Dead Aid is Dead Wrong
A post by Edith Jibunoh, cross-posted from Aid Watch
At ONE, we agree a vigorous public debate is needed on how best to combat extreme poverty in Africa, but your post suggesting ONE is trying to “discredit” and “misrepresent” Ms. Moyo is untrue and not particularly constructive. As anyone who goes to our website site can see, we aren’t trying to discredit her, we are responding, substantively, to her arguments. You suggest we aren’t addressing the merits of her proposals, but the first item we posted on our site was a seven page point-counter-point addressing the merits of her proposals. This document clearly lays out where we disagree with the arguments she is making.
In terms of the emails you refer to, yes, we emailed people in Africa who we work with to see what they thought, as many are involved directly with aid-funded initiatives. Their experience is very relevant in thinking through the impact of Ms. Moyo’s claims. So it wasn’t an attempt to shut a conversation down, but an effort to open one up. And it’s succeeded! We’ve also been in a direct and ongoing conversation with Ms. Moyo, before and after the book’s release. Our concerns are no surprise to her. We agree with your concerns about aid transparency and, as you know, we recently helped launch “publish what you fund”, an aid transparency effort. We share the goal of “asking that aid benefit the poor” (as you write on your website) and we campaign to ensure that it does.
Mr. Easterly, there is another thing we agree on: let’s make this a thoughtful and constructive discussion about the best policy for Africa. In that spirit, it would be good to know if you join Ms. Moyo in her belief that all aid to Africa (with the exception of humanitarian aid following emergencies) should be cut off in five years, and that Africans would not suffer as a result. As just one example, what do you think would happen to the 2 million Africans now on ARVs, funded by aid?
Lest you think we are misrepresenting Ms. Moyo’s point of view on what aid should be exempted, see her own words below to Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
……………
ABC News Foreign Correspondent: Is Aid Killing Africa?
Reporter: Philip Williams
Broadcast: 17/03/2009
WILLIAMS: And you’re absolutely confident that removing that aid is not going to leave at least some people without food and medicine?
MOYO: I think the ones that will be effected most will probably be the African elite as opposed to the broader population.
WILLIAMS: What will they lose?
MOYO: I think they will lose possibly their bank accounts in Geneva in the worst-case scenario. But, I think beyond that they would also lose the ability to have leisure time and they’ll be required to actually go out and start to work hard to find money to support their social programs in Africa.
WILLIAMS: If you cut off aid within 5 years, surely that’s going to leave millions of people without the support they are now dependent on – food aid, medical aid – aid that really keeps people alive.
MOYO: I don’t believe that’s the case. Most Africans do not see any of the aid that you are alluding to. It’s…. again, their best case scenario on some projects is 20 cents in the dollar that actually makes it to an African – and that’s best case. Effectively, if we continue down this path, we will have many more Africans living in poverty in many… in a few years to come, and that is really the problem – that there are no jobs coming out of an aid model.
-Edith Jibunoh, Africa Outreach Manager
Mr. Easterly’s original post can be found here.
I would like to address some of the concerns raised in the blog about an email on Dead Aid that we sent to a small number of people who we have worked with in Africa. I’d also like to flesh out our thoughts on the book – what we agree with and what we don’t. We welcome this debate about the book and more broadly about the role aid has to play in combating poverty in Africa.
In terms of the email, my colleague Tyler Denton contacted Iris Mwanza, who he met on a trip to Zambia last year, to ask if she wanted to comment on the book and on how she has seen aid working in Zambia, particularly given that she oversees an AIDS program funded by US aid. Why did he do that? Dambisa is saying that aid doesn’t actually reach people in Africa and they would not suffer if it were cut off. We know that is not true. We could simply state our belief and back it up by verifiable statistics, but we thought it would be more impactful to hear from people working on the ground in Africa who could speak to their personal experiences with aid. It wasn’t an attempt to shut a conversation down, but an effort to open one up. And that’s succeeded! We welcome a vigorous debate on the book and more importantly on how we can all work together to help those living in extreme poverty. On that front, our concerns with the book will be no surprise to Dambisa. We have met with her several times. Our executive director Jamie Drummond even met with her before her book was published and gave her statistics about the positive difference aid was making – in fighting AIDS and malaria and putting kids in school, for example – but she did not include them. He spoke to her again in the past week. We are in a dialogue with her and we agree with her on the importance of trade and investment in fighting poverty in Africa, two things we have actively supported ourselves. We also agree with her that not all aid is spent well and that many many africans have concerns about aid, because in certain cases if delivered inappropriately it can weaken the accountability of government to citizens. That kind of aid needs phasing out and reform. We’re for the kind of smartaid that delivers results and actually strengthens the accountability linkage. But we part ways when she says that aid is not getting to people and that Africans won’t suffer if it’s all cut off in 5 years. What about the 2 million Africans with HIV who are alive today because they take ARVS paid for by aid? What would happen to them if aid were completely cut off? Or what about the millions more who are still dying of HIV because there is actually too little aid to pay for medicine for everyone who needs it?
I also want to address the comments some have made on “humanitarian aid.” In her interviews and in the book, Moyo says she believes in an exception for humanitarian aid, which she explains to mean the kind of aid provided after a disaster like an earthquake or the tsunami. If Moyo has been misunderstood and also believes in the importance of funding critical poverty reducing programs for combating AIDS and malaria that would be great news and we would be happy to amend our statements on the book. But when you look at her interviews and the book itself there is no evidence that she intends exceptions for these vital programs. In fact, see her comments on health related aid in an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corporation (excerpt below.)
Let’s keep the conversation going! We all have a common goal in wanting to save lives and see a healthy and prosperous Africa. We welcome a constructive debate and suggestions for how to keep doing better.
-Edith Jibunoh
ABC Transcript 3/17/09 (excerpted)
Reporter: Philip Williams
WILLIAMS: And you’re absolutely confident that removing that aid is not going to leave at least some people without food and medicine?
MOYO: I think the ones that will be effected most will probably be the African elite as opposed to the broader population.
WILLIAMS: What will they lose?
MOYO: I think they will lose possibly their bank accounts in Geneva in the worst-case scenario. But, I think beyond that they would also lose the ability to have leisure time and they’ll be required to actually go out and start to work hard to find money to support their social programs in Africa.
WILLIAMS: If you cut off aid within 5 years, surely that’s going to leave millions of people without the support they are now dependent on – food aid, medical aid – aid that really keeps people alive.
MOYO: I don’t believe that’s the case. Most Africans do not see any of the aid that you are alluding to. It’s…. again, their best case scenario on some projects is 20 cents in the dollar that actually makes it to an African – and that’s best case. Effectively, if we continue down this path, we will have many more Africans living in poverty in many… in a few years to come, and that is really the problem – that there are no jobs coming out of an aid model.
Every day I come across beneficiaries of aid who remind me of the importance of the work my organization does to ensure life saving programs are maintained in Africa. So as we debate the efficacy of aid, and remain resolved to ensuring its delivery is long term and sustainable, please check out the powerful story of Bose Oladayo from Lagos, Nigeria. Bose was ready to take her own life after learning she had AIDS, but after getting on treatment she is healthy again, supporting her family and working to help other HIV positive people in her community.
-Edith Jibunoh
Bose Oladayo, HOPE Worldwide, Lagos, Nigeria:
I got to know my HIV status in year 2000 out of inquisitiveness. I was afraid and thought I was as good as a ‘walking corpse’ because all information given around me were tales of woes to whoever is infected. Along with this great trouble is the fact that I am a single mother and the future of my child all lies with my support.
Troubled and with no one to talk to, I decided to take my “life” by being my own doctor. I prepared a concoction of so many substance among which are bleach, and took it. But for my late mum and intervention of the antiretroviral drugs, I would have been late and only God knows what will have become of my child.
I was able to access free drugs and also got psychosocial support from an NGO receiving funds from the American People – HOPE worldwide Nigeria.
Imagine same in the life of millions living with the virus and the replicating effect in families, particularly as it affects children ‘Our Future’.
There are lots of HIV infected people both in private & public sectors who are doing well and are contributing to the economic and social growth of their country. But for Antiretroviral drugs they would have been dead and their contributions lost.
Today I am a senior Program officer in HOPE worldwide Nigeria. I received trainings and my skills developed to counsel & test people, provide information about the deadly disease HIV&AIDS. I am involved and very active in breaking the silence – encouraging others like me to ‘live’ and live life to the fullest. I am also working with positive mothers to know that they can have healthy and HIV free children.
Being the Coordinator, South West, Treatment Action Movement of Nigeria (TAM), I am in the forefront of advocacy for drugs availability/accessibility, and also adherence campaign.
I am a major source of support economically to my family particularly my younger brother in the tertiary institution and my old ‘retired and tired’ father.
“I am a woman, a mother, a wife and a sister. I run a home; I work, feed my family, and bring up my children. I keep every one around me smiling. I am a person living with HIV, thanks to antiretroviral drugs, care and support. I speak not for myself but for many other people that I know.
HOPE Aid has touched lives of vulnerable & orphaned children by bringing hope for a better and brighter future. Education, Psychological Medical and Nutrition support to these children is contributing to the reduction of number of street children, child prostitution, school drop outs and delinquencies in our communities. Many now contribute to the wellbeing of their communities.
Private sector in Nigeria, has contributed immensely to the support for HIV/AIDS. This was made possible by the relentless efforts by international donors including USAID and many other international private organizations. Today, MTN Foundation in Nigeria spends an average of $2 million annually in the provision of HIV & AIDS treatment & care, support to OVC and prevention of mother to child transmission. Other private organizations like Petrobras, Coca-Cola Africa Foundation etc have also contributed.
There’s a new aid critic making a stir in the media this week. Dambisa Moyo, author of Dead Aid, is getting a lot of attention, but her critique of aid is contradicted by the facts and crude to the point of caricature. It’s too bad, because there are points in the book about trade and investment that we think are important. If you want to know more, check out this analysis we did of Dead Aid’s arguments – and why they’re wrong.
-Erin Thornton
