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.”