new
internationalist 96
February
1981
| EXPERTSThe
Facts |
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Experts
come under the 'Technical Assistance' heading of aid budgets.
They include secondary school teachers on two-year contracts
as well as high-flying economists on three-day missions. Most
technical assistance is `bilateral' - direct from one
country to another. The United Nations is the biggest
employer of experts for `multilateral' aid to poor
countries. Experts
tend to go wherever political influence - past or present
- is greatest or most sought after.
And
jobs in education usually take the biggest slice of
the budget. On
average experts account for one-fifth of all aid flowing
from rich to poor countries, much of
it coming
straight
back in salaries and fees.
|
THE
DONORS
|
THE
JOBS
Breakdown
of British technical assistance by sector
Source:
British Aid Statistics, ODA, 1980 |
UNITED
NATIONS EXPERTS
A
developing country with many foreign experts indicates either
a lack of indigenous skilled personnel or an eagerness to accept
overseas influence. Curiously enough, Libya despite its rhetoric
of self-reliance, has far more foreign experts per head of the
population (80 experts per million people) than any of the countries
listed alongside.
Source:
Management Information Services, UNDP |
WHO
GOES WHERE
The
top five destinations for experts from selected countries
Sources:
OECD; and National Foreign Assessment Center, CIA |
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