Untrue accusations by ONE against Dambisa Moyo and Dead Aid

As you will know, I have been paying close attention to the economist Dambisa Moyo. She has just released a book called "Dead Aid" which outlines why our current aid policies to Africa have failed to deliver the intended results and have actually created moral hazards that have stifled local entrepreneurship and development initiatives.

Surprisingly, it didn't take long before the supporters of aid caught wind of the success and clarity of her message. The ONE organization, founded by Bono of all people, seems to be leading the charge. I have been informed of their tactics, which consist of creating straw dogs which they can later shoot down. The below correspondence has been forwarded to me, and I am publishing it to show the underhand tactics which the proponents of aid are using to further their already failed objectives.

After having taken so long to achieve so little, maybe it is about time that organizations such as ONE were more responsive to new ideas like those of Ms Moyo.

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From: Iris Mwanza
To: tyler.denton@one.org
Subject: RE: Urgent Help Needed
Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:24:07 -0400

Dear Tyler,

I have read Dead Aid and have seen most of Dambisa Moyo's interviews in the press. I have known Dambisa for many years and although I do not agree with all of her ideas, I do not think that what you have articulated is a fair representation of her book or her ideas. She has been quite clear in what type of aid she is talking about (multilateral, bilateral aid) and excludes humaitarian or charitable aid.

She has never argued that all aid projects are bad and I like to believe that CIDRZ is an example of a good project. Examples of good projects do not disprove her main argument which is that aid, as a system, has not been successful in alleviating poverty and achieving development. The example of PEPFAR demonstrates this point - yes, many lives have been saved due to ART care and treatment programs - but despite $30 billion to 15 countries, none of these countries have been able to develop a reasonably good or even decent health care system with the capacity to implement ART or other basic health services in a sustainable way. Moreover the health systems remain largely aid based with high dependence on NGO support for implementation and little capacity for government to assume the responsibility in the short or the long term - not a formula for development.

I find it ironic that your organization feels the need to mobilize Africans to speak out against her. If Africans feel strongly against her ideas then they should not need to be "mobilized" by your organization. More effective would would be to open fora for debate where differences of opinion are welcome and discussed fully and fairly or better still engage Dambisa directly - have you for example sent this to her for comment?. You have quoted Paul Collier extensively in your rebuttal; however, Prof Collier and others such as Kofi Annan have given a balanced view on her work which I believe is the more effective and helpful way of moving the debate forward.

Please feel free to use this as one of your quotations.

Iris Mwanza

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Subject: Urgent Help Needed
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:05:46 -0500
From: tyler.denton@one.org
To: Iris Mwanza

Dr. Mwanza:

I hope this email finds you well. It was such a pleasure meeting you last year during ONE’s trip to Zambia. Thank you again for your time and help during our visit with CIDRZ. It was a wonderful opportunity to see PEPFAR in action!

I am writing to ask your assistance with a very serious issue.

I am not sure if you are aware, but there is a new book out, called Dead Aid, that is getting a lot of traction in US media at the moment. It’s by a Zambian economist named Dambisa Moyo and she is calling for all aid to Africa to be cut off in 5 years – even for fighting AIDS, malaria and other deadly diseases.

Moyo claims that aid has never achieved anything positive in Africa. Before her book went to print, we gave Ms. Moyo statistics on how African leaders have used aid effectively to save millions of lives and put millions more children in school, but she refused to include them. We are concerned that if her book gets traction it could lead to a gutting of assistance to Africa, including for important programs like PEPFAR, the Global Fund, AGOA and education funding.

In making her case, Ms. Moyo argues that she is speaking for Africans on this topic. We are collecting quotes from Africans who might disagree with her call to shut off all aid in 5 years and who can speak to what that would mean for them and their communities. If you are willing to provide us a comment on what that would mean to you, or if you are willing to provide a comment about how aid has helped your community, we would love to include it in our response to Ms. Moyo’s proposal. However, we will need your quote no later than tomorrow, March 27th.

Attached please find a document outlining the main claims in Dead Aid and the facts responding to them.

All the best,

Tyler Denton _____________________________________________________________________________ Tyler Dentont: 501.975.7235m: 202.230.9600f: 202.495.2701--ONEhttp://one.org/--P.O. Box 8003Little Rock, Arkansas 72203 or1400 Eye Street NW, Suite 600Washington, DC 20005