Madam, – India has one of the biggest and fastest growing economies in the world. It has its own space programme, its own nuclear weapons, has almost three times as many billionaires as the UK, and is rich enough to donate aid to poor African countries. Yet India receives massive amounts in western aid every year (€314.5 million from the UK alone), and is home to more desperately poor people than all of sub-Saharan Africa.
It is a similar story with Peru. Business is booming, the economy is growing rapidly, a top tier in society enjoys fabulous wealth, and Peru has donated aid to neighbouring countries. Yet, at least 36.2 per cent of its 29.25 million population exists on less than $2 a day, while western aid continues to flow into the country (an estimated $200 million annually from the US alone).
With examples such as the above, and there are many others, who can argue that western aid does not need to be tightly focused, heavily policed, results-based, and subject to the changing circumstances of recipients? – Yours, etc,