This has been an interesting topic lately, one that has hit home for both of us and is making us take a long hard look at how development & aid agencies are working.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXWIUg30Cpk&hl=en&fs=1]

Below are some related articles from the Globe and Mail…

‘We’re not idiots. We’re adults. We can run our own society’
Dambisa Moyo is rattling the aid community’s cage. The young economist born in Zambia argues that foreign largesse is Africa’s curse. In conversation with The Globe and Mail’s Margaret Wente, she explains why

Banned aid
How Canada’s decision to restrict foreign aid is affecting Malawi

Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa

I plan to get my hands on a copy of this book as soon as I can. I feel like the analysis of this book will have a striking resemblence to the aid & development sitution here in Nepal. VSO Nepal has been here for almost 50 years and many other INGO’s (UNDP, UNHCR, Peace Corps, Unicef, etc.) have probably been here for much longer AND Nepal is still dependent on them (90% of Nepal’s budget is from foreign aid, 95% of NGO’s budget dependent on donor funding).

What is wrong with this picture?