Aid Sampler

Emergency Aid/Relief Aid

Short-term assistance following some sort of disaster/crises (drought, earthquake, storm). This
sort of aid does very little for the development prospects of a country, but it can help them from
slipping backwards following a disaster. Organizations like Red Cross Specialize in tis sort of aid.
Developmental Aid
This is aid with the specific goal of improving the developmental standards of an LeDC. To be
effective this aid should go towards some sort of sustainable activity.
Voluntary Aid
Voluntary Aid is also known as charity aid. It is money collected by agencies such as Oxfam,
Red Cross and ActionAid, which is then spent on a variety of different schemes. Governments can
sometimes also contribute to voluntary aid schemes. Much of this aid can go towards long-term
development, such as training farmers in efficient farming techniques that also prevent soil
erosion, but some organizations (like Red Cross) are more dedicated to emergency aid.
Charities also have campaigns to collect funds and provide emergency aid after a disaster, for
example, flooding in Mozambique.
Official Developmental Assistance (ODA)/Bilateral aid
Bilateral means "two sides". This type of aid is from one country to another. An example would be
Britain giving money and/or sending experts to help build a dam in Turkey. Quite often bilateral
aid is also Tied Aid (see below).
This is the most common type of aid.
Tied Aid
In this type of aid, the giving (or donor) country also benefits economically from the aid. Tied aid
can take many forms, such as a recipient country needing to buy goods and services from the
donor country in order to receive the aid in the first place. In building a dam, for example, the
Britain may insist that UK firms, experts and equipment be used. Whether or not the aid is even
offered may depend on the receiving country agreeing to buy items (e.g. military jets) from the
donor.
Other types of tied aid could ask for recipients to vote a certain way in the UN or another
international organization.
Some people believe that this type of aid can be more harmful than good.
The IMF and World Bank often tie aid to austerity and structural adjustment programs.
Project Aid:
This is a form of tied aid that is given with the requirements that it be used for a specific project
e.g. a dam or a road, often selected by the donor (usually built using the donors firms)
Product Aid:
This is a form of tied aid that is given with the stipulation that the money be used to purchase
goods and services from the donor country. Sometimes this form of aid is given in the form of the
product itself e.g. food aid.

Multilateral Aid
Multilateral means "many sides". Here organizations that involve many donor countries, give the
aid. This aid is run by groups such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Self Help (micro-aid)
These are schemes where the local people take part in small-scale activities, which help the local
area. As the local people are involved they select projects that are needed. They do not usually
need high technology, nor do they need a great deal of money. These are sometimes considered
grass roots development. There are many benefits to these types of aid programs, but they often
lack technical knowhow or economies of scale.
Grants:
Foreign Direct Assistance that does not have to be repaid in kind. This does not preclude the
possibility that the aid is bundled with other obligations. See tied aid.
Developmental Loans:
Governments may need to borrow money for all sorts of reasons. Developmental loans are
sometimes considered a form of aid especially if they are made at concessional (soft) rates (below
market interest rates).
Problems with Aid Schemes
International aid schemes have caused problems, and have been criticized by many people because
* They may involve the building of an expensive, prestigious building such as a hospital, which
mainly help the urban rich
* It will involve technology which is inappropriate - a tractor is not much use if there are no
spare parts or diesel fuel available locally
* Large-scale projects such as dams may damage the environment and force people off the land
* Some projects have suffered from corruption - the help has not gone to the people who need it
but politicians and officials have greatly benefited
* Product aid can often disrupt domestic markets in the recipient country (crowd out local
producers)
* Bilateral aid almost always comes with hidden strings attached (tied aid)
* Aid in the form of soft (or hard) loans could lead to unmanageable debt
* Aid could force recipients to purchase unneeded projects that require huge maintenance costs
relative to the benefits provided from the project.
Consult the articles linked to in Moodle for more examples of the pros and cons of aid.
Absorptive Capacity of aid: The degree to which a recipient country can accept aid before it
begins to disrupt local markets (watch the YouTube video on aid to Haiti linked to in Moodle for
an good case study on this concept).
Aid, if used correctly, can be a good source of developmental assistance, but if uses incorrectly it
can do more harm than good, and service the needs of the donor more than the needs to the
recipient (neo-colonialism).
Aid organizations, in addition to being criticized for inappropriate aid are also often cited for their
inefficient bureaucracies whose funding often diverts money from those in the most need.