The Guardian: Even in an age of austerity, aid works. We have to keep giving
David Cameron, former U.K. Prime Minister

“…[T]he debate shouldn’t be whether we spend money on aid: it should be how we spend that money. The answer is to shift our focus to address the failure of states to govern effectively, which is increasingly responsible for the suffering we see around the world. … As prime minister, I made sure that half [of] Britain’s aid spending went to the most fragile states. … [M]uch of the work that has been done [around fragile states] has yet to be translated into workable policies. That is why I am chairing the new Commission on State Fragility, Growth, and Development, with Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government and the London School of Economics. … We want to generate the most cutting-edge recommendations that governments, donors, and NGOs can put into practice. … One crucial question we hope to answer is how to enable the private sector to play its role. … Another is how to help governments create a tax base so they can pay for their own development. … Britain has always led the way when it comes to making this a safer, fairer, more prosperous world. … [K]eeping our promises on aid makes us uniquely well placed to argue for a new approach. This new commission is determined to play its part” (3/2).