Give and Take

What’s the Matter with Foreign Aid?

David Sogge

Billions are spent each year on foreign aid and tens of thousands are employed in the aid industry. The Purpose of aid is ostensibly selfless and benign. Yet it is also the focus of controversy. In Give and Take, David Sogge asks if there is a real net flow of financial resources to the South. He questions how much aid there should be, on what terms should it be given, and if the strings imposed imply a resurection of colonial controls. Can Northern governments, international financial institutions and developing countries ever agree and how do we envision an aid system for a new century as democratic, effective, adequate and just?

About the Author

David Sogge is a Fellow of the Transnational Institute (TNI) in Amsterdam. He has spent much of his professional life working for non-govermental aid agencies and in development cooperation programs in Africa. He has written widely on aid, including Compassion and Calculation: The Business of Private Foreign Aid.