Foreign Aid: Are we really helping others or just ourselves? | Maliha Chishti | TEDxUTSC

Summary

The speaker challenges the effectiveness of foreign aid, arguing that despite billions spent, it has not significantly improved the lives of the world's poorest. They critique the aid industry's repeated mistakes and the self-serving narrative that rich countries benefit more. Drawing from experience in Afghanistan, they highlight the paternalistic approach of Western aid, suggesting a need for a more respectful, pluralistic aid paradigm that values local strengths and capacities.

Takeaways

• 😇 The speaker admires the concept of foreign aid for its potential to embody compassion and generosity, especially in times of conflict.
• 🏗️ Aid workers contribute significantly by building schools, providing clean water, healthcare, and emergency food to those in need.
• 💔 Despite good intentions, foreign aid has largely failed to improve the lives of the world's poorest and most vulnerable, with a widening gap between rich and poor countries.
• 🌐 There is a vast international aid apparatus involving thousands of organizations distributing billions of dollars, yet it has not achieved desired outcomes in many war-torn countries.
• 🔄 The international aid community repeats mistakes and often benefits the richer countries more than the intended recipients through debt repayment, profits, and trade.
• 📉 There is a net transfer of wealth from the poorest to the richest countries, estimated at $200 billion a year, suggesting a subsidy from poor to rich nations.
• 🚫 To address the problems with aid, reliance on existing structures and paradigms is insufficient; an ethical and conscientious reevaluation is needed.
• 🌟 The speaker's experience in Afghanistan highlights the ineffectiveness of aid, with billions not reaching the majority of Afghans despite international intentions to help.
• 🤔 The priority of aid projects is often determined by the aid establishment rather than the needs of the local population, as seen with the focus on human rights training over healthcare.
• 🌍 Post-2001 Afghanistan saw an influx of foreign nationals taking over various sectors without understanding the local context, leading to misguided interventions.
• 🛑 The speaker calls for a reimagining of aid relationships, based on mutual respect and understanding, rather than a one-sided imposition of Western values and systems.

Q & A

What is the speaker's initial view on foreign aid?

The speaker initially views foreign aid as an opportunity to practice compassion and generosity, especially in times of war and conflict, and acknowledges the good work done by aid workers in building schools, providing access to clean water, health care, and emergency food aid.

What is the main argument against the effectiveness of foreign aid on a larger scale?

The main argument is that despite the good intentions and the international aid apparatus, foreign aid has not improved the lives and living conditions of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people, and the gap between the richest and poorest countries continues to widen.

What examples does the speaker provide of countries where aid has not achieved desirable results?

The speaker cites Angola, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq as examples where aid has not achieved the expected outcomes.

What is the speaker's concern about the international aid community?

The speaker is concerned that the international aid community keeps making the same mistakes repeatedly and does not seem to be held accountable for the lack of improvement in the conditions of the world's poorest.

What is the claim about the economic impact of aid on rich and poor countries?

The claim is that for every dollar of aid rich countries give to poor countries, they receive between seven to ten dollars back through debt repayment, profits, and trade, resulting in a net transfer of wealth from the poorest to the richest countries.

What does the speaker suggest is the underlying issue with the current aid infrastructure?

The speaker suggests that the aid infrastructure is set up in a way that benefits the richest part of the world, rather than genuinely helping the poorest communities, and that this system is self-perpetuating.

What was the speaker's experience with a Canadian NGO and Afghan women's groups?

The speaker worked with an Afghan women's organization in Toronto and conducted a needs assessment survey for Afghan women. They found that the women wanted access to basic healthcare, but when they proposed a project for a mobile health clinic, the Canadian government encouraged them to double the budget and include a human rights training program instead.

What did the speaker observe about the influx of foreign nationals in Afghanistan post-2001?

The speaker observed that Afghanistan, once known as The Hermit Kingdom, was flooded with foreign nationals, especially from Europe and North America, who took over various sectors of the country without understanding the local context, languages, or history.

What is the speaker's critique of the international community's approach to Afghanistan?

The speaker criticizes the international community for treating Afghanistan as a blank slate, imposing their own goals, visions, and approaches without considering the local context, and for evaluating and restructuring the country without domestic consent.

What is the story of Sur and what does it illustrate about the assumptions in the aid system?

Sur is a medical doctor, educator, activist, and leader of a health module training program in Afghanistan. The speaker initially doubted her competence due to their own biases, but Sur proved to be highly capable. This story illustrates the underlying assumptions in the aid system that view Westerners as modern and progressive, while viewing locals as needing help and lacking capacity.

What is the speaker's proposed solution for improving the aid relationship?

The speaker proposes a fresh start for aid, suggesting that it should be based on understanding third world societies by how they define themselves, focusing on their strengths and capacities, and embracing the politics of pluralism, diversity, and multivocality.

What is the key takeaway message from the speaker's experience and perspective?

The key takeaway is that to do good work in the world, one must first be good, implying that the effectiveness of aid is a reflection of the attitudes, values, and actions of the individuals and societies providing it.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 The Paradox of Foreign Aid

The speaker begins by expressing admiration for foreign aid as a means to practice compassion and generosity, particularly in times of conflict. They acknowledge the good work done by aid workers, such as building schools and providing essential services. However, they challenge the effectiveness of foreign aid on a larger scale, arguing that despite billions of dollars and numerous organizations, it has not improved the lives of the world's poorest. The speaker cites their research on war-affected states like Angola, Rwanda, and Afghanistan, where aid has not achieved desired outcomes. They suggest that the international aid community repeats mistakes and implies a potential exploitation of aid by rich countries, with wealth transferring from poor to rich nations. The speaker calls for an ethical reevaluation of aid structures and paradigms.

05:03

🌏 The Overreach of Western Aid in Afghanistan

The speaker recounts their experience as a consultant and researcher on Afghanistan, highlighting the failure of billions of dollars in aid to reach the majority of Afghans. They describe an incident where a Canadian NGO's proposal for a mobile health clinic was rejected in favor of a human rights training program, reflecting the priorities of the aid establishment over local needs. The speaker also discusses the influx of foreign nationals into Afghanistan post-2001, who took charge of various sectors without understanding the local context. They criticize the international community for treating Afghanistan as a blank slate, imposing their own visions, policies, and structures without domestic consent. The narrative questions the underlying motivations of Western aid and its impact on recipient countries.

10:05

🔄 The Self-Reflective Nature of Aid Relationships

The speaker delves into the self-reflective nature of Western aid, suggesting that it is more about celebrating Western identity than genuinely helping others. They argue that Western countries seek to impose their values, ideals, and principles on non-Western societies, creating an aid relationship that disciplines and reforms recipients to be more like Western states. The speaker introduces 'Sur,' a competent Afghan woman who challenged their preconceived notions, illustrating the underlying 'us and them' dynamic in the international aid system. They call for a shift in perception, understanding third-world societies by their own definitions rather than through Western labels, and building aid relations based on their strengths and capacities.

15:06

🌱 Embracing Pluralism in Aid and Self-Reflection

In the final paragraph, the speaker advocates for less Western intervention and more space for other societies to create their own futures based on their terms. They propose embracing the politics of pluralism, diversity, and multivocality in aid, which involves mutual learning and transformation. The speaker emphasizes the importance of being good in order to do good work in the world, suggesting that the outcomes of aid efforts reflect the nature of the individuals and societies involved. They conclude with a call for a fundamental change in the approach to aid, one that respects and validates different perspectives and worldviews.

Keywords

💡Foreign Aid

Foreign aid refers to the assistance given by one country to another, typically from a more economically developed nation to a less developed one. In the video, it is presented as an opportunity to practice compassion and generosity, but also criticized for not improving the lives of the world's poorest people despite the billions of dollars distributed over the years.

💡Aid Workers

Aid workers are individuals who are involved in providing assistance to people in need, often in developing countries or disaster-stricken areas. The script acknowledges the great work done by aid workers, such as building schools and providing access to clean water and healthcare, but also points out the systemic issues within the aid system that limit their effectiveness.

💡International Aid Apparatus

The international aid apparatus encompasses the network of organizations and institutions that are involved in the distribution of aid globally. The video script criticizes this apparatus for not reducing the gap between rich and poor countries, despite the existence of thousands of organizations and the distribution of billions of dollars in aid.

💡War-Affected States

War-affected states are countries that have been impacted by conflict and war. The speaker's research in this area indicates that aid has not achieved the desired results in countries like Angola, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq, highlighting the failure of the aid system in post-conflict recovery.

💡Ethical Pause

An ethical pause refers to a moment of reflection and consideration of the moral implications of one's actions. In the context of the video, it is suggested as a necessary step in reevaluating the aid system to ensure that it is genuinely helping the intended recipients rather than perpetuating existing inequalities.

💡Debt Repayment

Debt repayment is the process of paying back borrowed money, often with interest. The script mentions that for every dollar of aid given by rich countries to poor ones, they receive back between seven to ten dollars through mechanisms like debt repayment, suggesting a net transfer of wealth from poor to rich countries.

💡Cultural Imperialism

Cultural imperialism refers to the dominance of one culture over another, often through the imposition of values, beliefs, and practices. The video criticizes the aid system for being a tool of cultural imperialism, where Western values and systems are imposed on non-Western societies under the guise of aid and development.

💡Capacity Building

Capacity building is the process of developing the skills, knowledge, and systems needed by organizations or societies to achieve their goals. The speaker argues that aid should focus on building the capacities of local communities rather than imposing external solutions, which often fail to consider local context and needs.

💡Pluralism

Pluralism is the acceptance and appreciation of diversity in ideas, cultures, and viewpoints. The video calls for a pluralistic approach to aid, where different perspectives and world views are valued and incorporated into the aid process, fostering mutual learning and transformation.

💡Tabula Rasa

Tabula rasa is a Latin term meaning 'blank slate,' used to describe a mind without preconceived ideas or biases. In the script, Afghanistan is described as being treated as a blank slate by foreign experts, who then impose their own visions and solutions without considering the country's history and culture.

💡Assumptions and Stereotypes

Assumptions and stereotypes are preconceived ideas or beliefs about individuals or groups that may not be based on fact. The speaker recounts their own experience of making assumptions about a local Afghan woman's competence, which were later proven wrong, illustrating the dangers of such biases in the aid context.

Highlights

Foreign aid as an opportunity to practice compassion and generosity.

Aid workers' efforts in building schools, providing clean water, and health care.

The failure of large-scale foreign aid to improve the lives of the world's poorest.

The international aid apparatus with thousands of organizations distributing billions of dollars.

The widening gap between the richest and poorest countries despite aid efforts.

Aid not achieving desired results in conflict-affected states like Angola, Rwanda, and Afghanistan.

The international aid community's repeated mistakes and lack of accountability.

The possibility that aid narratives are self-serving for richer nations.

Economic data suggesting a net transfer of wealth from poor to rich countries.

The need for an ethical and conscientious reevaluation of aid structures and paradigms.

The ineffectiveness of billions of dollars in aid to Afghanistan reaching the majority of its people.

The disconnect between aid priorities set by the aid establishment and the actual needs of Afghans.

The influx of foreign nationals in Afghanistan post-2001 and their influence on governance.

The assumption of authority and decision-making power by foreign experts without local context.

The self-evaluation and self-structuring of foreign aid programs in Afghanistan.

The absurdity of similar foreign takeover scenarios in Western countries juxtaposed with non-Western realities.

The underlying Western-centric perspective in aid interventions and its impact on recipient societies.

The binary relationship in international aid between 'us' and 'them' and its implications.

The importance of recognizing and respecting the strengths and capacities of aid recipients.

The call for a shift towards an aid relationship based on mutual learning and respect for diversity.

The transformative statement 'To do good work in the world, you must first be good'.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Music]

I love the idea of foreign aid don't you

you see I see it as an opportunity to

practice the virtues of compassion and

generosity to help others especially in

times of war and conflict

Aid workers do some great

work they build schools they provide

access to clean water Health Care they

deliver emergency food Aid to people who

are

suffering but good intentions

aside on a much much larger scale

foreign aid has not improved the lives

and living conditions of the world's

most poorest

and vulnerable people it just hasn't and

this is despite an international Aid

apparatus that has been set up with

thousands of organizations and

institutions that distribute billions of

dollars of Aid to every corner of the

world over the past 50

years you see the gap between the

world's richest and poorest countries is

tremendous and it's increasing

in my own work researching War affected

States I can tell you that Aid has not

achieved desirable results in places

like Angola Rwanda Sierra Leon Somalia

Kosovo Afghanistan

Iraq and what's worse is that the

international Aid Community keeps making

the same mistakes over and over and over

again and they keep getting away with

it oh it's all too complicated they'll

tell you but what if it's

not what if giving Aid to the world's

poorest communities are just stories we

tell each other to feel good about

ourselves as a nation but that the

infrastructure of third world Aid is set

up in such a way that we living in the

richest part of the world have been

benefiting it from it all

along I can pull out the facts that

indicate that for every dollar of Aid

rich countries give to poor countries

they receive between seven to10 back

through debt repayment profits trade Etc

and if you add that up each year

according to the UN conference on trade

and development there is a net transfer

transer of wealth that moves from the

poorest countries of the world to the

richest countries in the amount of $200

billion dollar a

year

wow are poor countries subsidizing the

wealth of rich

countries in any case we have a serious

problem and to fix the problem we can't

rely on the same structures and

paradigms that created it in the first

place

what we need is an ethical and a

conscientious

pause as a consultant and a researcher

on Afghanistan I am painfully aware that

billions of dollars of Aid did not reach

the majority of Afghans and this is

devastating considering after the us-led

invasion of Afghanistan there was a

genuine sense in the International

Community to help Afghans and Afghan

women especially because they suffered

tremendously from Decades of war and

living under the repressive regime of

the

Taliban at around this time

2002 I was working with an Afghan

women's organization based here in

Toronto that for many years was

supporting local women's groups across

Afghanistan these groups were doing some

important work they were educating girls

and providing basic support and services

to countless women under the Taliban

regime well we approached this network

of women we circulated A needs

assessment survey asking them how can we

as a Canadian NGO help

you we received an overwhelming response

they wanted access to basic

healthare so I wrote a project proposal

for a mobile Health Clinic with a very

modest budget and I went knocking at the

door of the Canadian government and they

politely

refused they said for us to come back

this time with a brand new proposal we

can double the budget so long as we

provided a human rights training program

for Afghan

women so that's exactly what we did we

went to Afghanistan and we implemented a

training program and you know what I

noticed when we got there that our

training program was one of several

similar training programs offered that

week by different

agencies not a single mobile health

clinic in

sight I realized that the priority to

offer human rights training over basic

health care was determined by us the aid

establishment and not by

Afghans there's something else that I

was amazed at when I was in

cabal you see for centuries Afghanistan

was known as The Hermit Kingdom it was

impenetrable to foreign influence and

meddling but it was just as if overnight

after 2001 the country was flooded by

Foreign Nationals from different

countries but especially from Europe and

North America

hundreds of NGO staff Consultants

advisors construction

workers they like us we arrived in the

country very

easily and while we were there I noticed

that as soon as we landed in the country

we were pretty much in charge of running

the

country every sector Health the private

sector government Civil Society

media you see we had Authority and

decisionmaking power without having to

know anything about the local

context we didn't have to learn the

local languages of D or PTO we didn't

have to know the political history of

Afghanistan the complexity of the war

the Waring factions we didn't have to

know the role of religion Customs

tradition the ethnic diversity of the

land you see when the International

Community entered

Afghanistan Afghanistan was rendered

empty a blank

slate a tabula rasa if you will and we

as the foreign experts poured into this

empty land our goals for the country our

Visions for the country our approaches

for the

country in effect we became the

architects of their future we imagined

created designed

implemented and supervised all of the

major programs in the country and then

we went ahead and evaluated ourselves we

restructured the entire government from

the security sector to the Judiciary we

wrote government policies we wrote

curriculum for

schools we wrote national law

imposed elections revised the

Constitution and then we went ahead and

we planned the economy for the next 12

years we did it all we did it all

without domestic

consent oh it's all too complicated

they'll tell

you but what if it's

not what if the situation was actually

reversed what if here in this very City

there's an emergency a natural disaster

our city shuts down but instead of

receiving aid from another country we

get a flood of foreigners that arrive

and take over the city they pass new

bylaws they run our schools they run our

clinics and they do this all in another

language that we would have to learn

just to keep up with the changes it

sounds absurd doesn't

it it would never happen

right so if it can't happen here here

why does it happen in almost every other

part of the world without anyone

questioning

it you see I

think that the reason why we cannot help

vulnerable communities in the world is

because our interventions are more about

us a celebration of who we

are and who we think we

are

when the West engages with other

societies especially nonwestern

ones it's trying to find a glimpse of

itself in them it's looking for Western

values ideals and principles and when it

can't find them it sets up an aid

relationship that has very little to do

with helping others and more to do with

disciplining them reforming them to

become

more like

us Western capitalist liberal Democratic

states but here's the thing you see it

took Western Europe over 200 years of

struggle and violence to achieve State

maturity but

Afghanistan Afghanistan has like a

minute or a decade to accomplish the

same

task this is the main target for reform

I'd like to introduce you to Sur I met

her for the first time in Afghanistan

she was to lead the health module of our

training program and I have to tell you

I admit I was really nervous see I

didn't think that she was competent

enough to run the training module

because it was Technical and it was a

difficult training

module I approached serea and for some

reason I started asking asking her if

she knew about ice breakers because we

always begin each training session with

ice

breakers so I started to explain ice

breakers what they were why we used them

and then I drew a blank because I

couldn't come up with a sample ice

breaker that she could use in her

session so she interjects and she

politely States

well I always do ice breakers I've got

several maybe I could use one of

mine and I said oh all right

so I stood at the back of the room while

she conducted a brilliant training

session

serea is a medical doctor an educator an

activist and so much much

more and when I got back home I was

really embarrassed by the assumptions

that I had of her and I realized that my

assumptions were based on an under lying

relationship that exists in the

international Aid System this binary of

who we are us and who they

are you see we in our Aid encounter with

them and they could be Africans Asians

Latin

Americans we are always modern and

Progressive and they are in varying

degrees of traditional tribal

backward we're problem solvers and they

always have just

problems we are technical experts they

have no capacities we are knowledge

creators and they are passive

receivers we are efficient and

productive and they are

always always lazy and

corrupt I realized that the entry point

that we have to almost all of the

societies that live in the majority

world are are based on what these

countries lack what is absent what

doesn't

work what needs to change what needs to

be

reformed when was the last time that you

read something interesting or positive

or inspiring from countries like

Pakistan

Yemen

Afghanistan I realize that if an aid

relationship is based on one party

that fundamentally believes that they

are always better than others morally

culturally politically

intellectually then how could anything

good emerge and be sustained by such an

unequal and pejorative

relationship so if we could begin a new

a fresh start give Aid a

tabularasa I would think that we should

begin by Shifting the way that we

perceive and construct third world

societies and

States understanding them by how they

Define

themselves not by our labels about them

to build Aid relations based on their

identified strengths and capacities not

our assessments of their failures and

weaknesses you see if you were to ask

serea how she would describe herself she

wouldn't say I'm oppressed and

subordinated please rescue

me she would say I'm

resilient I'm a

Survivor I'm hopeful I'm

determined I'm

Pious I respect the traditional values

of my country and I'm a fighter I fight

against oppression and Injustice

wherever I will find

it s

is full of

complexities as is her

country maybe we should do a lot

less perhaps if the Western Aid

establishment stepped back and allowed

other countries and societies to do more

to imagine and to create their Futures

based on their own terms their own

cultural political tra

trajectories what this would entail is

that the aid apparatus Embraces the

politics of pluralism diversity and

multivocality this means opening the

table up and enabling and appreciating

and validating different and even

contending points of view perspectives

and World Views you see pluralism opens

the door to Mutual learning sharing and

the transformation of both ends of the

aid

relationship I wanted to leave you with

a simple statement that I came across

several years ago that transformed me it

had a profound impact on

me and this very simple statement is

echoed by the world's indigenous

traditions and it

reads to do good work in the

world you must first be

good I was intrigued by the

statement and I realized that what it

meant was that what is manifested in the

world by our

efforts is a reflection of who we are as

individuals as a

society as a civilization thank

[Applause]

you