Third World Initiatives -- A CADS Global network Newsletter



	Farm clearing for CFS purposes.		Home \| Our Constitution \| Our Projects \| Business Opportunities \| Links \| Annual Reports May PEACE Prevail in Sierra Leone! May PEACE Prevail on Earth! Third World Initiatives A CADS Global Network Newsletter about the Power, Prestige and Corruption of the International Aid Business August -- September, 2001 Volume 1, Number 1 ISSN000145677CGN International Aid Business: Maximum Income, Minimum Aid W hether the aid is charitable or official, however, whether it is funded out of direct public donations or out of taxes, the employees of all the agencies concerned inevitably play a critical role in the field and bear a tremendous responsibility. They must interpret correctly the needs of the poor and they must meet those needs quickly and competently. It is generally taken for granted that they do both these things and do them well. Press and television reports tend to play up relief workers as hard-pressed saints. But some recipients of emergency assistance have, however, been heard to express ungracious doubts about those who come to help. As one African refugee asked petulantly: 'Why is that every US dollar comes with twenty western expatriates attached to it?' In many Third World disasters, a great deal of aid money is spent purchasing the expertise that Americans - and Europeans - provide. And agencies operating logistics and miscellaneous costs are enormous and almost impenetrable. Each agency calculates them on a different basis. Somewhere among them are the considerable costs of personnel. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for instance treats its staff superbly . Food for expatriate staff is imported from Europe. In Sierra Leone all of these expatriates with their air conditioned vehicles, their week ends on the beach, live far better than any one else. The aid personnel who consume these resources come in all shapes and size, all kinds of varieties. Some are very good indeed - and they undoubtedly earn their pay. Others are extraordinarily bad, their motivation is questionable and their input is negligible or even harmful. All too often, during Third World disasters, staff, experts and consultants are not subjected to any kind of scrutiny before they are sent into the field; common sense gets abandoned in the rush to help. Again, it should be said at the outset that much of this help is barely tangible to the victims of the catastrophe. Many western 'disaster experts' turn out to be merely an expensive group of workers, compounded with sublime ignorance of local conditions and customs. Their voluntary international aid agencies basically take advantage of the terrible jeopardies to raise funds to support their expensive lifestyles. Those voluntary agencies double their takings with poignant televised appeals for famine and disaster relief than the more routine long term development activities. But the nutritionist or nurse, the construction engineer or the volunteer with no particular skills, all dispatched technically as expatriates know that they benefit more from the generosity of western tax payers than the lives that are in terrible jeopardy in Third World disasters. In most cases, it is a good deal less than donors and tax payers are led to expect. International aid agencies in the industrialized countries are good at responding to disasters in the Third World with strident newspaper and television appeals for help, and millions of dollars could be quickly donated. But almost no tangible signs of the relief effort could be seen on the ground in most cases. In August 1988, for example, Sudan (previously drought-stricken) was hit by severe flooding of the River Nile and, overnight , more than a million people were rendered homeless in Khartoum, the capital city. As the waters continued to rise, epidemics of diseases like cholera and typhoid posed an ever-increasing threat. In addition many of the flood victims were completely destitute and without any kind of food or shelter. Aid agencies in the west responded to this disaster with strident newspaper and television appeals for help, and millions of dollars were quickly donated. Two weeks after the flooding, however, almost no tangible signs of the relief effort could be seen on the ground: a dozen or so plastic sheets here, a few blankets from the Red Crescent Society there, and a grain-distribution station with just twelve sacks of flour in hand. Visiting reporters were proudly shown a newly erected camp of 300 tents provided by Britain: for reasons that no one on the spot could explain, all the tents turned out to be empty and under armed guard --even though tens of thousands of homeless people were milling about on mudflats nearby. By this time no fewer than eighty-five relief flights had arrived from Europe and the US bringing 1,200 tons of supplies. What was unfortunate was that these consignments had included just 400 tons of food (against a UN estimate of 12,000 tons to cover the immediate need). Amongst the food that was sent was a large container-load of fresh meat which - in the absence of refrigeration - quickly began to rot. By the time it was distributed it was 'really smelling' according to one relief worker. By contrast much more durable - and necessary - items like clothing, soap and hospital tents were almost completely missing from the relief deliveries during the first three weeks. All too often, appeals for money are not followed up by action of any practical kind. Most of these international non-governmental agencies send almost no money to the starving at all though they claim to be dedicated to relief and the eradication of starvation. Instead 90% of funds raised would be spent under such headings as 'enrolment and committee entities', communication, information and education services, publications, management and general, and fundraising. These international non-governmental agencies receive "Maximum Income to give Minimum Aid". Supporting local NGOs staffed by mostly indigenes of Third World countries instead would mean more of the funds would be made available to, and easily accessible by the beneficiaries themselves, rather than giving to maintaining the air conditioned vehicles, or sustaining the beach life of expatriate staff of international non-governmental agencies. Big international NGOs and governments have often failed to address key social needs. So it’s nonprofits such as social and economic development local NGOs like CADS Sierra Leone that step in to improve the countries we live in. If the search for development solutions in Sierra Leone is to succeed, "the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails whilst daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." The Constitution of the Center for Alternative Development Strategies CADS Sierra Leone Program Home \| Our Constitution \| Our Projects \| Business Opportunities \| Links \| Annual Reports May PEACE Prevail in Sierra Leone! May PEACE Prevail on Earth!