way to rise out of poverty. So what would all the donors, UN and NGOs and consultants do? They could bid to provide technical advice on those services if they thought they had better ideas to offer - or the government could consult the wealth of data and examples on this and get on with it. No country ever caught up to the north by having a strong UNRC or a UN joint programme - they moved forward on their own steam, their onw determination, and did not wait for the UN or anyone.
ReplyDeleteIn a nutshell - most countries we work in - aside from some of the extreme poor - could finance and manage their own development. Obviously, us being in these places for 75 years has not done the trick. We are not taking an order of magnitude change in their budget - just concerted efforts to collect tax from their wealthy, from their natural resources, and allocating just a single digit percent to that towards social sector spending - it would completely COVER what donors put in - and without the hassled of UNICEF CDPs, UNICEF DCTs, UNICEF HACT, MOUs. etc. The aid system is broken.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone, familiar with the aid industry, really believe that more aid would help the global south develop? It is easy to make a very strong case that the trillions of dollars of aid have done just the opposite over the past 75 years. The only thing that would change things for the better would be competent, caring governance with corruption under control. This can not be imposed from the outside. By pretending anything else we are justifying our past and defending our fat pensions.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. The General Auditor for Kenya confirmed estimates that approx 1/3 of the national budget is lost to corruption.
DeleteAgreed with Thomas (you were my Rep in Iraq - i was in Dohuk - Rob Carr - WASH and was OIC as CFO for some time) -
DeleteFirst, external aid is not going to make any country better tomorrow or in ten years. Fair trade and stopping labour exploitation might help. Secondly, the powerful countries need to stop interfering in the politics of low- and mid-income countries, which are perpetrated to keep ‘their boys’ in power to keep a foothold in the region. Needless to say, all these ‘boys’ are corrupt to the core. With what is happening in the Middle East, which country still has the moral authority to preach about democracy and human rights? The ceasefire resolution in the EU parliament was vetoed by two and abstained by ten countries. There are two types of autocrats: one supported by the West including in Europe for their own vested interest and the second type are those most of whom are doing fairly good for their citizens but are hated by the West and are often the targets for a coup d’état. Let the countries find their own path.
ReplyDeleteWho are these ones doing so good that the west hate? I am not being silly - just curious.
DeleteThere is truth in this Ramesh. The logical conclusion would therefore be to start advocating for dismantling the USD 70 billion aid industry. It would be interesting to ask the 1000 or so on this blog if they would support that.
ReplyDeleteEasy to say the aid model is bad after one retires - who of us in our former jobs (or me in my last 18 months to retire) would stand up and say that to the UNICEF Executive Board or the Minister of Finance in our CO, or to the UNRC? Not many
DeleteThe Economist's "Special Report Philanthropy" January 13th-19th 2024 suggests a different tack - do away with the middlemen. That would be you, me, and all the men of the governments in Africa (they are mainly men). Imagine if the trillions of dollars in aid had gone straight into the pockets of the poorest one-third in Africa over the past 75 years. There may not have been any reunions and our children and grandchildren might have been worse off, but Africa would probably be better off.
ReplyDeletePerhaps all of the above with extra comments . The north-south divide is expanding not only with GNP but digitally. I believe the latter (technology) is the most powerful accelerator of transformation at individual and population levels. The "aid industry" including the UN system be mandated to strategize, program and invest in Technology . Another key area of programming by all entities be LMG (leadership , management and governance) which is much said but less done - the crux of development at all levels. In the UN system, LMG has been mandated to UNDP only, never understood the logic. I am afraid the divide will be exacerbated if the above are not addressed.
ReplyDeleteAnd give an example of UNDP conducting a "governance" project (and they ONLY work on project model - never on system change) where they made a difference? I worked on a joint programme with them once - we got 3 million USD for 3 UN Agencies - UNICEF , UNDP and another. UNDP wanted to keep 2.8 million for themselves. WOuld not accept we share it. We fought hard. they finaly only kept 2 m and UNICEF and other split the 1 m. With out 500k we did not hire ONE staff, we just put more funds into further outreach into poorly vaccinated areas of the country. We reached 50k more kids and cleaned up a big backlog in a small country with much disparity for one ethnic group. UNDP spent 1 million to rent a project office, including rennovation (it belong to a government person), to put in a generator and state of the art internet, to buy several project cars and this all took a year. The second year they hired a team of project staff - mostly government people who all took special leave from the ministry to join UNDP) and that took almost another year and was another 800k. with the last 200k they conducted some gender training and skills - and in their donor report they reported proudly than one ethnic minority mom had been trained in sewing and had a small loan to start up - ONE. We had reached 50k kids with vaccines. The donor clapped for them - they had a press release on it. I thought I was living on another planet as I kept asking the donor what the hell? That is UN joint programming.
DeleteAll of us knew that aid would not make any meaningful difference to any country's development, but indeed very few dared to stand up and say so. Our salaries, benefits, and pensions were too important to us - few of us could leave the aid industry and get a similar deal elsewhere.
ReplyDelete