by Dave Nuttle

In April 2005, the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, stated, “NGOs (non-governmental organizations) have squandered the funds channeled through them.” The accused NGOs, charities working in Afghanistan and other areas, have also been previously criticized (by Karzai and others) for lacking the survivability needed for hostile environments. In actual fact, several charities removed all their volunteers from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Sudan after having volunteers kidnapped or killed. Thus, credibility and security are two current issues for international relief organizations.

After the South Asian tsunami disaster of 26 Dec 2004, responding volunteers from Oxfam, IRFF (Intl. Relief Friendship Foundation), my own charity, NPI, and missionary David Morris, all observed that less than 20 percent of the relief actually reached the tsunami victims. Jan Egeland, the United Nations (UN) tsunami-relief coordinator, recently observed that--- “Tsunami survivors are becoming frustrated with the slow pace of reconstruction.” These observations seem to confirm President Karzai’s statement about flawed relief delivery, as noted above. It is possible that something has gone badly wrong with our international relief efforts. For humanitarian reasons, if for no other reason, there is a real need to identify specific problems and find the best possible solution for each.

During international relief operations, NGOs typically have many expenses to include those for fundraising, shipping/transportation, staff & support personnel salaries, indirect expenses ----as well as usually having some losses associated with bribes and theft. In addition, local politicians may divert relief supplies for their own use. Whatever remains is the relief actually delivered to the disaster victims.

Kathy Winings, A Director of IRFF, recently said, “In the last decade, relief (or humanitarian aid) has become a business for some.” With a typical business focus on gain, for their organizations, the charities concerned give only a small portion of donations with very little concern for disaster victims. After the 9-11 (11 Oct 2001) terrorist attacks, the Salvation Army started a forum to attempt to reduce the level of such abuse in the U.S. On an international level, United Nations (UN) organizations usually have some responsibility for relief operations for member states. However, these UN organizations have had problems of incompetence and corruption. Currently, there is no effective forum to help resolve the problems associated with international relief.

Despite immense global wealth, technological innovation, and some increasing political emancipation, two-thirds of the world’s population remains at-risk. The at-risk factors include a general lack of health, safety, services, income opportunities, and protection of their environments. Poverty and frustration are the result. When you add the other major risks, primarily in the form of natural and terrorist-caused disasters, it becomes clear that effective international relief is critical. Without effective relief, we actually help to sustain any existing conditions of instability, terrorism, and conflict.

Historically, the U.S. has expended billions of dollars for efforts to help other nations resolve conditions of poverty for their populations. These funds were, and are, primarily administered by the U.S. Agency for Intl. Development (USAID). In general, these funds have seldom removed conditions of poverty because they have usually gone to corrupt foreign governments ---governments that have had little concern for their own impoverished populations. As a testimony to our failure, over 800 million of the world’s 6.3 billion population still live on the brink-of-starvation. Over 4,000 children die each day, worldwide, from poor sanitation and drinking unsafe water. More than 17,000 children die each day, worldwide, from hunger-related diseases. According to a 2005 WHO (World Health Organization) report, one woman dies from childbirth and 20 children die from a preventable disease every minute. We have the resources and unique technology needed to resolve these problems, but real solutions continue to be lacking.

Over one-third of the world’s peoples are classified as impoverished. Millennium Development Goals, accepted by most nations, pledge to improve living conditions in the developing nations. But when it comes to keeping pledges, to reduce rates of poverty, governments have generally failed time and again. Less than half of the tsunami-relief promised, after the Asian tsunami of 26 Dec 2004, will actually be delivered if past performance is a good indicator. The Marshall Plan, after World War II, was the first and last successful international relief effort by the U.S. After this period, far too many U.S. Presidents made historic policy mistakes typically based on profound ignorance and arrogance. Thus, an absence of effective leadership (in the U.S. and elsewhere) has acted to sustain historical problems.

In Iraq, the lack of a really effective relief effort (with supporting security) has cost American lives during the war and counterinsurgency efforts there. Thus, the Iraqi people have seen few benefits in exchange for all of the risks and sacrifices they are being asked to make in support of American forces. The lack of such local support has convinced most Iraqis that risks are far greater than benefits ---so the support for U.S. counterterror efforts remains poor. In this environment, terrorist activity has increased, and many NGOs (charities) have therefore removed their volunteers from Iraq. CARE and Doctors Without Borders were among the first to leave. As a result, the Iraqi people witnessed an actual decline in the relief provided. U.S. military forces are too poorly trained and equipped to fill the “gap.”

Upon being confronted with evidence that U.S. charities have generally become less efficient, and sometimes more corrupt, the U.S. Congress is considering the need for corrective legislation. By creating a new law to make charities more transparent, and more accountable, there is hope that some of the above named problems might soon be resolved. However, most of these problems can only be effectively resolved by the charities themselves. With over 1.3 million charities, in the U.S., there is fierce and real competition for donations and grant funds. Some of the larger charities have helped to create “gatekeeper” operations to divert donations away from the smaller charities. (The tactics of these “gatekeepers” will be the subject of another paper.)

The charities that benefit most from major disasters have used a significant percentage of donations to create massive fundraising “machinery” just waiting to kick-in at the next disaster. President Karzai and others have observed such inappropriate use of resources as part of what seems to be a tragic squandering of funds, worldwide, by NGOs.

Needful Provision, Inc. (NPI), the charity I direct, seeks to avoid all of the above types of “pitfalls.” We are joining with small, well-proven indigenous (local) charities capable of efficiently and effectively responding to disasters, in their areas, with minimal support. Unfortunately, many larger NGOs have generally ignored local charities because typical self-promotion goals are best achieved when NGOs operate with their own personnel. Use of local charities helps to resolve most security issues since American volunteers need not be present in hazardous areas. To further assure safety, NPI trains indigenous (local) volunteers in safety and security ---and provides local volunteers with two-way, language appropriate, text-messaging pagers designed to coordinate security efforts.

In addition, NPI is now developing Radio Schools to broadcast self-help, redevelopment, and homeland security instruction directly to victims. By recruiting and training selected indigenous (local) volunteers, NPI can deliver the needed Radio School classes to where they are needed. Radio School organizers (the local volunteers) are equipped with very durable radios powered by hand-crank generators. Using a mix or combination of Radio School instruction, and direct delivery of critical relief items, the victims themselves can act to speed their own recovery.

Radio Schools are a proven success for delivering relief in remote or insure areas where foreign volunteers can seldom be effective. One of the early efforts was Radio Puno (in Peru), used in the mid-1960s to provide relief to remote Quechua Indian villages experiencing a series of crises. NPI’s efforts are expected to soon reinforce the value of Radio Schools for relief in areas of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Sudan now considered too hazardous for NGO volunteers.

NPI is also developing an international barter trade program for use in association with the Radio School effort. Barter trade will be used to help isolated, impoverished populations and disaster victims acquire items essential for their survival. NPI works with these groups to help identify possible trade items surplus to the needs of the population concerned. In addition, NPI offers inexpensive self-help products helpful to the victims of a disaster. These self-help products include: 1) A solar water still; 2) A solar-powered refrigerator; 3) A solar-powered oven; 4) A simple means to grow food supplements; 5) An earth-block machine to make block for new homes; and 6) Other similar items. Typical barter trades are three-way trades; e.g. Neem seeds harvested by refugees, purchase of Neem seeds by W.R. Grace Co. (for making organic insecticides);and NPI delivery of self-help items ordered by the refugees.

Using a combination of the above methods, NPI seeks to assure that 90 percent of donated funds are used for disaster victims assisted. We do not have all the answers, but NPI is confident that our tested solutions will help to avoid known problems.

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