The Buzz: Foreign Aid – A Replica of Colonial Hierarchies of the Past

Foreign aid programs tend to focus on the poorest populations and emphasize investment in social sectors such as health, nutrition, education, the environment, governance and human rights. This is a seemingly wonderful thing for “developing” countries to become “better.”

But what, exactly, is “better?” What are these countries supposed to be “developing” into?

Are they called “developing” countries because “they are struggling to recover from being ruthlessly pillaged and systematically destabilized?” That doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

Furthermore, who is the real beneficiary of this “aid?”

I cannot say that all aid is detrimental, but one cannot deny the fact that, more often than not, aid is used as a tool for neo-colonialism and dependency to keep the recipient within the sphere of control of the donor. Many of these countries had to fight for independence against colonial systems of exploitation, dependency, inequalities and concentration of capital. But these features are unfortunately still present in modern economic systems as foreign aid continues to generate economic pressure, political suppression and cultural dominance.

There needs to be a complete shift in the way foreign aid works, as it is perpetuating systems of oppression while claiming to dismantle them. The “white savior” mentality of the world’s foreign aid system is doing much more harm than good. Over-reliance on aid traps nations in a vicious circle of aid dependency, corruption, market distortion and further poverty, leaving them with nothing but the “need” for more aid.

So, what can be done? A good start would be shifting money and power closer to the communities that aid is meant to serve.

I’ve witnessed locals struggle to raise funding, as big grants usually go to international organizations led by people who make influential decisions far from the places they are trying to assist. In this scenario, you have aid groups ignoring the knowledge and desires of the people they claim to serve, reducing the chances of real positive impact and making sustainability impossible. Western entities impose their ideologies on countries with few resources without involving people from those places. Money and power must go to grass-roots leaders for targeted, community-led projects that allow the recipient country to become self-sufficient and productive. Any organization whose mission is to “tackle community injustice” should have one goal: to eliminate the need for the organization as quickly as possible.

As the number and severity of humanitarian crises grows around the world, decolonizing aid must be a priority for humanitarian action.