Are we obligated to provide Government aid in order to help people in other countries - Essay Example

Inserts His/her Inserts Inserts Grade Inserts Here (Day, Month, Year) Topic Foreign aid (developmental aid) is the financial assistance which is provided to developing countries by different non government organizations (NGOs) and developed countries. Foreign aid or (development assistance) is often regarded as being too much, or wasted on corrupt recipient governments despite any good intentions from donor countries. (Anup Shah) Foreign aid consists of both developmental aid and humanitarian aid. The nations of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is an organization of several developed countries, that provide help to under developed countries in order to boost up their economic social and political development. The aid provided by OECD is known as official developmental aid (ODA). This aid is provided to different countries on the basis of certain terms and conditions. (OECD) Though, this aid provides great assistance to underdeveloped countries but it also has certain ethical drawbacks. Foreign assistance may result in exploitation by benefactor countries. The countries giving foreign aid may also interfere in the cultural and domestic affairs of the Recipient country. Moreover, this assistance may reach the wrong hands which may affect the correct and appropriate use of this aid. All these drawbacks are generally accepted by the public and government of donor and Recipient countries but these are the arguments which are held against the foreign aids by different scholarly and philosophical point of views. The world is composed of different nations that are trying to maintain their economic and social stability. If we divide the world into poor and rich nations, we will realize that two third of the nations of the world are extremely poor and the remaining one third are extremely rich. It is obvious that the poor nations desperately need the assistance and help of the rich nations for their development but this help can be hazardous if each of the rich nations follows its own unrealistic philosophy of equity and justice. In order to make this aid and assistance fruitful we need a governing force that can ensure the appropriate and justifiable use of the foreign aid. But if we look into the practical world we will realize that there is a lack of proper governing body as U.N is not strong enough to implement any policy against the will of its strong and influential members. We should also keep in mind that rich countries do not provide aid for free they gain something from it as well, such as the right to manipulate the decisions of the recipient countries according to their will and to have the right to have a say in their domestic matters. They also provide aid to some under developed countries so that they can forcefully get the military assistance of these countries for their selfish interests. An example of this can be seen in Pakistan, while United States of America donates huge amounts of money to Pakistan it asks for the military assistance of Pakistan in return. Pakistan provides military assistance to America in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan. (The Times of India) Though this norm is acceptable to the people and the government of these countries most of the NGOs and scholars are against it as it is not ethical to exploit the human resources of the recipient country because you are providing aid to them. But this assistance has some advantages as well because by providing military assistance Pakistan along with the United States of America can play a part in getting rid of terrorism. Another major drawback is the interference in the cultural and domestic matters of the recipient country. The financial aid provided by the donor country does not give it the right to interfere in the interstate matters of the recipient country. A recent example of this issue is the protest against Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, when this protest grew wilder; the United States of America used its influence and asked Hosni Mubarak to resign from the presidency of Egypt. America left Hosni Mubarak with a do or die situation. He had only two choices; either to resign or America will withdraw its financial aid. This intervention was unethical because each country has a right to solve and handle its domestic affairs without any interference from any other country even if it has given financial aid to that country. (Mark Lynch) Another issue against financial aid is that the donor does not always know that whether the aid is falling in the right hands or not. If an aid is provided for the development of a social institution in the capital of a country where most of the political personalities reside with their families then they might use this aid for their own benefits rather than for the development of the social institution. For example, the U.N is planning to extend the aid that is given to North Korea to 3.5 million dollars, but is it ethical to give such huge aid to a country which uses most of its capital and savings on the development of the armed forces and which shares very violent relationship with almost all the nations of the world. How can U.N be sure that the aid provided by it will be consumed on appropriate and suitable development projects rather than on military or nuclear power plants? But on the other hand if U.N. will refuse to provide the aid then would it be ethical to overlook the rights of millions of people because of the wrong doings of their government. Official developmental aid programs have certain ethical arguments against them. Though, the donor countries are accused of intervention in domestic matters of the recipient countries and it is said that the donor countries also have their own selfish interest in their mind while giving financial aid but this intervention and selfish interest is beneficent for the recipients as well. As discussed in the above examples if there would not have been an intervention by U.S.A. then Egypt would have ended in a civil war. And if U.S.A has its own interest in mind while providing aid to Pakistan then this interest is helping the world to get rid of Terrorism. Moreover if the OECD will stop providing financial aid to different countries just because they do not know whether it is reaching the right hands or not then it will condemn the rights of millions of other people who strongly need this aid. References Shah. A, Foreign Aid for Development Assistance, 2011. http://www.globalissues.org/article/35/foreign-aid-development-assistance OECD, OECD Online, Web. 2011. http://www.oecd.org/home/0,2987,en_2649_201185_1_1_1_1_1,00.html “Pakistan got $18bn aid from US since 2001”, The Times of India, The Times of India Online, 2010, Web. 2011. < http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-02-23/pakistan/28138643_1_civilian-aid-counterinsurgency-capability-fund-civilian-assistance> Lynch, M. America and Egypt after the Uprisings, 2011. < http://www.iiss.org/publications/survival/survival-2011/year-2011-issue-2/america-and-egypt-after-the-uprisings/> Read More