Foreign aid refers to any assistance regarding food supplies, military weapons and financial support given by one country to another. Less developed and developing countries mainly in Africa and Asia rely primarily on foreign aid from Western developed nations for sustainability. The foreign aid sometimes also comes in the form of leadership support in cases where there is failed leadership. However, foreign aid can sometimes be affected by peace and war. War is usually characterized by aggression, hostilities, civil strife, violence, social disorder, conflicts and in most cases suffering and death of populations. Peace, on the other hand, connotes a situation whereby there are harmony and order without any hostilities or violence. This paper assesses the positive and adverse effects that peace and war have on the distribution of foreign aid in South Sudan.
The Positive and Negative Impacts of Peace and War on Foreign Aid Distribution
Firstly, as Pinaud (2014) observes, war negatively affects the distribution of foreign aid in that it frustrates efforts by humanitarian agencies from foreign donors to distribute essentials such as food, medicine, and water. In the case of South Sudan, for instance, several United Nations’ members of staff working as aid workers in the country have been unable to access the war-torn zones hence making it impossible for foreign aid to be distributed to those affected by the war. Moreover, war negatively affects the distribution of foreign aid in developing countries like South Sudan by threatening the lives of aid workers involved in the apportionment of the foreign aid. In South Sudan, some of the foreign aid workers have been reported missing and some injured as they get attacked by the rebel forces. Additionally, sometimes the foreign aid gets into the wrong hands and does not, therefore, get to benefit those for which it is meant such as children and women who bear the brunt of the war in most cases.
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Further to this, war affects the distribution of foreign aid in South Sudan by making some of the international donors to withdraw their foreign donations. In South Sudan, the United States, for example, withdrew its financial support after war erupted despite a truce having been reached between the two warring factions. Most importantly, war creates a condition of instability, hostility, and insecurity that makes it impossible for foreign aid to be distributed quickly to those affected by the war. Most of the foreign aid are therefore recalled, destroyed or used by self-serving individuals in these developing countries for their good. War also creates logistical challenges to the relief organizations that are charged with the distribution of foreign aid. War, therefore, has negative impacts on foreign aid distribution and no identifiable positive effect.
On the other hand, peace has significant positive impacts on the distribution of foreign aid in South Sudan. For, during periods of peace, it has been possible for foreign aid resources such as food, commodities, and other essentials to be distributed among the population affected by the war. Also, peace affects the distribution of foreign aid by creating a conducive and enabling environment for foreign assistance and relief organizations and workers to operate (Toh & Prahlad, 2012). With the presence of peace, more foreign aid can be easily transported to the areas worst hit by war without fear of the relief workers being attacked on the way. In South Sudan, for example, after a peaceful settlement was reached between the warring parties before it later broke out in July 2016, the distribution of foreign aid to the thousands of Sudanese families who had fled away from their homes was made possible by the presence of peace.
Analysis of Actions Taken by South Sudanese Leadership to Relieve the Severe Problems Caused by Warfare
According to OECD (2011), the South Sudanese leadership has taken certain actions using the foreign aid from donor nations and international lending institutions like World Bank to ameliorate the condition of refugee problem caused by the war. To begin with, the government has set up designated camps in the city of Juba and other rural areas where the foreign aid in the form of nets, medicine, food, and tents are being distributed to the affected communities. To ensure that the process is not affected by militia force, the government has deployed thousands of its security or military forces to man the distribution exercise. Moreover, the South Sudanese leadership has taken the action of using the financial aid from financial institutions to bring about economic recovery and enable people to go back to nation building and agriculture. It has also secured natural resources such as oil which is at the center of the civil war by building more pipelines that would ensure that the revenue from the oil benefits the local communities. One of the ways it has also done this is to curb corruption that leads to misuse of foreign aid (OECD, 2011). However, with the passage of a bill that limits the operations of aid workers in South Sudan as AFP (2015) reports, all these actions taken to use foreign aid may go down the drains.
A Discussion on Whether Foreign Aid has Successfully Reduced Poverty and Incidence of Warfare
According to Rena (2013), foreign aid, particularly in the African context, has not contributed to poverty reduction and economic growth. This author argues that the impact of foreign aid in most Third World nations has not been very impressive hence, though it is essential for relieving hunger and suffering caused by warfare, it is not a panacea on reducing poverty through economic development. Williamson (2009) also claims that foreign aid in most developing countries has failed to achieve its purpose of ensuring economic development and poverty reduction due to the lack of knowledge about the specific problems that ail these countries. For the South Sudanese case, it may be argued that foreign aid has not reduced poverty and incidences of war since more and more people continue to fall into poverty and civil strife still looms large.
References
AFP. (2015, May 13). War-torn South Sudan law passed limiting foreign aid workers. Daily Mail. Retrieved August 1, 2016, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3079938/War-torn-South-Sudan-law-passed-limiting-foreign-aid-workers.html
OECD. (2011). 2011 report on international engagement in fragile states: Republic of South Sudan. André-Pascal, Paris Cedex: OECD Publishing. Retrieved August 1, 2016, from https://www.oecd.org/countries/southsudan/48697972.pdf
Pinaud, C. (2014). South Sudan: Civil war, predation and the making of a military aristocracy. Journal of African Affairs, 113 (451), 192-211. doi:10.1093/afraf/adu019
Rena, R. (2013). Is foreign aid panacea for African problems? The case of Namibia. Managing Global Transitions, 11 (3), 223-241.
Toh, K., & Prahlad, K. (2012, Fall). Foreign aid in post-conflict countries: The case of South Sudan. Journal of Third World Studies, 29 (2), 1-24.
Williamson, C. R. (2009). Exploring the failure of foreign aid: The role of incentives and information. Rev Austrian Econ Journal, 1 (1), 1-17. doi:10.1007/s11138-009-0091-7
