John Hilary: Vote development, not aid
How have we allowed aid to be portrayed as the leading issue in international development? In all three of the major party manifestos, aid is given as the primary factor defining Britain’s relations with the countries of the developing world. Each party is comfortable talking up its commitment to reaching the UN aid target of 0.7% GNI by 2013. The Green Party, whose manifesto was launched yesterday, commits itself to giving 1% of GNI as aid by 2011.
As all Bond members know, aid is not development. Whatever the relationship between the two, development is determined by historical forces and political choices at a far higher level than aid. Bond members have been successful in lobbying for more and better aid and protecting the aid budget from the cuts which now threaten the public sector. But we must resist any suggestion that aid is the lead issue when it comes to international development.
Instead, we should be looking towards those UK policies which really affect a country’s hopes of forging a path to long-term, sustainable development. These include policies on trade and investment, which have arguably done more to prevent the world’s poorest countries from developing than anything else over the past 30 years, and where the UK’s track record is appalling. Equally, we need to look at official UK complicity in tax dodging by multinational corporations, facilitated by the City of London and known to cost developing countries anything up to £250 billion a year in lost revenue.
And what about the rights of workers and communities that continue to be harmed by British companies operating or sourcing from overseas? The damage done as a result of continuing UK arms exports? The grave injustices inflicted on civilian populations through UK foreign policy in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine? The UK’s support for illegitimate institutions such as the World Bank, IMF and WTO?
The political parties have agreed to devote this coming Sunday (18 April) to debating world poverty. We must not allow them to rest easy on their aid commitments while their other policies threaten to condemn hundreds of millions of people to extreme poverty in the long term. Let’s use this opportunity, and the three weeks still left to polling day, to go beyond aid. Instead, let’s talk – and vote – development.
John Hilary is Executive Director of War on Want and is a guest blogger from Comment is Free
