Why Most Foreign Aid Does Not Go To the Poorest Countries

Here's a statistic that may surprise you: most foreign aid does not go to the poorest countries on earth. In fact, only about 30% of official development assistance from donor governments goes to the 47 least developed countries in the world. Why is that the case? What would be a more appropriate ratio of foreign aid to the poorest countries on earth? And what could these countries be doing to raise their own domestic sources of revenue so they are not as dependent on foreign aid?

On the line with me to discuss these questions and more is Sara Harcourt of the One Campaign, which recently released a comprehensive report that crunches some of the data on foreign assistance and makes the case that more aid should be directed to the poorest countries, and that developing countries as a whole need to commit a greater proportion of their own GDP to health and education. If you are into data and global development--and who isnt?--you'll love this episode.