From poverty to power - Oxfam-Québec

5 THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM AIDthe same scale, INGOs are also raising and spending much more thanever before.Politically, the rise of new donors enhances the bargaining powerof poor countries and thus their ability to avoid damaging conditions.At the same time it undercuts the often overstated clout of donors topressure for human rights and governance reforms. In addition, aswill be explored below, it vastly complicates the picture regarding aidaccountability.TABLE 5.2: THREE GRAND NARRATIVES ON AID:SACHS, EASTERLY, AND COLLIER COMPAREDThe aid optimist:Jeffrey Sachs(The End of Poverty)Core argument: diagnosisAn aid optimist: extremepoverty can be eradicatedwithin a generation.Poverty trap: povertyitself leads to underinvestmentin basicservices, which depletespoor people’s capital stockand leads to deeperpoverty.Hostile geography:remote, landlocked, ormountainous countriesface huge additionalobstacles.The aid pessimist:William Easterly(White Man’s Burden)An aid pessimist: aid hasfailed because it isplanned from the topdown, without accountabilitystructures andwithout feedback fromthe people served. Itcreates perverse incentives(e.g. promotionbased on how muchmoney you manage todisburse) that have littleto do with developmentor poverty reduction.In contrast with top-down‘Planners’, bottom-up‘Searchers’ find out whatlocal people want, andsupply it using marketmechanisms. Searchersnimbly adapt to localconditions, and keep thecustomer satisfied. Theyunderstand incentivesand accountability.Paul Collier(The Bottom Billion)Four ‘traps’ keep a billionpeople excluded fromglobal prosperity:The Conflict Trap;The Natural ResourcesTrap (too much ratherthan too little);Being Landlocked withBad Neighbours;Bad Governance.Collier analyses fourinstruments to dealwith these:AidSecurity (i.e. militaryintervention)International laws andchartersTrade policy.359