Haiti is one of many poor countries where international aid has failed to fulfil its objectives. Despite billions of dollars being pumped in, little has changed since the disastrous earthquake of 2010, Joel Boutroue told EURACTIV France. Haiti would be better off without aid. After the earthquake, $5bn was spent by the international community. But a large proportion of this money never reached the ground because it covered operational costs. Most is absorbed by international NGOs with not even 1% taken by local NGOs. And the rest is spent on humanitarian aid programmes.

Every year Bill and Melinda Gates write an annual letter, laying out a strategy for eliminating poverty and suffering in the world. Here it is for 2015. These letters are a big event for a lot of reasons: They are smart, brief, readable and backed by a huge chunk of cash. This makes them one of the most widely read influential documents on international development every year. All the more reason to take a critical look and discuss.