What is the need and reach of financial aid in the world?

Answer 1

Development aid to Third world countries since their independence in the Sixties totals some six thousand billion dollars, only counting "official" aid: State-to-State plus aid by supranational organizations such as Unesco. Africa has been the largest recipient by far of that aid.

Development aid in countless forms by all private organizations worldwide cannot even be computed with certainty, but a conservative estimate would add at least a thousand billiondollars extra to that total over the last fifty years.

Since as early as the Sixties economists have argued that pumping these enormous amounts into little-developed economies like that of Africa would only lead to large-scale mismanagement of funds, corruption and a dependency on outside help that would over time become a state of mind within the Third World States. They argued that aid would for those reasons become totally counterproductive to those countries for building a healthy economy by their own efforts - a bit like expecting a teenager to study hard and take on summer jobs while giving him a 5,000 dollar monthly allowance.

Many others have argued that we need to keep on giving money to make up for our earlier colonization and slavery activities - even if the colonization almost nowhere lasted for more than 60 to 100 years and even though most African slaves throughout history were kept by other Africans, uncomfortable as that truth may be.

Regardless of the many arguments that can be and have been brought forward why we should - or should not - give and continue to give financial aid, the fact of the matter is that on the one side most African countries are still heavily dependent on aid despite the amounts already recieved; and that a country like China, having been trampled over by occupying forces and local dictators for most of the 20th century, and dirt-poor no more than 30 years ago now has developed itself without hardly any development aid at all.

Given the fact that most first-world nations continue their aid programs practically unchanged and that most nations receiving aid are happy to continue as before, it can be expected that the present levels of development aid - about 200 billion per year in official and unofficial aid - will continue for years to come.

Answer 2

Financial aid is essential to support individuals and countries facing economic challenges, disasters, or conflicts. It helps in providing food, shelter, healthcare, education, and infrastructure to those in need. The reach of financial aid is global, as international organizations, governments, and non-profit entities work together to provide assistance to vulnerable populations worldwide.