Giving effectively: Contemporary lessons from Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo

Recently, I have introspected on some of the concepts discussed in Dambisa Moyo’s “Dead Aid” which is a powerful resource for challenging the methodology of traditional aid mechanisms.

Moyo argues that corruption, incentive distortion, and aid dependence undermine foreign aid in African countries in crisis over the past four decades which highlights ineffective aid strategies that tend to focus on instant gratification and short-term conflict relief which is prevalent in Ukraine’s aid responses to the continual fight for independence and other humanitarian crises such as the conflict in Yemen.

Perhaps the underlying issue behind the self-serving moral decisions that lead to such corruption is a result of individualistic cultural philosophy that permeate the western world. Since little can be done to alter the philosophical viewpoints of entire nations in a short time frame, it is up to fellow altruists willing to put action to better the lives of civilians in developing and war-torn countries to ensure that resources and aid are in support of long-term economic development such as water distribution and education distribution as opposed to just short term relief in order to best prevent crises from re-occurring.

Bibliography:
Moyo, D. (2009). Dead aid: Why aid is not working and how there is a better way for Africa. London: Penguin Books.