South Sudan Fuels the Aid Debate
Michael Keating | Bio | 20 May 2009
Big-time international aid researchers like Bill Easterly, Jeffrey Sachs and Paul Collier expend a lot of effort looking for case-studies to bolster their respective opinions about the efficacy of foreign aid. I recently came across this study (.pdf) from the York University Centre for Refugee Studies, which raises some questions about the international community's effect on one of its clients -- in this case the capital of the autonomous region of South Sudan, Juba:
Anyone spending time in post-conflict environments will recognize the symptoms. The question is whether despite these glaring negatives, suffering societies should welcome the international do-gooders with open arms and lack of oversight?
Arguing against humanitarian aid in the face of real suffering may be a fool's errand, but there is no reason why the real impact of all that effort shouldn't be catalogued and debated. Talk of sustainability is at the heart of all development conversations these days, so it's worth discussing why the privileges of foreigners who parachute in on missions of mercy are so prominent among the things being sustained.
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