Humanitarian Aid

For those of you who don’t know her, Kelsey is the What You Ought to Know Humanitarian Aid Correspondent. In fact, right now, she’s laying under a mosquito net in a hut in the middle of no where, South Sudan surrounded by hordes of bloodsucking insects afraid to cross the floor to get some much needed malaria prophylaxis because of a cobra that was found and killed in her doorway the night before. I know what you’re thinking. Who is this Kelsey? and How Big was the snake really? and Why do a show on humanitarian aid now? I mean, the US Economy is tanking. [Humming Taps] and we don’t exactly have a lot of spare cash lying around.

People need humanitarian aid? Was there some kind of disaster I missed? Our current economic woes are the latest disaster. Everything’s connected. You know how the stock market’s doing. Or isn’t doing. With times getting tough, our first instinct is to tighten the belt and lock down the money. Hands off my Benjamins. Ben, Abe, Alex, George, we’re going to have to stick together.

According to Market Watch, the real disaster is that our current economic crisis will cost lives. Remember how we told you that the price of food was going up? Well, now that times aren’t good, you better believe that the humanitarian aid donations are going down. And that means people who normally get help from our country, won’t.

But wait, governments give out lots of foreign aid. They take our taxes, then they give it to other people. So that should be enough, right? Problem solved. I feel better already. Don’t get too comfortable. Remember that’s basically the same excuse Ebenezer Scrooge had thrown back at him by the ghost of Christmas present. And you do not want to be scrooged. Even if it isn’t Christmas. So, if government spending isn’t getting the job done, and you know it isn’t ’cause they spend money abroad about as responsibly as they do here, then What Do You Need To Know?

Outside of government, humanitarian organizations are called NGO’s (Non-Government Organizations). They’re normally tax-exempt so you can donate to them and take a deduction. NGO’s can be big or small, religious or secular. They might take government handouts, or your donations, or both. One might supply medical care, another provide food, and another manage a refuge camp. It all sounds so altruistic. It’s like I can’t go wrong. But, a word of warning to would-be donors. Kelsey says whatever you do, don’t just give to the guy who comes on TV and asks for money.

“Please, only you can help save Everybody! $0.15 out of every dollar goes to some kid who needs stuff. It’s a good cause. And the rest goes to a VERY good cause.”

NGO’s haven’t existed in their current form for very long. And they’re a conduit for billions of dollars of aid each year. It’s actually one of the world’s largest unregulated industries. Anyone can start an NGO. You don’t have to be certified, you don’t have to have a diploma, you don’t even have to be sane. And, to top it all off, there’s no real guarantee they will spend your money in the right way. Oh great, way to go What You Ought to Know. Tell me to give, and then warn me that they could be crooks. Now, I don’t’ know what to do.

Well, you can stick to donating to big humanitarian aid organizations you know, like the Red Cross, but there are plenty of smaller ones that are worth your dollars as well. Just do a little research and look for the following:

Accountabiliy- Find out if they’re a part of an Accountability organization like Humanitaria Accountability project or People in Aid.

Standards- See if they follow the Sphere standards, or the Red Cross code of conduct.

Follow the Money- Check how much of every dollar makes it to the people in need.

$0.12, $0.10 of every dollar!

Monitoring- Find out if they have regular monitoring and evaluations of their programs.

Or if you don’t mind snakes and mosquitoes, you could volunteer. But you’re not going to do that.

We put a link on our site to an article by Kelsey that explains humanitarian aid in detail. Take a few seconds, and get the info you need before you put your donation into the right hands. No, you can’t end world hunger on your own. Actually, maybe you can. Fine, take it all.

Transcribed by: Karla W.

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