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Thursday, July 06, 2006

Phantom Aid Versus Real Aid

"Too much aid continues to be identified, designed and managed by donors. It is tied to their countries' own firms, is poorly coordinated and is based on a set of assumptions about expatriate expertise and recipient ignorance."

One quarter of the aid provided by rich countries - or $20bn a year - funds expensive and often ineffective western consultants, research and training instead of going directly to the people who need it most: In Cambodia, for example, consultants fees were $17,000 a month while government salaries were only $40. In Ghana, even relatively inexperienced consultants earned per day what government officials earned in a month. In Sierra Leone, according to one former UK-funded consultant, daily take-home pay was the same as the Auditor General's monthly salary...- ActionAid.

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