U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton warns developing nations to be cautious about foreign aid

U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton warns developing nations to be cautious about foreign aid

United States Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has advised the developing nations to be cautious about accepting a helping hand from new emerging powers in the region.

Clinton said, "There is another step that developing countries need to take to be smart shoppers.”

She added that emerging economic nations like China may tend to exploit the natural resources of a developing nation. They might disguise their intentions in the wrap of development ideas.

"Be wary of donors who are more interested in extracting your resources than in building your capacity. Some funding might help fill short-term budget gaps, but we’ve seen time and again that these quick fixes won’t produce self-sustaining results,” Clinton
added.

Clinton delivered the warning to a global summit on development and aid held in South Korea, where both traditional rich nation donors, cash-rich middle income countries, non-governmental organizations and private sector groups have gathered to discuss the
future of the global aid effort.

She said foreign assistance should focus more closely on priorities set by developing countries, which must themselves do more to root out corruption, improve rule of law and remove local tariffs and other barriers to growth.

Clinton did not mention China by name, but her comments appeared clearly aimed at Beijing’s fast-expanding aid programs overseas, particularly in Africa, where critics say China is now using assistance programs to pry open markets for oil, minerals and other
resources as colonial powers did in the past.

Clinton is the first U.S. secretary of state to address the global aid gathering, reflecting her personal commitment to promoting overseas development as part of a "smart power" initiative which aims to increase U.S. national security by fighting poverty
and instability abroad.

"All too often, donors’ decisions have been driven more by our own political interests or policy preferences or development orthodoxies than by our partners’ needs," Clinton said.

She noted that developed nations themselves, which still account for the lion’s share of the some $122 billion (78 billion pounds) in annual international aid flows worldwide, needed to do more to coordinate their aid effort, increase effectiveness, and
cut the political red tape that still encumbers many aid programs.

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Posted by Samer Ahmed on Nov 30 2011. Filed under Africa, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry