NEW YORK: Major powers are concentrating too much aid on countries for political and military reasons and overlooking other severe crises, the nonprofit group Oxfam said Thursday.
The aid organization said billions of dollars have been used for "unsustainable, expensive and sometimes dangerous aid projects" supporting short-term foreign policy and security objectives.
Oxfam particularly highlighted tens of billions of dollars spent in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade.
Since 2002, one third of development aid to 48 of the world's poorest states has gone to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the report said.
"During this period aid to Iraq and Afghanistan alone has accounted for over two-fifths of the entire $178 billion global increase in aid provided by wealthy countries."
"Since 2001 there has been a growing trend of aid being used to win 'hearts and minds' in conflicts," said Oxfam.
"Unfortunately, this aid is often poorly conceived, ineffective, and in some cases has turned beneficiaries and aid workers into targets for attack, Oxfam said, accusing governments of action that "dangerously blurs the line between civilian and military activity."
In 2010, 225 aid workers were killed, injured or kidnapped in violent attacks, compared to 85 in 2002. Oxfam said this was partly because of an increase in politically-motivated attacks.
"Blurring the role between civilian aid workers and the military can turn aid workers and, more importantly, the communities where they work into targets," said report author Mike Lewis.
The report said United States and its allies have spent billions in Afghanistan on "expensive and unsustainable 'quick impact projects' intended to win local support, but which are perceived by many Afghans to be particularly targeted by the Taliban."
Since 2001, the Democratic Republic of Congo has received at best 10 dollars a year per person in humanitarian assistance, while in Iraq, a wealthier country, the average in some years has been over 12 times that amount, said the report.
According to Oxfam, since 2009 Canada has pledged to spend 80 percent of its bilateral aid on 20 "countries of focus", designated partly on the basis of foreign policy priorities.
This includes Afghanistan, where Canadian troops are fighting, and Colombia, with whom Canada has signed a free trade deal, while seven low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa were dropped.
Oxfam said France has long concentrated aid on Francophone African countries based on strategic interests and historical ties.
Although now also based on country needs, recipients are still selected according to criteria including importance to France's national security and counter-terrorism priorities.
Comments
Comments are closed.