This is the third of seven parts in the Devex series “Foreign aid effectiveness: A radical rethink,” written by Diana Ohlbaum — a former deputy director of USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives and senior professional staff member of the two congressional panels overseeing U.S. foreign affairs.
The original concept of overseas development assistance is encapsulated in the CARE package: a box full of basic necessities to save lives and restore human dignity. Like the burlap sacks of wheat emblazoned with a U.S. flag, these deliveries of goods did more to display American generosity and relieve short-term suffering than to change the underlying power dynamics that left so many in poverty and despair.
It didn’t take long to discover the shortcomings of this approach as a strategy for change. As far back as 1966, David E. Bell, as head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, emphasized the concept of partnership and self-help, arguing that “foreign aid is not something a donor does for or to a recipient; it is something to be done with a recipient.”
Read more articles on the Foreign aid effectiveness: A radical rethink series:
● The illusion of control
● Betting on the poor
● Knowing our limits
● Old wine in new bottles
● Country ownership 3.0
● The path forward
About the author
Diana Ohlbaum@dohlbaum
Ohlbaum is an independent consultant, an executive committee member of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network and a principal of Turner4D, a strategic communications firm. She has served as senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a senior professional staff member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a deputy director of the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Transition Initiatives.
