[Lambeth Palace — Press Release] Addressing claims that foreign aid is a waste of British taxpayers’ money, Archbishop Justin writes that “not all aid is good, but not all aid is dead.”

Writing on his blog today, Archbishop Justin acknowledged recent criticisms in the press that a proportion of foreign aid gets wasted or sucked up in corruption.

But he maintained that “the way [aid] is delivered may indeed be an issue, but the principle should not be.”

Last week the Archbishop co-signed a letter with religious leaders calling on G8 nations to meet their spending targets on foreign aid.

On his blog, the Archbishop Justin highlighted the way that faith-based networks use relatively small sums of aid money to transform their societies.

“When money is put in the hands of faith-based and civil society networks, it can be utterly transformative,” he wrote. “These organisations are highly accountable so very little money is lost to corruption. Local clergy know exactly what their communities need and how to spend the money wisely.”

Read more on Archbishop Justin’s blog.