Col, I must say that in the USA, there is a lot of low-level talk about this around office water coolers. We see or hear discussions on small-market local media all the time about throwing money at problems hoping they will go away.
This is the government solution to most problems. I cast no aspersions here - I will simply say that from your comments, I believe I can safely infer that you folks feel very much like we do on the subject of foreign aid - and if I may presume it, you probably believe that government's favorite ploy is to spend someone else's money until that runs out. You don't like it any more than we do, particularly when that money is draining through a hole in your wallet.
Personally, I think there is no solution to this problem that will satisfy everyone.
If we stop the handouts cold, the have-nots will see us as stingy, greedy, money-loving bastards and will try to take that money from us at every opportunity by theft or fraud. See, for example, the scams coming out of Nigeria. Look at the piracy schemes in the Indian Ocean. Or they will push like crazy from the outside to try to change our immigration policy or claim asylum. Sometime - anything - to work their way to our countries where they think the streets are lined with wealth. Except that when they get here, they get lost in the back streets of poverty yet again, with a few notable exceptions - but only a few.
If we continue the handouts but try to assure that the money goes where we think it belongs (with the poor people) then the greedy politicians will force their hands into the money stream. If not up front than indirectly somewhere further down the pipeline. As long as the petty bloodsuckers are in power, that's the way it will be.
If we take more stringent measures to assure the money goes where we think it should go, we are accused of meddling with their country's culture. They will then find a way to force us to get licenses or they'll find another elegant way to take the money and run anyway. OK, it's not much of a culture if all they care about is bribery, larceny, and skimming off the top (and middle and sides...) so we shouldn't care if we interfere, but somehow... we do care. (Stupid us?)
If we say, "OK, we'll cut off aid and close our borders" then they have enough clout in the UN to impose sanctions of some sort or another. Oh, heck, we'd survive, but it would make everything else tougher for all of us.
If we say, "No more money until you start attending to civil rights violations" they counter with the idea that their view and our view of civil rights are different. Never mind that we believe that rights are inherent in the individual. Those countries that give us the most trouble in such violations prove that civil rights aren't God-given. They are government-tolerated. See, for example, "V for Vendetta."
As long as there are people in power in third-world countries and those people see their positions as licenses to steal foreign aid, I don't see a solution that doesn't involve sniper rifles at long range. And that is ALSO a good way to get UN sanctions. Not a way that I would personally recommend. (Despite the UK viewpoint of the USA and our gun-happy culture, I am actually NOT suggesting that this is a good solution.)
Therefore my first solution is to abolish the UN. If you want to take apart the EU next, I don't have a dog in that fight but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened. Once the UN is gone, be prepared for the shooting wars that are GOING to happen if you do that. Be prepared to arm tourist boats or escort them. Be prepared to watch nations vanish when there is no more source of somebody else's money to spend. It should be a very interesting little shake-out. The chaos will disrupt a lot of markets and a lot of folks who made their living with international trade will suddenly go on the dole because there IS no international trade any more.
Or... we can just continue to appease the petty tyrants just enough to keep them from starting yet another riot. After all, it's only money we are talking about, right? What's a country to do?
Sorry if that came out as a rant, but it just started flowing.