The Effects of War and Peace on Foreign Aid Term Paper

The Effects of War and Peace on Foreign Aid - barrier Paper ExampleBefore a state donates I suggest its leaders consider carefully what goals it wishes o accomplish with their donation and assess critically the prospects for accomplishing these goals. For example, aid may be siphoned off by an elite and not reach the intended beneficiaries, or it may not be the best mien to help the recipients develop their own resources. Or the provision of aid may have unintended unseemly consequences. For example, Rwanda has received considerable foreign aid and although by some criteria it has benefited from this aid, much of the population has not profited. In fact, it has helped perpetuate and even exacerbate sectarian inequalities which could easily bring a return to the elegant warfare and genocide of 1994. While there is no longer a genocide or overt civil war in Rwanda it can by no means be described as a peaceful country. Hostility and distrust continue to prevail between the ruling mi nority urban Tutsis and the bulk poverty-stricken agrarian Hutu. And overt civil war could break out at any age long after the 1994 genocide. Thus although Rwanda has received a massive infusion of foreign aid this has disproportionately benefited the elite Tutsis. On the validatory side, Rwanda is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa on track to amass all health-related UN goals including reducing under5 mortality by two thirds. Also since 1994 per capita income has almost tripled and GDP quadrupled. ( Farmer 2013) However, these positive statistics hide significant disparities in ethnic aid beneficiaries. More than half of the aid received is distributed with Tutsi dominated government institutions so that it benefits mostly already comparatively better off Tutsis rather than the impoverished Hutus ( Farmer 2013)) Thus even though statistics indicate overall per capita income and GDP have risen rural Hutus who make up 84% of the population remain impoverished, (Endless and Hakizimana 2009).