Development aid

Most developed nations give development aid to developing countries. The UN target for development aid is 0.7% of GDP; currently only a few nations achieve this. Some think tanks and NGOs have argued that Western monetary aid often only serves to increase poverty and social inequality, either because it is conditioned with the implementation of harmful economic policies in the recipient countries, or because it's tied with the importing of products from the donor country over cheaper alternatives, or because foreign aid is seen to be serving the interests of the donor more than the recipient.


Critics also argue that some of the foreign aid is stolen by corrupt governments and officials, and that higher aid levels erode the quality of governance. Policy becomes much more oriented toward what will get more aid money than it does towards meeting the needs of the people.


Victor Bout, one of the worlds most notorious arms dealers, told the New York Times how he saw firsthand in Angola, Congo and elsewhere "how Western donations to impoverished countries lead to the destruction of social and ecological balance, mutual resentment and eventually war.Once countries give money, they control you." he says.


Supporters argue that these problems may be solved with better auditing of how the aid is used. Aid from non-governmental organizations may be more effective than governmental aid; this may be because it is better at reaching the poor and better controlled at the grassroots level. As a point of comparison, the annual world military spending is over $1 trillion.