Development assistance is a complex and difficult task. In a recent article, “Cruel Ethiopia” [NYR,
May 13], Helen Epstein highlights some of the challenges.
However, I think that Ms. Epstein’s argument conflates two closely linked, but
separable, topics.
Fundamentally, development assistance aims to promote national
development for the country and the reduction of poverty for its people. In
this regard, Ethiopia has an impressive performance, with economic growth
accelerating sharply on a sustained basis since about 2003, despite the global economic crisis.
Since 2000, Ethiopia has recorded the second-fastest improvement in human
development in the world, according to the UNDP Human Development Report 2009. This measure
relates to more Ethiopians
living a longer and healthier life, being better educated, and having a decent
quality of life.
With regard to the globally agreed Millennium Development Goals,
Ethiopia is making significant progress in all areas. The country is on track
to meet goals relating to extreme
poverty and hunger, universal primary education, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria,
and other diseases, and developing a global partnership for development. Good
progress is also being made in reducing child mortality and
ensuring environmental sustainability. Despite
having already achieved gender parity in primary schools, Ethiopia is likely to
fall short, as of 2015, on the targeted improvements for promoting gender equality
and empowering women and improving
maternal health.
These achievements in national growth and poverty reduction are important measures by
which donors assess the effectiveness of their support to Ethiopia. They show
that donor funding to the country and peoples of Ethiopia has yielded substantial
results that have had a significant impact on improving the lives of the
poorest families. They are also testimony to the government’s strong commitment
to improving basic services and building a backbone of infrastructure (i.e.,
roads and electricity) that can facilitate economic growth. Such government
commitment is central to sustained progress in the development process.
As important as they are, the results sketched out above are not
enough, for ultimately the goal of development in every country is the freedom
for every individual to realize his or her full potential. There are concerns
about the overall governance of the country, efficiency and fairness of
resource use, the risk of dependence on aid, and protection of basic human
rights, as Ms. Epstein points out. We recognize these concerns, and development
partners in Ethiopia take them seriously.
We start, however, with a belief that in every country people want
to be self-reliant and prosperous, and to develop a transparent, accountable, effective,
and efficient governance system. Ethiopia is no exception. Our task, as an
external development partner, is to support that innate tendency.
However, building institutions, public and private, that assure
every citizen’s right to and effective delivery of public services takes a long
time; indeed, it never ends, as we can see even in the most industrialized
countries. Changes are incremental, and at times they may suffer serious
setbacks. It is, therefore, crucial that development partners work with the
long-term process of change, always in support of it, not in control of it
(which is impossible in any case).
Of course, this does not mean that we ignore the negative impact
that our assistance may bring. That is why we monitor the effects of our
assistance closely and maintain continual dialogue with the host government on
issues that hinder a robust and sustainable development process. And this is
precisely the approach we follow in our efforts to assist Ethiopia.
Ken Ohashi
Country
Director for Ethiopia and Sudan
World
Bank
Washington, D.C.
For more and Helen Epstein
replies: