An international aid organization levied a sky-high overhead rate of 34% while its project’s local partners received nothing, according to a study arguing the arrangement goes to “the heart” of the failure to localize aid delivery.
The analysis, of part of an $80 million multidonor scheme in a Middle East country, calculated a potential saving for “unmet humanitarian needs” of $545,000 — or 13.6% of the funding — if it was structured more fairly.
The finding exposes the “unfair playing field” faced by many local aid players, a power imbalance that also prevents them from growing their organizations, according to the Share Trust social enterprise behind the study.