This BBC story takes a look at what international aid is doing for (or to) Cambodia, one of the world's poorest, most hard-luck countries.
An excerpt:
... Despite the cash flowing in to the country, Cambodians are still among the world's poorest people.
Around a third of the population live on less than a dollar a day, and the vast majority live without electricity or mains water.
Cambodia needs Cambodian expertise says Mr GautamThe infant mortality rate is one of the highest in the world, and HIV/Aids is a major health concern.
The charity Action Aid believe that donor countries themselves are partly to blame for the plight of Cambodia's people.
They say that almost half the amount of aid goes on 'technical assistance', and that the 700 or so international consultants working in the country earn more than Cambodia's 160,000 civil servants put together.
Inappropriate expertise
A report just released by Action Aid claims that consultants in Cambodia are not doing enough to justify their wages.
Instead of transferring skills to Cambodian staff, their time is spent writing reports or doing jobs which they should be training local staff to carry out.
"International experts bring in international expertise," says Action Aid's country director in Cambodia, Keshav Gautam.
"What Cambodia needs is Cambodian expertise, people who understand, know the politics and the economy, who can breathe and feel this country.
"That's what Cambodia needs, not an international expertise that has no relevance to this country."
I worked in Cambodia for a brief time in 1996 (long story). Many of the Cambodians I worked with were whip-smart, but they needed to learn some skills.
The Khmer Rouge wiped out the intellectual class between 1975 and 1979, and the nation was in pretty much continuous civil war until the peace accords of 1993 were signed.
However, it's now 12 years since the accords were signed (and eight since Prime Minister Hun Sen solidified his grip on power after a short, brutal civil war).
If that skills transfer hasn't taken place yet, somebody should ask why.