GCSE Geography | Reducing the Development Gap: International Aid (Development Gap 14)

There are a number of strategies that can be used to reduce the development gap. One such strategy is international aid...

Aid is resources donated to a country from another country (or group of countries), an organisation, such as the World Bank, or a non-governmental organisation (NGO), such as Oxfam, to help improve the quality of life of the people in the receiving country.

Aid can take various forms...

• Money - which might be used to develop business opportunities or construct infrastructure, or to fund repairs following a natural disaster (usually in the form of grants or loans)
• Emergency supplies - to be used following a disaster, e.g. food, clean water, medicines, tents, etc
• Specialist skills - e.g. doctors to help set up clinics and vaccination programmes, engineers to help plan infrastructure projects, or specialist search and rescue teams following an earthquake

Different types of aid

• Short-term aid (emergency aid) - this given in response to an event such as a natural hazard, or conflict, often in the form of food, water, medicine or shelter, with the aim of reducing the death toll
• Long-term aid (developmental aid) - this includes vaccination programmes, education and healthcare projects, strategies to increase water supply, etc, that will improve the quality of life for people over a longer time period
• Bilateral aid - aid from one government to another, which may come with many conditions attached, to make sure the aid is used in a particular way, and sometimes to ensure both countries benefit
• Multilateral aid - aid from organisations such as the World Bank, or a group of countries, which may also have conditions attached
• Voluntary aid - aid provided by non-governmental organisations or charities that rely on donations from the public (e.g. Oxfam, WaterAid, Red Cross, etc) - such aid tends to be smaller scale (such as the water pump in the image below), but often comes with fewer conditions

Aid projects can reduce the development gap by improving healthcare, education and water and food security, meaning that people are healthier and more educated, making them and their country more productive.

Issues with aid

Unfortunately aid doesn't always guarantee improvements to quality of life...

Firstly, It can be tied to certain conditions, for example the receiving country may have to spend the money on products from the donor country, such as Russia giving money to Syria to help with their civil war. Unfortunately Russia have stipulated that the money has to be spent on weapons to be supplied by them - Syria buying weapons means that the civil war shows no signs of ending, and because the civil war shows no signs of ending, Russia are guaranteed to profits from weapon sales from Syria for a longer period of time.

Secondly, countries can become dependent upon aid, so when it is removed they are back to square one.

Finally, aid doesn’t always go where it is needed most - sometimes it is kept by corrupt governments, other times it is wasted by poorly managed projects, and sometimes it ends up going to countries that can easily afford to support their own development initiatives.

The UK's aid spending

Some countries have committed to a UN target of spending 0.7% of their GNI on overseas aid, whereas the UK has committed to spend 0.5%. In 2023 the UK spent £15.4bn in 2023 (which was 0.58% of GNI). One-third of this was spent on multilateral aid, with the rest of the budget spent on bilateral aid, including humanitarian assistance.

How is the UK's bilateral aid divided up?

• 52% goes to African countries, in order to support some of the world's poorest people
• 31% goes to Asia, with a large proportion of this providing relief for crisis in Gaza, and the ongoing civil wars in Syria and Yemen (all in the Middle East)
• 12% goes to Europe, mainly to support those affected by the Russia-Ukraine war
• 4.4% goes to the Americas

Approximately 15% of overseas aid from the UK was spent on short-term aid projects. The remaining 85% was spent on long term developmental aid including vaccination programmes, education and healthcare.

Intermediate (appropriate) technology

Local small-scale aid projects are focused on a small area and can make a big difference in the areas they support.

This type of aid or support focuses on the use of appropriate technology; that is technology which is more efficient than what it replaces, but does not require huge levels of investment. It takes a sustainable approach, as it ensures that local people are part of the decision-making process and receive training in order to maintain any infrastructure created. An example of an intermediate technology project might be the creating of a new water supply scheme, which includes hand pumps or sand dams (see image below), to improve access to clean water.

Sand dams are an example of intermediate technology. Sand Dams Worldwide is an NGO which pioneered the use of sand dams in Kenya to tackle desertification. They work with local people to decide where to build dams across ephemeral rivers (rivers that only flow for part of the year). They support the community in building the stone and concrete dams, water tanks and hand pumps. These dams silt up in a couple of years, then when rain falls it is stored in the sand behind the dam, protected from evaporation and contamination. The rain water that would have lasted a few weeks previously, will now last for several months. The dams need very little maintenance and last for 60 years or more. This technology reduces the development gap by tackling problems of food and water insecurity, improving people’s quality of life.

You can see how sand dams work with this animation - https://www.sanddamsworldwide....