The international dimensions of poverty relief : a comparative case study of Angola and Zambia

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:This report seeks to investigate the extent and success of multilateral foreign aidaimed at poverty alleviation in two countries, Angola and Zambia. Links between aid,economic growth, and poverty alleviation are also investigated. It is found that aidalone cannot create economic growth in order to alleviate poverty, and growth fromaid alone is not sustainable - as the case study of Zambia shows. In Zambia, aid didnot have enough impact to change the legacy of unsound economic polices, as theinstitutions that led these processes lacked the capacity to design sound policies tomanage the aid projects. In the case of Angola, the whole process of using aid forpoverty alleviation was seriously retarded by the civil war. The war is clearly one ofthe major causes of the poverty that exists in Angola - unlike in the case of Zambiawhere poverty is a chronic situation. As poverty alleviation is critical to both thesecountries, they should concentrate on empowering the poor with capacity-buildingskills, and multilateral aid should promote this.In terms of aid agreements with multilateral institutions, conditions must be inplace before aid is granted to promote the interests of the poor. Well-designed aid canbe successfully implemented, and can be sustainable. However, this will work only ifall stakeholders from the bottom to the top are actively involved in the planningthrough to the implementing stages. Apart from empowering the poor, governmentand multilateral agencies also need to encourage the growth of the private sector inthese two countries.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University