Many people, especially those inside the system, would rather not question the so-called “helping industry” at all, according to Tori Hogan in her book Beyond Good Intentions: A Journey Into the Realities of International Aid. Nonetheless, discussion of aid effectiveness is necessary for the sake of those who have been at the mercy of ineffective aid projects.
The book tells the story of the author’s quest to find the Somali refugee boy who had caused her to change her career from aid worker to aid critic several years previously when he had challenged her about the effectiveness of aid projects several years previously in the Hagadera camp at Dadaab in Kenya. A sub-plot of the book revolves around the author’s on-again off-again romantic entanglement with a Dutch aid worker.
Specific problems with aid highlighted by the author include:
- The refugee camps at Dadaab have now been in operation for more than 18 years, yet conditions are still poor for the refugees
- Donors and relief agencies focus on easily quantifiable results such as the number of students, rather than the effectiveness of learning, so that students are forced to learn from untrained teachers and share out-of-date textbooks
- There is a huge disparity between the living conditions enjoyed by the aid workers and those suffered by the refugees
- Many aid workers have a lack of empathy for the people they are supposed to be helping and fail to show cultural sensitivity
- Food distribution processes do not respect the dignity of refugees
- Non-essential programs often get preferential treatment because they are pet projects of donors
- Goods given out for free are often sold at the local market rather than being used for the intended purpose
- Donors often impose rigid and burdensome reporting requirements
- Recipient organisations often have their missions compromised by the need to cater to the whims of donors
The book describes the author’s visits to a number of aid projects, rather than attempting to provide a systematic analysis of what is good and what is bad in terms of project effectiveness, so that the author’s opinions are subjective impressions rather than detailed research findings. I would have preferred it if the stories of the author’s romances had not been included, but I found the book as a whole to be entertaining, informative and challenging in equal parts.