Flows in Aid (DP IB Geography)
Revision Note
Written by: Jacque Cartwright
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
International Aid
International aid is any form of needed assistance provided by one country or multilateral institution to another
Aid is most commonly provided as official developmental assistance (ODA), which targets poverty reduction and the promotion of public welfare and economic development
There are many types of international aid, and it varies according to:
Timing: emergency vs. long-term, loans vs. grants
Source: multilateral vs. bilateral, charities, NGOs, companies, UN, etc.
Constituents: financial, capital goods, military, experts/technical advice, information, food, etc.
Relationship: former colony, military pact, part of trade bloc, etc.
Why aid is needed: foreign exchange gap, savings gap, technical gap, medical gap, knowledge gap
Major donors range from multilateral institutions such as UN agencies and the EU to bilateral donors such as the UK, US and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Amnesty International and World Vision
The distribution of humanitarian and development aid has changed since the 1950s
Initially, aid was directed to developing countries through the funding of large infrastructure projects, in the hope that economic development would ‘trickle down’ to those in poverty
This attitude changed in the 1970s, when those in poverty were directly targeted for funding
However, this ended in the 1980s with the emergence of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), along with International Monetary Fund (IMF) attempts to enact structural change within developing economies
The end of the Cold War and the continued failure of development in regions such as Africa led to a stalemate in development during the 1990s, with Overseas Development Aid (ODA) levels falling
By the turn of the millennium, a new determination to target the causes of poverty and economic deprivation emerged
Strategies became focused on giving developing countries and their citizens’ ownership of their own economic development
The UN Millennium Development Goals were a result of this
What constitutes foreign aid?
Foreign aid is the voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another—typically capital (i.e. financial resources)
Some types of foreign aid:
Bilateral aid: direct government-to-government assistance
Multilateral aid: when multiple governments pool resources in cooperation with organisations like the World Bank, the IMF and the UN
Tied aid: the receiving country accepts aid with the expectation that it will be spent in the lending country
Voluntary aid: a charitable donation, particularly when countries are facing a humanitarian crisis
Project aid: when aid is used to finance a specific project
Military aid: similar to tied aid, but specific to weapons and military supplies
Aid can sometimes be seen as patronising by the country receiving it
Aid from some countries may be inappropriate owing to cultural differences
Sometimes local practices are more efficient than aid offered, e.g. in India, a bullock cart is potentially more useful than a truck (depending on the specific location)
Advantages and Disadvantages of International Aid
Advantages | Disadvantages |
---|---|
Slows regional and rural to urban migration | Undercuts local industry and farming |
Reduces expensive imports | Distorts local prices and incentives |
Creates jobs, raises wages, etc. | Increases regional inequalities |
Encourages reforms and improvements | May be wasted on big projects |
Creates new markets | Funds can be lost in corruption or misspent |
Leads to healthier and better skilled workers | Hidden costs (spares, fuel, etc.) so, donor country benefit |
Reduces political or social instability | High interest rates are a drain on the economy and a debt burden |
International Loans
Loans are transfers of money or skills that need to be repaid within a set time
In 1970, the United Nations' official development assistance (ODA) set a percentage target of 0.7% GNI (i.e. countries should aim to allocate at least 0.7% of their GNI towards loans or aid to other nation)
So far, only a few donors have met this target
How much do countries lend?
The main providers are HICs to developing countries
In 2022, the United States spent $60.5 billion on foreign aid, with Ukraine receiving $16.4 billion. Both Jordan and Egypt received military aid from the US
However, when compared to their gross national income (GNI), the US donated less than 0.25%
The largest donors in relation to GNI are Sweden at 0.9%, Denmark at 0.7%, and Norway at 0.86%
France and the UK provided 0.5% of their GNI in aid
Structural Adjustment Programmes
Structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) are loans from the IMF
They require the borrowing country to cut back on government spending in healthcare, education and other social services
They increase liberalisation and international trade
They privatise national resources such as water
They encourage countries to become economically self-sufficient by creating innovation, attracting inward investment and promoting growth
Criticisms of SAPs
It is argued that without controls, these loans would create a cycle of dependence where countries in financial difficulties would continue to borrow without solving the issues that caused the problem in the first place
Others argue that imposing controls on an already-poor country is adding to their vulnerability and impacts women, children and the vulnerable the most
Countries with SAPs have less policy freedom to deal with economic shocks, unlike richer lending countries that can call on public borrowing to help them out
This was particularly noticeable during and after the global pandemic, when many poorer countries were unable to call on extra loans to see them through
Critics also argue that SAPs are a form of neocolonialism where rich countries offer bailouts to former colonies or other poorer countries in exchange for reforms that favour them in the future
Debt Relief
A country’s debt can be expressed as either a ratio of debt to a country’s GDP or as a ratio of a country’s external debt to the value of its exports
The lower the percentage to GDP, the lower the debt
For instance, the UK’s general government gross debt was £2,223.0 billion at the end of March 2021, equivalent to 103.7% of gross domestic product (GDP), according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as of March 2022
Although this is high by UK standards, other countries have a much larger ratio
Japan, for example, has a national debt of 256%; Italy has over 134%
The US national debt is over 100% of GDP
Also, the UK had much higher national debt in the past; in late 1940s, UK debt was over 200% of GDP
Many countries have borrowed more money and accumulated more debt than it is feasible for them to pay back in the near future
Why do some countries find it difficult to repay?
There is usually a combination of economic and political factors: high interest rates on international loans, demands of the country’s population as development grows, changes in government and policies, corruption, etc.
Other factors include natural disasters
Social factors such as high levels of population growth, limited educational provision and poor infrastructure also means a lack of governmental funds to repay or ‘service’ the loan or re-pay the capital
Debt is a major development issue. The $5 trillion of external debts owed by developing countries costs them more than $1.5 billion a day in repayments, and much of that comes from the poorest countries
Most of the world’s poorest countries have limited access to international capital markets; their sovereign debt does not have an official credit rating
Most of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are in this situation and are classified as heavily indebted
25 of the 32 countries are rated as severely indebted
In 1962, sub-Saharan Africa owed $3 billion in loans
By 2017, its debt had risen to $230 billion
There is widespread support for either cancelling a country’s debt altogether, rescheduling debt payments or indexing interest rates to the country’s economic growth
Debt relief frees developing countries from their debt service payments. They can then use these savings to contribute to poverty reduction
The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCI) Initiative
Launched by the World Bank and the IMF in 1996 to reduce the debts of the poorest and most indebted countries to sustainable levels
Under the initiative, a calculation would be made to find the reduction needed in the country’s external debts to bring them below <150% of the value of the country’s annual exports; this is considered to be a sustainable level
Côte d’Ivoire benefited from HIPCI; it has been granted external debt relief of $7.7 billion.
As a result, the stock of Ivorian public debt decreased from 69% of GDP in 2011 to 40% of GDP in 2012
Criticism of debt relief suggests that countries are encouraged to overspend, it does not help countries that are not in debt, and it does not help the poor
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Make sure you specify if you are talking about absolute or relative amounts of money a country donates or receives. Remember that although the USA gives the highest amount of aid in monetary terms, in relation to its GNI, it is one of the smallest donors in relative terms.
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