In humanitarian situations as dire as in the Horn of Africa, how long should it really take for governments to decide which channels aid should be directed?
This is perhaps a question many aid agencies in New Zealand are asking their government, given the delays in funneling aid to East Africa. Terence Wood, who used to work for the government’s aid program and is currently a steering committee member of New Zealand-based think tank NZADDS, believes NGO emergency funding has become dramatically slower since Murray McCully, minister in charge of the aid program, “unilaterally dismantled the fund in early 2010.”
In the case of Horn of Africa, aid agencies in New Zealand were given eight days to apply for funding, but it took more than a month before the government made a decision.
Wood goes on to say that McCully’s micromanaging of New Zealand’s aid program and lack of trust of civil servants are responsible for the delayed famine relief.
But there are some lessons to be learned from this debacle. Among those he notes:
“Umbrella NGOs are valuable.” Wood says delayed famine funding only reached the media’s attention because of the Council for International Development. Individual NGOs on the waiting list aren’t likely to be vocal about their complaints at the risk of hurting their chances.
Humanitarian workers need to educate politicians about good aid practices, possibly before they lead relief programs.
NGOs should think ahead and ponder on “the trade-offs that come with government funding.”
The six-weeklong delay is perhaps highlighted even more by one development: Australia, which followed a similar process, was able to allocate the funds in 48 hours.
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