Ten months after Cyclone Pam ravaged the South Pacific Ocean nation of Vanuatu, 18 containers of unrequested donated goods sat on the wharf — accumulating $1.5 million in storage, handling and container rental fees.
Natural disasters, which can be devastating to developing countries, particularly in the Pacific, are often followed by an outpouring of support and charity from neighboring countries such as Australia and New Zealand.
A new report from Australian Red Cross released Monday shows that despite the good will, some donations — such as those languishing in Vanuatu — cause more harm than good for developing countries recovering from a disaster.
Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).
About the author
Lisa Cornishlisa_cornish
Lisa Cornish is a former Devex Senior Reporter based in Canberra, where she focuses on the Australian aid community. Lisa has worked with News Corp Australia as a data journalist and has been published throughout Australia in the Daily Telegraph in Melbourne, Herald Sun in Melbourne, Courier-Mail in Brisbane, and online through news.com.au. Lisa additionally consults with Australian government providing data analytics, reporting and visualization services.