International Assistance Essential for Peace, Prosperity



	International Assistance Essential for Peace, Prosperity Brandon Sun “Small World” Column, Monday, March 3 / 25 Zack Gross Amid all the far-reaching changes that US President Donald Trump and his government are bringing about in our world today, one of the worst is the crippling of USAID, the American international aid program. Full disclosure, I have spent my adult life and career working and volunteering for, and donating to, Canadian aid organizations. There are a lot of myths that need to be challenged about developing countries and aid programs, and a lot of good that needs to be pointed out and celebrated. The alternative is a world of conflict, disease, poverty and abuse. For the sake of a short article like this, I’ll break down the advantages of “foreign aid” into two categories – altruism and self-interest, or what we can also call humanitarianism and strategic considerations. I have witnessed firsthand the improvement that effective aid programs can bring to poor communities. It is no different than helping our poor locally through food banks, employment creation programs, educational bursaries and diversity/equity/inclusiveness efforts. Some might argue that we should focus solely at home and not help those overseas. That is short-sighted because in our global village everything really is local. A war overseas has consequences here. A disease spreading far away will soon affect us here. Refugees and immigration created by poverty and abuse a world away will impact our social issues here – housing, social programs, border issues. Our locally-based international development organization, the Marquis Project, as one example, has delivered aid programs in East Africa and Central America for more than a generation, and we can see significant improvement in the lives of people we’ve worked with. It might be health education, agricultural extension, entrepreneurial or technical training, or environmental management, but in all cases it has led to a more prosperous and peaceful life for those affected. Our humanitarian efforts have garnered the Brandon-Westman area national awards and a reputation as a creative, caring region. People who oppose development assistance, whether in the US or in Canada, say that the governments and aid providers in the poor world are corrupt, that no aid actually gets through. They also might say that “those people” are uneducated, lazy and not too bright. I have heard this from people who’ve been influenced by social media or who’ve taken brief trips to tourist locations and made quick decisions about what they’ve experienced. When one looks at the quality of criticisms of our aid programs, maybe it is us who are uninformed, cynical and selfish. Many Canadians also believe that huge amounts of our GDP are spent on foreign aid, often in the range of 5%, 10% or even 25%, but in fact the number is very small, just 0.37% of GDP or just 37 cents for every $100. US foreign aid spending is also well under 1%. The original impetus for foreign aid spending by Western nations took place after the Second World War when the globe endured the Cold War, divided into capitalist and communist blocs. Both sides thought that a way to enlist the support of the emerging nations coming out of the colonial period was to offer them aid. This strategic aspect of our aid programs continues today. If we drop our humanitarian and development programs, other interests, such as China and Russia, are happy to take our place and change the balance of geopolitics. It is already happening. Our rivals for global influence are out there building roads and railways, mining and enhancing trade, leaving us isolated. People who work in development assistance and those who support them with donations and volunteer time are motivated in many ways. Some do it because their religious convictions lean in that direction, to do unto others as they would have others treat them. Some seek justice, concerned that our colonial past, our trade policies or our political alliances harm innocent people and need to be redressed. Some enjoy the diversity of culture, the possibility of mutually beneficial business relationships and the joy of travel as positives in our world. And some fear that if we don’t do our part, someone else whom we don’t trust will jump in. On a trip to East Africa (which I paid for myself) about ten years ago, I met with a group of young adults in Tanzania whom the Marquis Project had supported in business education, helping them to imagine a better life and then set up personal agendas to achieve their goals. A young man came up to me and shook my hand in the African style and said “Thanks for what you’ve done. I hope that you will still be with us into the future”. That solidarity to continue our humanitarian efforts is what is needed, not backsliding into cynicism and selfishness. Zack Gross is Board Chair of The Marquis Project, a Brandon-based international development organization, and co-author of the new book The Fair Trade Handbook: Building a Better World, Together. * * * * * Return to Articles page