Sir, I cannot pretend to know the motivations for the Conservative Party’s commitment of 0.7 per cent of GDP to aid, but I do know that Western aid has worked to reduce poverty (leading article , Jan 13).
Aid is not sufficient for development, and often it is not necessary. But it can be very effective in saving and transforming lives in ways that cannot be captured in ropey cross-country econometrics.
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Our knowledge of aid effectiveness has come a long way since Peter Bauer (whom you cite) was writing in the 1970s. Roger Riddell’s comprehensive review from 2007 cites many examples of success. But there are many failures, too.
Why anyone finds this surprising when one-in-two new UK businesses fails within the first
two years is the real surprise. Western aid will be challenged by Chinese and Indian aid given to African governments — many of which, by the way, are no more corrupt than their Western donors. This new competition of ideas around what aid is used for, how it is administered and who defines success has the potential to accelerate development.
With the right kind of systematic evidence-based evaluations of aid, we will all be able to determine whether 0.7 per cent is too high, or too low.
Professor Lawrence Haddad
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Director
Institute of Development Studies