Today, there are many underdeveloped countries with less resources and more adversities than the developed ones. As a consequence, their people face an unfairly higher amount of suffering, and they have restricted means to address it. This gives rich nations two reasons why they need to step in: they have more power to confront underdeveloped nations’ problems, and they may have a moral obligation to take action while people are struggling.
And, if these reasons are not convincing enough, then it should also be known that assisting will be better for the rich countries themselves. Therefore, it is the responsibility of developed countries to help less developed countries in crisis.
Why are developed countries responsible?
There are several reasons why developed countries are responsible for helping less developed countries:
- They have more power to address the underdeveloped countries’ crises
- They contribute to underdeveloped countries’ poverty
- They will benefit from helping underdeveloped countries (economically and during their own crises)
- They have a moral obligation
Developed countries should help underdeveloped countries because they have more power to address crises than underdeveloped countries. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’s blog post Why Can’t Developing Countries Catch Up? mentions that some underdeveloped countries have harmful political institutions that stunt economic growth. In these cases, the higher class takes money from the working class. This deprives people in the working class of reasons to try making themselves wealthier.
Since the detriments to these countries’ economies are partly caused by their authorities, the citizens have limited means to mitigate them on their own. That is why more powerful countries are the ones who need to help the poor people in underdeveloped countries, through methods like trading with poor countries, or funding organizations that will give money to them.
It should also be the responsibility of developed countries to assist the underdeveloped ones because they contribute to the poverty of underdeveloped countries, and therefore, they are the only ones who can reduce its effects.
In Should Rich Nations Help the Poor?, Hulme reminds readers of why certain countries are more well-to-do: they exploited people in poverty, through slavery, the taking away of their resources, and unfair trade. Poor nations cannot engage in fair trade or regain their resources without the cooperation of other countries, and therefore cannot gain any significant wealth without the cooperation of other countries. Underdeveloped countries also cannot solve their poverty on their own because some of them face political issues, and must spend money to address them.
An instance of this is mentioned in the International Monetary Fund’s Why Are Some Developing Countries Failing to Catch Up?, which describes how Angola, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Somalia had to pay for the repair of damages from war. Meanwhile, some rich countries are not spending on these kinds of issues, which makes them more able to assist poor countries financially.
Another reason why less developed countries should be helped by more developed countries is that it will benefit the more developed countries as well. In Should Rich Nations Help the Poor?, Hulme explains that if underdeveloped countries are assisted now, they will be more inclined and more able to assist developed countries later, which will need help in the future.
After all, if a nation is already struggling with its issues, it cannot effectively help with the issues of other nations. Hulme also points out that being able to get help from less developed countries is imperative since some issues require global help to find a solution, such as pandemics and climate change.
Another motive for rich countries is that helping will benefit their economies. The International Monetary Fund’s article “Global Trade Liberalization and the Developing Countries explains that if wealthy nations assist poor nations by trading with them–the benefits for developed nations from trade will be discussed later–then the wealthy nations will be advantaged in economic competition.
An instance of this mentioned by the author is how global trade benefited the economy of East Asia, whose average tariff decreased from 30 percent to 10 percent. It has been decades since a country did not trade globally and had economic success.
Finally, it should be the developed countries that aid the underdeveloped countries because they have a moral obligation to do so. Hulme argues that it is morally correct for well-off countries to help because people are obliged to help those who struggle to help themselves. This is because an aspect of being a good person is having empathy for others, and wanting to care for others’ well-being.
In addition, as mentioned before, it was developed countries that exploited underdeveloped countries. Since these countries did injustices toward people to make a profit and gain power, it would be the right thing to do if they utilized this power to help less fortunate people in return.
What developed countries can do
Now, since we know that developed countries need to assist less developed countries in crisis, we must understand what developed countries should do:
- Pay organizations that give financial aid to underdeveloped countries
- Trade with underdeveloped countries
One suggestion from Georgieva in The Time Is Now: We Must Step Up Support For the Poorest Countries is that wealthier countries should participate in the funding of organizations that specialize in promoting financial stability for less developed countries. Some of these agencies which she encourages rich countries to fund are the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Georgieva also encourages more financial support for the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust. This trust has provided money to several poor countries in the form of interest-free loans. If they are funded enough, they will be able to provide money to more countries in need.
Another way developed countries can assist is by trading with less developed countries. Trade and the MDGs: How Trade Can Help Developing Countries Eradicate Poverty explains that by trading with developed nations, a less developed nation can prevent half of its poor population from starving.
Trade also allows underdeveloped countries to improve their economies. Fernández de Córdoba describes how it increases their export revenues, their gross domestic product per capita, employment rates, and investment rates.
For proof, he recalls how poor countries received these benefits as their participation in international trade increased by 8 percent from 1996 to 2006. To enable an increase in trade for those who need it, Fernández de Córdoba later suggests an increase in removing tariffs. Since tariffs raise the cost of trade, they may make trade inaccessible to poor countries.
An additional note that Fernández de Córdoba makes is that there are disproportionate amounts of tariffs for underdeveloped countries compared to those for developed countries. He describes how the tariffs of less developed countries are twice as much as those of more developed countries.
An example he gives of the unequal tariffs is how in 2005, the farming exports of underdeveloped countries had tariffs of 8.9 percent on average. Since it is developed countries that have imposed these tariffs on less developed countries, it should be their responsibility to remove some of them. If they are removed, then underdeveloped countries will be able to trade more, and therefore gain more resources.
Today, several underdeveloped nations are lacking in resources, and facing an increasing number of problems. Because of this, they experience an unjust amount of suffering compared to the nations that are further developed. Another concerning part is that these countries have limited access to aid, since there are restrictions on their trade, and their governments are taking significant amounts of money from them. Because of this, there is almost no one who can help them.
However, there are still richer countries that can and should assist them in their time of need. After all, they are partly responsible for the well-being of underdeveloped countries due to their unique privilege and power. They also have a moral obligation to take action for others who are struggling. Lastly, lending assistance will not only bring benefits to others but to themselves as well. Therefore, it is the responsibility of developed countries to assist less developed countries in crisis.