The Archbishop of Canterbury has defended the role of aid in reducing
global poverty following criticism of a letter he co-signed calling on
G8 governments not to reduce the amount of aid they give to developing
nations.Archbishop Justin Welby, who was one of 80 religious letters to sign a letter published in the Financial Times on 5 April in support of aid, wrote on his blog: "Some have opposed this call by suggesting that most aid money gets wasted or sucked up by corruption, and that developing countries are much better helped by growing trade."
He acknowledged concerns that aid was sometimes wasted or given to corrupt regimes, and noted that the letter also called for governments to be more transparent.
But he also said that critics ignored situations in which aid worked, which was why criticisms of international aid "fail to satisfy me - either on an ethical level, or on a practical, value-for-money level".
"Not all aid is good, but not all aid is dead. The way it is delivered may indeed be an issue, but the principle should not be," he said.
He said he had personally seen situations in which aid had worked during his time in Africa, especially when used to help communities recover from conflict.
He added that aid money was most effective when given to faith-based and civil society networks.
"Because these organisations are highly accountable, very little money is lost to corruption. Local clergy know exactly what their communities need and how to spend funds wisely," he said.