"We have a moral imperative to help the world's poorest people. Working out how we best do that is the tricky part," says Dr Jane Silloway Smith, author of a new discussion paper titled A Heart and Mind for the Poor: Learning from the past and working toward the future of foreign aid, being released by Maxim Institute.

"Despite centuries of trying, human beings have not been able to ensure that their fellow human beings are not living in desperate want. For every solution that has been offered in the past decade to correct and redirect the currently ineffective aid regime, doubts have been raised as to its efficacy," says Dr Smith.

Yet she also suggests that there is cause for hope. "Though vast progress on a large scale has remained elusive, individuals and communities in developing countries have experienced improvement. To increase the reach of such improvements, all sectors of society need to work together with greater humility and in genuine collaboration with aid recipients of their aid and assistance measures."

The paper looks at the history of the modern aid regime and the ways that it has developed over time. It also explores some of the competing philosophies about how to alleviate poverty and/or bring about sustainable development in poor countries, concluding with seven principles that should guide aid and assistance efforts. These include: specialisation of aid and assistance donors; setting measurable goals and evaluating against them; collaborating with the recipients; supporting positive globalisation and adopting humility in approaching the issue.

"When an individual, community, organisation, country or international institution believes itself to be in possession of the one answer to global poverty, it is more likely to be in possession of an over-inflated and improper sense of pride in its own developmental status," says Dr Smith.

"Foreign aid policies and assistance practices must constantly strive for optimal effectiveness, and we must recognise that all of New Zealand societygovernment, business and civil societyhas a part to play."