While the amount of aid rejected is relatively small, the decision's outsized impact on the poor is now coming to light. Here are some of the projects most impacted:
1. U.S. aid could have transformed Punjab Government's Lady Willingdon Hospital in Lahore, where rats run through the halls, patients sleep three to a bed, women who require C-sections aren't getting them because only one operating room is functioning, and premature babies risk death because of a shortage of incubators, according to the Associated Press.
The hospital struggles to provide even basic care. Built by the British in the 1930s before Pakistan's independence, it was meant for 80 patients. The country's population has since exploded, forcing officials to cram 235 patients into a facility that is now run-down. Paint peels off the concrete walls and black mold covers the ceilings. Patients are forced to share beds, and sometimes women who are close to giving birth have to sit on the floor for lack of space. It has only one functioning operating room, leaving women lined up to receive cesarean sections.
The hospital has only three working infant incubators, which were donated by NGOs. The hospital is forced to use overhead warmers for other infants, leaving them more exposed to disease. The $16 million offered by the U.S. would have been used to purchase 10 incubators, build a new 100-bed ward and expand the nursery and emergency facilities.
2. Another $100 million of US aid was to be used to rebuild schools in southern Punjab province that were destroyed by last year's devastating floods. An additional $10 million was meant to improve municipal services like clean water and sanitation.
3. The loss of aid for Shamaspura, a poor neighborhood in Lahore, means that its 15,000 residents will not get their only road paved, nor will they get a new sewer system.
Batool Akhtar, a poor but feisty woman quoted by the AP story, summed it up well when she said: "This is rich people denying aid meant for the poor. The government should have taken the money."
As Pakistan's ruling elite and its ghairat brigade, led by PML's Sharif brothers, engage in loud empty rhetoric about infringement of their national sovereignty by the United States, here is something to ponder:
Pakistan runs chronic budget deficits of around 5% of its GDP, and its government collects less than 10% of GDP in tax revenue which is among the lowest in the world. A big share of these deficits is funded by foreign aid and loans, making Pakistanis beholden to the interests and whims of major foreign donors and lenders.
Pakistan's tax policies are among the most regressive in the world. Direct taxes make up less than 3.5 percent of GDP, with wide ranging exemptions to powerful segments of society coupled with governance issues at Federal Board of Revenue, according to former finance minister Shaukat Tarin. The bulk of the tax receipts are collected in the form of sales tax, placing the heaviest burden on the lower-income people who spend almost all of their income on their basic needs.
Given the unwillingness of Pakistan's ruling elite to pay more in taxes, I agree with the decision of the other three provincial governments to continue to accept US economic aid. As the Punjab examples above show, refusing such aid clearly hurts the poor the most.
Pakistan would be well advised to not seek confrontation with Washington. Why? The reason is simply that the United States is the architect and the unquestioned leader of the international order that emerged after the WW II and this system still remains largely intact. Not only is the US currency the main reserve and trade currency of the world, the US also dominates world institutions like the UN and its agencies, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
All foreign aid, regardless of its source, comes with strings attached. And those in Pakistan who think that China, undoubtedly a rapidly rising power, can replace US as a powerful friend in helping Pakistan now are deluding themselves. Today, China's power and influence in the world are not at all comparable to the dominant role of the United States. Chinese currency is neither a trade nor a reserve currency. Chinese themselves depended on the US agreement to be allowed to join the WTO after accepting terms essentially dictated by the United States in a bilateral agreement. Most of China's trade is still with the United States and its European allies. And the Chinese military power does not extend much beyond its region because it, unlike the United States, lacks the means to project it in other parts of the world.
Rather than alienate the United States and risk being subjected to international isolation and crippling sanctions like North Korea (a Chinese ally), Pakistanis must swallow their pride now and choose better ways of becoming more self-reliant in the long run.
Here are some of my recommendations for Pakistanis to move toward greater self-reliance:
1. They must all pay their fair share of taxes to reduce dependence on foreign aid and loans.
2. They must spend more on education and heath care and human development to develop the workforce for the 21st century.
3. They must invest in the necessary infrastructure in terms of energy, water, sanitation, communications, roads, ports, rail networks, etc, to enable serious industrial and trade development.
4. They must develop industries and offer higher value products and services for exports to earn the US dollars and Euros to buy what they need from the world without getting into debt as the Chinese have done.
No amount of empty rhetoric of the "ghairat brigade" can get Pakistanis to reclaim their pride unless they do the hard work as suggested above.
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
Can Pakistan Tell US to Take its Aid and Shove it?
Tax Evasion Fosters Foreign Aid Dependence
Aid, Trade, Investments and Remittances
Can Chinese Yuan Replace US Dollar?
Vito Corleone: Godfather Metaphor for Uncle Sam
Can US Aid Remake Pakistan?
South Asia Slipping in Human Development
Pakistan to Terminate IMF Bailout Early
Pakistani Military and Industrialization
24 comments:
In other words you admit Pak is a maha failure, unlike India.
Jai: "In other words you admit Pak is a maha failure, unlike India."
Not as big a failure as India!
India remains home to the world's largest population of poor, hungry and sick people 64 years after independence.
http://www.riazhaq.com/2010/08/63-years-after-independence-india.html
Based on lots of recent international data from IFPRI, World Bank and UNICEF-WHO, Indians are hungrier, poorer and sicker with worse hygiene than Pakistanis.
And the "Shining India" crowd that talks about refusing billions in foreign aid is advocating a bigger folly as the Pakistani Punjab govt.
More negative news here
http://www.economist.com/node/21532322
Jai: "More negative news here
http://www.economist.com/node/21532322"
If you think it's good news for you, let me draw your attention to a report in Times of India:
At a time when US-Pakistan relations have hit an all time low, foreign minister S M Krishna on Thursday came up with his own advice to diffuse the situation. Describing the US and Pakistan as friendly powers, Krishna said they should sit across the table and sort out their differences to prevent any devastating consequences for other countries, particularly India.
Krishna's description of US and Pakistan as friendly powers comes at a time when government officials and experts believe that US for the first time seems keen on calling Islamabad's bluff in not reining in the Haqqani network. As US increases troop presence at the Af-Pak border near Waziristan, Pakistani army chief Ashfaq Perzez Kayani is reported have warned Washington that Pakistan cannot be treated like Afghanistan and Iran because it is a nuclear power.
"This question concerns the relationship between two friendly powers, the US and Pakistan. It is India's desire that all outstanding issues between them are settled across the table and thereby a situation created in the region which will be conducive for development," said Krishna, while addressing the media in the presence of his French counterpart Alain Juppe. He was asked about the ongoing flare-up in US-Pakistan relations.
"Anything which upsets the region will have devastating consequences for the developmental agenda of other countries, particularly India. So we sincerely hope they will be able to sort out their differences," he went on to add....
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Krishna-hopes-US-Pak-will-settle-differences-across-the-table/articleshow/10434831.cms
Before you cite data from Pakistan and India please note that World Bank relies on "secondary" sources in Pakistan unlike "primary" sources in India.
According to World Bank:
"Pakistan has both administrative and survey data sources, but both
have their limitations: administrative data are incomplete and unreliable; household survey data are representative only to the level of the province (not district) and there is a considerable lag between data collection and data availability."
Dhiraj: "Pakistan has both administrative and survey data sources, but both have their limitations"
Raising questions about data you don't like is the oldest trick in the book. It was tried against China for years even when the reality of China's extraordinary rapid development became obvious!
And you think India's data used by WB is more reliable?
Here's what the World Bank Data Group says: "At the World Bank, the focal point for statistical and data work is the Development Data Group (DECDG) in the Development Economics Vice Presidency. Working closely with the World Bank’s regions and sectors the department is guided by professional standards in the collection, compilation, and dissemination of data to ensure that all data users can have confidence in the quality and integrity of the data produced."
There are many many foreign independent visitors, even some Indians, who offer anecdotal evidence of life of ordinary Pakistanis being better than those of ordinary Indians.
For example, here's Wiliam Dalrymple in The Guardian article titled "The Poor Neighbor": "On the ground, of course, the reality is different and first-time visitors to Pakistan are almost always surprised by the country's visible prosperity. There is far less poverty on show in Pakistan than in India, fewer beggars, and much less desperation."
Another recent book "Pakistan-A Hard Country" by Anatol Lieven: "Pakistan lacks the huge concentrations of absolute poverty to be found in India's cities and countryside."
In a recent piece titled "Failed state? Try Pakistan's M2 motorway", Alistair Scrutton of Reuters summed it up as follows:"It (M2 motorway) puts paid to what's on offer in Pakistan's traditional foe and emerging economic giant India, where village culture stubbornly refuses to cede to even the most modern motorways, making them battlegrounds of rickshaws, lorries and cows."
Indian Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed:"India is worse than Bangladesh and Pakistan when it comes to nourishment and is showing little improvement in the area despite big money being spent on it".
Here's an AP report on US State Dept seeking funding for aid to Pakistan:
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is pledging robust assistance to Pakistan despite demands on U.S. finances and a sometimes rocky relationship with Islamabad, according to a status report on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The State Department report outlines U.S. goals in the region more than a decade after the Sept. 11 terror attacks triggered the war against al Qaeda, and the progress after billions of dollars have been spent and American lives lost. It also outlines the steps forward, looking ahead to the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces by the end of 2014.
The report was delivered to Congress on Thursday. The Associated Press obtained a copy.
"Though a tremendous amount has been accomplished, we also have no illusions about the task before us," the report said about Afghanistan. "We expect that ongoing violence, lack of institutional and human capacity, discrimination against women and vulnerable groups, and Afghanistan's incredibly low economic baseline will remain difficult challenges."
The report said the U.S. has reached its "high water mark" for civilian funding and the government in Kabul must move toward establishing revenue sources. The report said the U.S. will build a foundation for the Afghans to assume responsibility for their future.
On Pakistan, the department said the relationship with Islamabad "is not always easy, but it is vital to our national security and regional interests."
In fact, the relationship has been extremely strained the last few months to the point of breaking. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recently traveled to the region to pressure Pakistan to crack down on the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, a major threat to American forces in the region. Adm. Mike Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Pakistan's intelligence agency was a "veritable arm" of the Haqqani.
A low point came in May when U.S. forces found and killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden deep inside Pakistan.
Still, the administration insisted it will continue to provide civilian aid to Pakistan, which has fallen from $1.5 billion in the 2010 fiscal year to $1.1 billion this year. The report said next year's levels are uncertain, but the administration reaffirms its "commitment to providing robust, multi-year civilian assistant to Pakistan."
Unclear is how much Congress will push to reduce funds for Pakistan as lawmakers consider spending bills for the State Department and foreign operations.
The report suggested that a low-cost route toward improving stability in the region would be expanding U.S. market access for both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The department said it was seeking congressional authorization for creating a U.S.-Pakistan Enterprise Fund, similar to funds created in Eastern Europe and with the former Soviet states in the 1990s.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57318272/u.s-pledges-financial-aid-for-pakistan/
Here's an excerpt from a Dawn report on Ambassador Munter recounting how US AID has helped Pakistan over 50 years:
The US Ambassador further said Pakistanis who doubt that US assistance has borne fruit in Pakistan would be surprised to know that they have tasted it, adding, “Pakistan’s most popular citrus fruit, the kinoo, comes from California. USAID brought kinoo seeds to Pakistan in the 1960s. Today, we are helping export Pakistan’s sweetest fruit, the mango, in the other direction.”
“In the 1950s, we brought together the University of Karachi, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, and the University of Southern California to establish a campus in Karachi to meet the demand for business managers in the bustling port city.”
“USAID sponsored the project and the Institute of Business Administration became Pakistan’s first business school and one of the first outside of North America. IBA is recognized today as one of South Asia’s leading institutions,” he maintained.
Ambassador Munter said in 1965, Dr. Norman Borlaug, who later won the Nobel Prize for his contribution to agricultural research, came to Pakistan to introduce his new high-yielding variety of wheat.
“We worked with the Lyallpur Rotary Club to support a program that gave individual farmers a bushel of the new generation of seed if, when the harvest came in, they returned the bushel so we could give it to someone else. While modest in scope, this small project brought Lyallpur into the Green Revolution that in turn converted a food deficit region into an exporter of grains,” he added.
In the 1960s and ’70s, a consortium of U.S. construction firms employing Pakistanis, Americans, Brits, Canadians, Germans, and Irish built the two mighty dams of Tarbela and Mangla with USAID and World Bank financing, US Ambassador said, adding, “Those engineering feats – more complex than anywhere in the world at that time – soon accounted for 70 per cent of the country’s power output and made Pakistan a leading provider of clean energy.”
In the 1980s, the US Ambassador said, with USAID’s assistance, Pakistan’s private industry founded the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
“Pakistanis approached us with the idea for the new institution and we agreed to support it with a contribution of $ 10 million. Today, LUMS incubates the ideas and nurtures the leaders who are critical to Pakistan’s future,” he remarked.
Ambassador Munter said, since the inception of the Fulbright scholarship program, nearly 3,000 Pakistanis have studied in the United States and close to 1,000 Americans have studied in Pakistan, adding, today, the U.S. Fulbright program in Pakistan is the largest in the world.
Key to all these successes was that Pakistanis owned them.
We may have helped sow the seeds but Pakistanis made sure the flowers blossomed, he said, adding, “aid is a catalyst and its success depends on those who receive it.”
“So today, while we help complete dams in Gomal Zam and Satpara and rehabilitate power plants in Muzaffargarh and Jamshoro, only Pakistanis can put an end to circular debt by paying their bills and holding the system accountable.”
“While we work to cultivate international markets for Pakistan’s fruit and fashion, only Pakistanis can deliver quality products that can compete. While we pay for road construction in South Waziristan, only Pakistanis can provide the local population with economic opportunities to make use of those roads.
While we build schools in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, only Pakistanis can ensure that qualified teachers show up to teach in them,” the US Ambassador maintained.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/11/04/pakistan-us-relationship-dogged-by-history-munter.html
Here's a news story on US civilian aid to Pakistan:
In a written reply to a question raised at the daily press briefing, the State Department said, “Civilian assistance to Pakistan continues and has not been interrupted since the tragic Nov. 26 incident.”
“Since the passage of the Kerry-Lugar-Berman legislation in October 2009, the U.S. government has disbursed $2.2 billion in civilian assistance, including approximately $550 million in emergency humanitarian assistance,” said the statement, adding, “In FY 2011 specifically, we disbursed approximately $855 million (not including any emergency humanitarian assistance).”
With the majority of Pakistanis claiming they see no evidence of U.S. economic assistance, Washington still struggles to fashion an effective program of civilian aid. However, data provided by the U.S. State Department created a different impression.
“In 2011 the people of the United States supported the construction of 210 kilometers of road in FATA and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, funded the world’s largest Fulbright exchange program, and sponsored initiatives promoting private sector growth and civil society development in Pakistan,” said the statement.
http://gantdaily.com/2012/01/20/u-s-confirms-no-interruption-in-flow-of-american-taxpayer-dollars-to-pakistan/
Here is a News report on US Aid for Pakistani universities:
The United States will build new Faculty of Education buildings at six Pakistani universities and renovate a seventh education facility, as part of an agreement signed Wednesday between the universities and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), said Karen Freeman, USAID Deputy Director for Pakistan.
She stated this while addressing the signing ceremony of a memorandum of Understanding for construction and rehabilitation of faculty of education buildings, says a press release. The construction will take place over the next two year and the new and renovated buildings will eventually house approximately 2,000 students of two new teaching degrees: the four year Bachelor’ Degree in Education and a two-year Associate Degree in Education in teaching that USAID helped design and introduce in order to increase quality of teacher preparation across the country and 100 faculty members each year.
“Pakistan and the United States have enjoyed a long and productive relationship that spans more than 60 years and covers a variety of fields. Today’s ceremony is yet another expression of the US Government’s long-term commitment to help build a stronger, more prosperous Pakistan,” she added.
“It gives me great pleasure to be here with you today to witness the signing of the MoU between the seven of country’s public universities and two of USAID implementing partners for the construction and rehabilitation of Faculty of Education buildings across the country. The contribution to the Pakistani education system is yet another example of the US long-term commitment to helping Pakistan address its development priorities.
“Our collaboration in higher education sector spans more than five decades. One of our first undertakings in this sector was the construction of the Institute of Education and Research at the University of Punjab in 1960s. fifty years later, this institute continues to help the country shape its education policies. Over the years, we have worked together to build more higher education institutions that have since become premier centres for knowledge and learning. I am very proud to list among such the Institute of Business administration in Karachi, the Lahore University of Management Sciences, the Faisalabad Agriculture University as well as the Peshawar Agriculture University, and many more,” she said.
Karen Freeman said: “I am happy that through today’s commitment we are continuing this tradition of supporting Pakistan in its efforts to develop strong education institutions.” She said that these new facilities will help attract and train best young minds to teaching profession and will help improve the professional knowledge and skills of many other teachers.
Higher Education Commission Chairman Dr. Javaid Laghari appreciated the efforts of the US Government for improving the quality of education across the country. The $15 million construction initiative was officially launched today at the Higher Education Commission, where representatives of the USAID signed MoU with representatives of the seven universities. As part of the agreement, the US will construct new Faculty of Education buildings at the Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University in Quetta; the Hazara University in Mansehra; the University of Education in Lahore; the University of Sindh in Hyderabad; the University of Karachi in Karachi; and the Sardar Abdul Latif University in Khairpur (Sindh). The US will also help renovate the Institute of Education and Research at the University of the Punjab.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=90967&Cat=6&dt=2/3/2012
Here are excepts of an Op Ed by Andrew Michell, British secretary of DFID, published in The News:
Over the last year, the UK has worked closely with Pakistan to deliver strong results, including supporting nearly half a million children in school; providing practical job training to more than 1,100 poor people in Punjab; providing microfinance loans to more than one hundred thousand people across Pakistan so they can start small businesses and lift their families out of poverty; and helping millions of people affected by the floods in 2010 and 2011.
Education is the single most important factor that can transform Pakistan’s future. With a population that is expected to increase by 50 per cent in less than forty years, it is worrying that half the country’s adults can’t read or write, and that more than a third of primary school aged children are not in school. That’s why the UK is committed to working in partnership with Pakistan to tackle its education emergency.
If educated, healthy and working, this burgeoning youth population will provide a demographic boost to drive Pakistan’s economic growth and unlock Pakistan’s potential on the global stage.
That’s why education is the UK’s top priority and why over the next four years, the UK will work in partnership with Pakistan to:
* support four million children in school;
* recruit and train 90,000 new teachers;
* provide more than six million text book sets; and
* construct or rebuild more than 43,000 classrooms.
Every full year of extra schooling across the population increases economic growth by up to one percentage point, as more people with better reading, writing, and maths skills enter the workforce.
The UK government is also working with Pakistan to empower and protect women and girls, to end violence against them and to help harness their talent and productivity. I welcome the legislation recently passed by Pakistan’s parliament that bans domestic violence, and congratulate Pakistan on its first Oscar for an outstanding film which throws the international spotlight on the horrific crime of acid attacks on women.
Other priorities for the UK include working with Pakistan to prevent 3,600 mothers dying in childbirth; enabling 500,000 couples to choose when and how many children they have; providing practical job training (such as car mechanics, cooks, weavers, carpenters, etc) to tens of thousands of people living in poverty; and enable millions of people, half of them women, to access financial services such as microfinance loans so they can earn more money and lift their families out of poverty.
The UK’s aid to Pakistan could potentially more than double, to become the UK’s largest recipient of aid. However this increase in UK aid is dependent on securing value for money and results, and linked to the Government of Pakistan’s own progress on reform at both the federal and provincial levels. This includes taking steps to build a more dynamic economy, strengthen the country’s tax base, and tackle corruption.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-97151-UK-and-Pakistan-partners-for-the-long-term
Here's an excerpt from Dawn report on Punjab's economy:
The slowing regional growth has led to contraction in Punjab’s share in the national economy to 54.9 per cent in 2011 from 55.5 per cent in 2000 and 55.7 per cent in 2007.
Punjab’s economy, according to the IPP, is composed of 24 per cent agriculture (17 per cent for the rest of Pakistan and 20.9 per cent for Pakistan), 21.2 per cent industry (31 per cent for the rest of Pakistan and 25.8 per cent for Pakistan) and 54.8 per cent services (52 per cent for the rest of Pakistan and 53.3 per cent for Pakistan). The provincial economy’s sectoral composition signifies relative importance of agriculture in its economy and underdevelopment of industry as compared to the rest of Pakistan, says the IPP.
The report identifies three major factors that have dragged down economic growth in Punjab in recent years: decreasing water availability for agriculture, growing energy crunch for industry and declining public sector investment in economic infrastructure.
The IPP points out that performance of agriculture plays a major part in the economic growth of the province. During the last few years, it contends, the performance of agriculture sector has been disappointing, especially of major crops that have shown little growth since 2007 due to growing water shortages and rising fertiliser prices. Wheat production was virtually stagnant and output of sugarcane and cotton dropped by 10 per cent and 17 per cent respectively. The only crop with significant growth of 26 per cent was rice. In addition, there was hardly any growth in minor crops. Given the relatively large share of agriculture in the regional (Punjab) economy, the growth rate is likely to be lower because even in good years agriculture is unlikely to average a growth rate above four to five per cent,” it underlines.
The annual average agriculture growth rate in Punjab declined to just one per cent between 2007 and 2011 from 3.3 per cent between 2000 and 2007. In contrast, the average agriculture growth rate rose to three per cent for the rest of Pakistan from 2.5 per cent.
Growing energy shortages have affected industrial output in Punjab disproportionately, according to the report. There has been cumulative drop in gas consumption in the province of 13 per cent in the last few years compared to an increase of 16 per cent in the rest of Pakistan, especially in Sindh.
Similarly, increase in electricity consumption since 2007 has been restricted to only two per cent compared to six per cent in the rest of Pakistan. Punjab’s share in the national production of cotton yarn, for example, dropped from 33 per cent in 2007 to 29 per cent in 2011 and in cotton cloth from 43 per cent to 37 per cent.
Additionally, the report underlines the weaker presence in Punjab of industry producing consumer durable and construction inputs compared to Sindh as another factor for slower growth. “In the peak of business cycle, industries producing consumer durables like automobiles and industries providing construction inputs like cement show very high growth rates. During 2003 and 2007, for example, production of automobiles showed extraordinarily high growth rate of 31 per cent. The growth rate of cement industry was also high at 18 per cent.
http://dawn.com/2012/05/21/punjabs-lost-growth-momentum/
SEPTEMBER 27,2011: Can Pak Tell US: Take This Aid and Shove It!
http://alturl.com/2qc34
"Aid only postpones the basic solutions to crucial development problems by tentatively ameliorating their manifestations without tackling their root causes. The structural, political, economic, etc. damage that it inflicts upon recipient countries is also enormous...."
----And then ONLY 3 Weeks later---
OCTOBER 19,2011: Punjab's Rejection of US Aid Hurts the Poor
http://alturl.com/n4xhv
"The Punjab government led by PML's Shahbaz Sharif spurned US aid slated for welfare projects.... The popular move was motivated by politics to capitalize on a wave of anti-American anger....the decision's outsized impact on the poor is now coming to light...."
----
Well? One-year later have you finally made up your mind?
Does Aid HELP the poor by way of providing relief in the short-term MORE than the it HARMS them by increasing dependency in the long-term?
What do you now think?
HWJ: "Does Aid HELP the poor by way of providing relief in the short-term MORE than the it HARMS them by increasing dependency in the long-term?"
It depends on what it funds.
A good example of aid funding is the US aid for Green Revolution in 1960s which has done long-term good for both India and Pakistan.
Other good examples are foreign aid funding education and healthcare programs which have long-term positive effects.
Here's a News story on British aid for social sector development in Pakistan:
ISLAMABAD: United Kingdom’s (UK) Department for International Development (DFID) has committed to provide £266 million in shape of grants to Pakistan during the current fiscal year in areas of education, poverty alleviation, development in Balochistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), as disclosed during the House of Commons Committee’s review meeting.
The objective of the meeting was to assess aid effectiveness being provided by the UK to Pakistan over the medium term. “During the review meeting, the UK delegation pressed upon Islamabad authorities to improve the country’s fiscal situation by mobilising tax revenues and abolishing untargeted subsidies,” said an official source.
“Aid provided by the DFID would gradually increase by up to £446 million by 2014-15,” said Javed Iqbal, secretary of Economic Affairs Division. “The DFID is providing financial assistance to enhance the number of enrolled children in school by up to four million as well as for other areas, including health, poverty alleviation and improved governance.”
DFID has planned to provide £155 million to the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) for unconditional cash transfer over medium to long term, while another £124 million would be provided for conditional cash transfer under the BISP programme under Waseela-e-Taleem programme. “DFID would provide four million pounds for the Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) under the World Bank’s supervision to undertake development projects in Balochistan and FATA,” said an official source.
According to DFID’s findings, almost 60 million Pakistanis – equivalent to the entire UK population – lives below the food poverty line. Pakistan is off-track on the education and health millennium development goals. Half of all adults, and two out of every three women, are illiterate. One in eleven children die before their fifth birthday and 14,000 mothers die during childbirth.
This entrenched poverty leads to suffering, lost opportunity and a sense of grievance; all of which undermine Pakistan’s long-term stability and prosperity. Comparatively poor data in Pakistan and frequent crises exacerbate the challenge of assessing development programmes.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-3-145839-DFID-to-provide-%C2%A3266-million-for-development
^^RH:"It depends on what it funds....Other good examples are foreign aid funding education and healthcare programs which have long-term positive effects"
----
What else would foreign AID be funding? Cocaine and hookers?
I think you may have misunderstood WHY Aid harms nations. According to Damibisa Moyo, it is precisely the continuing funding of education & healthcare programs by foreign aid that creates the maximum harm.
She explains that this sort of foreign charity allows the local governing elite to shirk their responsibility to their own people and so prevents the emergence of a viable State.
In her analysis, excessive and continuing foreign aid CREATES failed states. She has also pointed to Pakistan as an example of the dangers of continuing aid dependency. She says that our government in Islamabad is more accountable to Western-donor countries like US, Britain, Europe and less accountable to the Pakistani people.....
http://alturl.com/ovxze
HWJ: "I think you may have misunderstood WHY Aid harms nations. According to Damibisa Moyo,..."
Moyo also thinks US aid for Green Revolution made a huge difference in South Asia.
Also read Jeffrey Sachs' response to Moyo's arguments:
The debate about foreign aid has become farcical. The big opponents of aid today are Dambisa Moyo, an African-born economist who reportedly received scholarships so that she could go to Harvard and Oxford but sees nothing wrong with denying $10 in aid to an African child for an anti-malaria bed net. Her colleague in opposing aid, Bill Easterly, received large-scale government support from the National Science Foundation for his own graduate training.
I certainly don't begrudge any of them the help that they got. Far from it. I believe in this kind of help. And I'd find Moyo's views cruel and mistaken even she did not get the scholarships that have been reported (Easterly mentioned his receipt of NSF support in the same book in which he denounces aid). I begrudge them trying to pull up the ladder for those still left behind. Before peddling their simplistic concoction of free markets and self-help, they and we should think about the realities of life, in which all of us need help at some time or other and in countless ways, and even more importantly we should think about the life-and-death consequences for impoverished people who are denied that help.....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-sachs/aid-ironies_b_207181.html
^^^RH:"Moyo also thinks US aid for Green Revolution made a huge difference in South Asia.
Also read Jeffrey Sachs' response to Moyo's arguments.."
---
Again, a misunderstanding.
The key word that makes Aid a disaster is "continuing".
The Green Revolution aid was short, specific to a task and wrapped up at its conclusion. Damisa has always said that this sort of aid is not harmful and may even help under certain circumstances.
The Green Revolution aid was not "continuing, perpetual aid".
Jeff Sachs has also misunderstood what Dambisa has been saying. Dambisa's Harvard scholarship was NOT a basic responsibility of Zambia's government that they happend to shirk. Those scholarships are offered to student from rich countries as well. However, the malaria-net issue that Sachs mentions IS indeed a basic responsibility of the local governing elite that they have been continuously shirking for 40 years. And the reason they can get away with shirking their responsibilities is precisely because the aid KEEPS ON COMING IN without any end. This is what Dambisa has been critisizing as responsible for creating the Failed State Syndrome.
Here is Dambisa's RESPONSE TO Jeff Sachs that was published in the same paper that you are quoting (Huffington post)---
http://alturl.com/xnycg
HWJ: "The Green Revolution aid was short, specific to a task and wrapped up at its conclusion."
Green Revolution aid lasted ten years...there was nothing short of sharp about it.
I do think that aid should be project oriented rather than undifferentiated budgetary support that fuels corruption.
There are plenty of education, health care and infrastructure projects that aid (govt, IFI and private) can and should fund in former colonies for capacity building to enable the recipient nations to get up on their own feet.
^^^RH: "Green Revolution aid lasted ten years...there was nothing short of sharp about it....
....There are plenty of education, health care and infrastructure projects that aid (govt, IFI and private) can and should fund in former colonies for capacity building to enable the recipient nations to get up on their own feet."
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(1) Ten years is very short and very sharp when you consider the time-scale and reach-extent of the ongoing aid programs in Africa. South-Korea also received GR aid for about 10 years.
In addition, remember that the Green revolution was a true technology-transfer. Third-world countries did not have the technology, so they could not have done it on their own. Help was absolutely required in that case.
(2)However, all the other items you mention, like education, vaccination, drinking water are not problems created by the lack of availability of technology.
These are problems created because the governing elite are shirking the responsibility of the State.
If Pakistan's leaders wanted to do something about education, healthcare, water-supply et cetera, they could EASILY do it with LOCAL resources by making people PAY THEIR fair share of TAXES.
But as long as the British, Americans & Europeans keep sending in "free money", our feudal elite will keep shirking their responsibilities. Why should they do the right thing, when they know that Western do-gooders are going to keep doing it for them? This is what Dambisa is saying.
Here is an excellent article by an authority on Pakistan's foreign aid program that decribes this shameless shirking of responsibility:
http://alturl.com/2yhwx
USAID helping boost Pakistan’s chili production
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/246635-usaid-helping-boost-pakistans-chili-production
The U.S.-Pakistan Partnership for Agricultural Market Development (AMD), along with the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and Government of Sindh held a conference in Karachi that brought together public-private stakeholders to discuss issues and challenges pertaining to Pakistan’s chili sector.
USAID Deputy Mission Director Oghale Oddo, Federal Secretary Ministry of National Food Security & Research, Fazal Abbas Mekan, and Secretary Agriculture, Government of Sindh, Sajid Jamal Abro, participated.
“We are proud of the role USAID has played for many years to support the development of Pakistan’s agriculture sector. The U.S. government is hopeful that these efforts will help Pakistan emerge as a major player in the international market,” said Deputy Mission Director Oghale Oddo. “We are confident that we can help Pakistani chili exports become more competitive in the international arena by introducing innovative technology and providing technical assistance.”
Through discussions and interaction during the conference, stakeholders reviewed and endorsed AMD’s efforts and shared solutions to problems faced by the industry.
USAID launched the U.S.-Pakistan Partnership for Agricultural Market Development in February 2015 to improve the ability of Pakistan's commercial agriculture and livestock sectors to compete in international and national markets in the four target product lines; meat, high value and off season vegetables, mangoes, and citrus.
This partnership acts as a catalyst for development and investment in the target product lines, helps improve the quality and increase the quantity of exportable agricultural produce, and promotes cooperation among farmers, processers, exporters, and buyers of Pakistani agricultural products in international (non-U.S.) markets thus resulting in increased incomes and generating employment opportunities for Pakistani people working in the targeted product line.
William K. Makaneole, the US Consul-General at Lahore, stated this in an exclusive panel interview with 'The News' and Jang, conducted through email questions and answers.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/923951-overline-fiscal-years-2018-19-headline-us-single-largest-grant-contributor-to-pakistan
He said the US partners with six universities on American Spaces called "Lincoln Corners" in Punjab; several exchange programs take Pakistanis to the US who contribute to Pakistan's development with their newly acquired perspective and experience after joining Pakistan-US Alumni Network (PUAN); Pakistan hosts the world's largest Fulbright Program; the US has collaborated on a range of projects in agriculture, livestock, business development/entrepreneurship, education, health, governance, and energy sectors; vocational training has enabled entrepreneurship opportunities for 10,000 youths in four districts ofSouth Punjab; the US believes that all foreign assistance and investment to Pakistan should apply the highest international standards of openness, inclusivity, transparency, and governance; the US remains one of the largest providers of civilian assistance to Pakistan.
Following are the details of the interview: —
The News/Jang: What is the current scale of cultural cooperation with Punjab, including between governments, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector.?
US CG: Our Public Affairs Section at the Consulate implements a wide range of cultural and educational programs. We work on projects to conserve cultural heritage, sites such as the restoration of the Wazir Khan Mosque and surrounding areas, and we promote economic opportunities through our exchange programs and support for women entrepreneurs. We empower the youth through sports camps and English language training, and we partner with community colleges in Punjab to collaborate with American counterparts to strengthen higher education.
We partner with six universities on American Spaces in Punjab: Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Multan, and Vehari. At these American Spaces, called "Lincoln Corners," you can find information about the United States, English language learning opportunities, US 'study abroad' advice, cultural programs, and other activities. Visitors gain free access to Wi-Fi and current and reliable information about the US through books, magazines, videos, internet databases, and programs for the public. Visitors can also access cutting-edge technology like 3D printers, virtual reality headsets, and other Makerspace technology.
We collaborate on several exchange programs to bring Pakistanis to the United States. When the exchange program participants return home, we encourage them to join our Pakistan-US Alumni Network (PUAN), through which they can contribute to the development of Pakistan with their newly acquired perspective and experience. There are over 10,000 alumni across Punjab province - a larger network than in many countries around the world. PUAN selects its own leadership every year through a democratic process and acts as a liaison between the US Mission and the community. The US government contributes seed funding for the alumni to take on projects that benefit their communities.
Lastly, through EducationUSA, we provide free advising to prospective students in Pakistan seeking to study in the United States.
Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
USAID, like the National Endowment for Democracy, are well-documented CIA fronts that are designed to manipulate other countries' internal politics for the benefits of DC elites and nobody else in the US.
Both agencies have wrought destruction and can't die soon enough:
https://x.com/ggreenwald/status/1886111807372148905
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Nayib Bukele
@nayibbukele
Most governments don’t want USAID funds flowing into their countries because they understand where much of that money actually ends up.
While marketed as support for development, democracy, and human rights, the majority of these funds are funneled into opposition groups, NGOs with political agendas, and destabilizing movements.
At best, maybe 10% of the money reaches real projects that help people in need (there are such cases), but the rest is used to fuel dissent, finance protests, and undermine administrations that refuse to align with the globalist agenda.
Cutting this so-called aid isn’t just beneficial for the United States; it’s also a big win for the rest of the world.
https://x.com/nayibbukele/status/1886059275174506850
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These Are The Top USAID Recipients—From Religious Groups To Major U.S. Companies—As Trump Targets Agency
https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/02/03/these-are-the-top-usaid-recipients-from-religious-groups-to-major-us-companies-as-trump-targets-agency/
The Trump administration’s push to eliminate the U.S. Agency for International Development threatens billions of dollars in funding across both the for- and non-profit sectors—prompting chaos among USAID staff in Washington and panic among organizations the agency helps fund.
The USAID budget totalled $43.4 billion in fiscal year 2023, according to the Congressional Research Service, and approximately 130 countries received USAID assistance—Europe and Eurasia received 40% of the funding ($17.2 billion), since Ukraine was the top foreign recipient for USAID in fiscal year 2023
Ryan Grim
@ryangrim
That USAID paid for Pakistan's election commission to oversee an election that was flagrantly stolen by the military isn't actually "waste," I'd argue, because it served American interests to prop up the military dictatorship. We got what we paid for.
https://x.com/ryangrim/status/1887882731230769534
hamza
@Hamzakk
House resolution 901 asked for "full and independent investigation of claims of interference or irregularities in Pakistan’s February 2024 election".
However,
@ECP_Pakistan
, which received more than 15 million US taxpayer $, is blocking these investigations.
Here's how🧵👇
1/n
https://x.com/Hamzakk/status/1810415178187739320
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