It is sometimes said that governments should dedicate a fixed proportion of their country’s income to foreign aid each year, and this fixed proportion should always be donated to other countries. Opponents of this idea, however, say that aid should have no fixed proportion, and help should only be sent to other countries at times when it is really needed. What are the arguments on both sides of this debate? What is your own view on the matter?

The issue of foreign

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goes to the heart of how nations should cooperate together, and whether

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should be on a ‘quota’

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or more ‘as needed.’ In

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often heated debate, the opposing arguments can perhaps be summarised as follows. Proponents of the quota

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claim that wealthier nations have a moral duty to sacrifice some of their income to help poorer countries

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and that

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duty does not rise or fall depending on circumstances.

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argument is often used to justify the quota arrangement for former imperial states

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as Holland, France or Britain.

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, the argument

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, the fixed proportion

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allows the receiving countries to plan and budget reliably, building the foreign

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into their economic calculations.

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, opponents of the fixed donation

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respond that

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budgetary aspect is in fact the most damaging aspect of the idea. They point out that, if

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money is provided regardless of whether it is actually needed, the funds become part of the recipient country’s administrative

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, with all the dangers of inefficiency and corruption that

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involves. It must be said that fixed

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to some developing countries falls into

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trap, as even the local charities themselves will agree. What is more, if

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funds could be held back until times of emergency,

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as floods, famine or civil war, the money available would

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be far higher and

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would help more people in distress.

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, it appears to me that opponents of the quota

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have the more robust argument, with their concerns over unnecessary donations which reduce emergency funding in future. We all recognise a moral duty to help those in need, but surely these resources should be targeted more strictly towards sufferers, rather than sent permanently to government departments to become part of the local economy.