Give money to poorer countries

When examining the economic deprivation that is rampant in many parts of the world in relation to the sheer amount of aid that is reportedly doled out every year, one could understandably jump to the conclusion that money does nothing to solve poverty.

However, this way of thinking is fraught with errors.

First of all, classifying nations as either 'rich' or 'poor' is an obsolete way to think about the state of their economy.

Most countries occupy a spot on a spectrum of wealth that should be understood by income groups.

In the past century, many nations who were recipients of foreign aid did advance from a lower to a higher income bracket, despite not yet being able to call themselves 'wealthy'.

These success stories are abundant in South East Asia, for example, where nations like Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand, which used to be firmly counted among the poor parts of the world, now boast robust economies and vastly improved standards of living.

Granted, in these specific countries, or any other region that has not yet earned the label 'prosperous' or 'developed' for that matter, one could still find examples of abject poverty

• towns where local residents' access to basic amenities like water, electricity or schooling remains severely limited - and this could create an outsized impression of what little aid has done to lift these countries out of poverty.

However, it is important to look at the bigger economic picture and realize that,

by all accounts, aid has been a force for good in depressed economies.

That is not to say giving money to poor countries is an unimpeachable way to help them

• there is in fact no shortage of problems with the logistics of sending and receiving and spending foreign aid.

One could cite corrupt governments, for example, as one of the agents that would dampen the efficacy of aid in less developed countries.

On this count, I agree, at least in principle, that other forms of support like technology exchange or coaching for leaders should be available to poor nations.

However, in practice, these theoretically more practical types of support take years to have any effect,

not to mention the fact that they are notoriously difficult to deploy owing to such complications as regional political tensions or lack of personnel on the ground.

Furthermore, most developed nations do not have a dedicated team or bureau that is in charge of physically distributing aid;

they apportion taxpayers' money to established organizations like IMF or UN and these intermediaries then use the resources that they pool to work with poor countries.

At the end of the day, it is widely understood that help is needed,

but to assume that it can easily take any other form than money is wishful thinking.

rampant

lan rộng, tràn lan (Disease is rampant in the overcrowded city.)

dole out

phân phát (They were DOLING OUT leaflets in front of the station.)

sheer

khổng lồ (sheer amount of…)

classify

phân loại (The books in the library are classified by subject.)

occupy a spot on a spectrum of wealth

nằm ở một vị trí trên phổ giàu nghèo

recipients

a person who receives something

robust

strong and healthy (He looks robust and healthy enough; a robust economy)

abject poverty

cảnh nghèo đói cùng cực

unimpeachable

không thể chối cãi (unquestionable)

cite

viện dẫn/dẫn chứng

corrupt governments

các chính phủ tham nhũng

agents that would dampen the efficacy of aid

những tác nhân làm suy giảm hiệu quả của viện trợ

at least in principle

ít nhất là về nguyên tắc

deploy

triển khai

dedicated team

đội ngũ

bureau

văn phòng, cơ quan

physically distributing aid

trực tiếp phân phối viện trợ

apportion

phân bổ

intermediary

người/ tổ chức trung gian

at the end of the day

cuối cùng

wishful thinking

suy nghĩ viển vông

give other types of help

other forms of assistance should be provided

rich countries give money to poorer countries

funding disbursed from wealthy nations to poorer ones.

Money has and will continue to be the most viable form of help.

Money remains the most fluid form of help (that poor countries can rely on).