Lazy giving does not work! Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pushes NGOs, in a confidence boost for disillusioned donors.
September 12th 2006 03:56
Microsoft-type best practice being introduced in the aid industry could force NGOs to be more accountable in the way they compete for and use funds. A news report in the aid/development website Dev-zone.org gives this hope, summarising from an in-depth article in the latest issue of The Boston Review.
Highlights from the Boston Review article authored by Ford Foundation economics professor A V Banerjee:
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation are showing strong commitment to using empirical evidence to form their aid-use decisions.
Empirical evidence to date shows best value is in aid projects defined for objectives and readied for benchmark performance analysis, in a way approaching how corporations seeking equity finance lay out in share prospectus documents.
Prior-established objectives can avert the adverse outcomes that come when aid organisations think they can use donated monies in any way they see fit.
"Lazy giving does not work!"
The full report in The Boston Review
The news is important if disillusioned public donors in the developed nations are to regain confidence in NGOs' use of donated funds. Like the $379.9 million that ordinary Australians gave after the 2006 Boxing Day tsunamis, as reported last post: "Judges' death sentences heartless to Aussies, who have given $ millions to Indonesians".
The dent in confidence was most evident after the 27 May 2006 Yogyakarta (Java) earthquake which demolished more Indonesian dwellings than the 2004 tsunami. Donations failed to meet NGOs' hopes, yet the homes of about 2.7 million Indonesians were affected (source).
Alternative reference
Confidence was no doubt dented by reports like Xinhua's 12 July 2006 "Many Aceh tsunami survivors still living in tents" (link).
Australian in-depth analysis of the performance in aid delivery appears in the aid association ACFID report following its 4 Aug 06 seminar "The Tsunami: reflecting on our efforts" - doc download.
Use of donated aid for reconstruction in Aceh has proved particularly difficult. The May 2006 issue of "Engineers Australia" magazine gives some insight in "Difficulties with project delivery in Aceh" - viewable here.
Ends
Highlights from the Boston Review article authored by Ford Foundation economics professor A V Banerjee:
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation are showing strong commitment to using empirical evidence to form their aid-use decisions.
Empirical evidence to date shows best value is in aid projects defined for objectives and readied for benchmark performance analysis, in a way approaching how corporations seeking equity finance lay out in share prospectus documents.
Prior-established objectives can avert the adverse outcomes that come when aid organisations think they can use donated monies in any way they see fit.
"Lazy giving does not work!"
The full report in The Boston Review
The news is important if disillusioned public donors in the developed nations are to regain confidence in NGOs' use of donated funds. Like the $379.9 million that ordinary Australians gave after the 2006 Boxing Day tsunamis, as reported last post: "Judges' death sentences heartless to Aussies, who have given $ millions to Indonesians".
The dent in confidence was most evident after the 27 May 2006 Yogyakarta (Java) earthquake which demolished more Indonesian dwellings than the 2004 tsunami. Donations failed to meet NGOs' hopes, yet the homes of about 2.7 million Indonesians were affected (source).
Alternative reference
Confidence was no doubt dented by reports like Xinhua's 12 July 2006 "Many Aceh tsunami survivors still living in tents" (link).
Australian in-depth analysis of the performance in aid delivery appears in the aid association ACFID report following its 4 Aug 06 seminar "The Tsunami: reflecting on our efforts" - doc download.
Use of donated aid for reconstruction in Aceh has proved particularly difficult. The May 2006 issue of "Engineers Australia" magazine gives some insight in "Difficulties with project delivery in Aceh" - viewable here.
Ends
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