Category Archives: Aid

Unicef now accepting donations through bitcoin and ether

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Use of cryptocurrencies allows children’s agency to bypass fees of moving cash overseas quickly and increase financial transparency

The UN children’s agency, Unicef, has announced it is accepting and disbursing donations through cryptocurrencies ether and bitcoin.

Unicef’s new Cryptocurrency Fund is the latest in a series of efforts by aid organisations to experiment with “blockchain” currencies, which have the potential to transform charitable giving and increase financial transparency.

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Nigeria warned it risks humanitarian disaster by expelling charities

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Aid agencies strongly deny Nigeria’s claims they are diverting funds to Boko Haram

Nigeria has been warned it risks a humanitarian disaster if the government goes ahead with its threat to throw aid agencies out of the north-east of the country, claiming they are in league with extremist Islamic groups.

A spate of aid offices have been forcibly shut after unproven claims they have been acting as conduits for cash that has ended up with Boko Haram, or Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap).

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UK development bank launches inquiry after murder of Congolese activist

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Independent investigators to explore alleged involvement of security guard for palm oil company supported by CDC

An independent investigation has been launched following the alleged murder of a Congolese activist by a security guard in the employ of a palm oil company part-funded by the UK development bank.

CDC, which is wholly owned by the Department for International Development, appointed independent investigators to examine the circumstances surrounding the death of Joël Imbangola Lunea, a 44-year-old father of eight, in Bempumba on 21 July.

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MPs criticise ‘dramatic increase’ in aid spending over lack of transparency

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Questions over rise in funds to ministries outside Department for International Development, with little clarity on value for money

MPs have criticised a “dramatic increase” in aid spending in ministries outside the Department for International Development, because they have not put in place adequate measures to assess value for money.

A report, by the House of Commons public accounts committee, questioned the doubling of the Newton Fund, managed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to £735m, despite the department’s “weak understanding” of how funds were spent, where and with what results.

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Nigerian army orders closure of aid agency for ‘aiding terrorism’

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Action Against Hunger urges authorities to allow ‘life-saving’ work to continue after sanction imposed without ‘notice or explanation’

The Nigerian army has ordered Action Against Hunger to close its main office in Maiduguri, in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno state, amid allegations the group has been “aiding and abetting terrorism”.

Soldiers forced the organisation to stop its work in the region on 18 September.

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End violence against female aid workers | Letter

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Rosalind Crowther of CARE International on the need to protect humanitarians

Around the world, humanitarian aid workers operate in dangerous and difficult environments and here in South Sudan we know that many aid workers and peacekeepers have lost their lives while trying to protect and assist South Sudanese communities.

Among them have been women who play a vital role in every aspect of crisis response, and particularly in preventing, responding to, and working with survivors of gender-based violence.

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Praise for female aid workers rings hollow when harassment is pervasive

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Aid agencies should be champions for gender equality – so why do female employees face violence and discrimination from men who see them as ‘too pretty for complex issues’?

Is sexual harassment the most important issue facing female humanitarians? If you say yes, you are not alone. In a poll promoted on social media, 41% of respondents identified harassment as the top concern for female aid workers.

Our survey results reinforce decades of research – evidence that has fallen on deaf ears and failed to spark concrete change. For women working in humanitarian settings, the greatest risks they face in responding to emergencies come from their very own employers.

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Trade and foreign aid: will Boris Johnson bring an end to DfID?

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Johnson’s wish that aid should serve the UK’s political and commercial interests could mean a merger for the Department of International Development

In his victory speech, Boris Johnson spoke of the “jostling sets of instincts in the human heart” – the instinct to earn money and look after your own family, set against that of looking after the poorest and neediest, and promoting the good of society as a whole. The Tory party has the “best instincts” to balance these desires, he said.

This balancing act will be tested soon after he moves into No 10. How will he ensure the UK, which has the third largest aid budget in the world, retains its reputation as a “development superpower”, in the words of former international development secretary Penny Mordaunt, with the competing trade, diplomacy and defence requirements of post-Brexit Britain?

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How should we cope with climate crisis? Ask survivors to take the lead | Nanette Antequisa

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As well as investing billions in reinforcing cities against climate disasters, we should support those feeling its impact right now

It was my birthday recently, and it was sad to “celebrate” with another climate disaster here in the Philippines.

Heavy flooding destroyed the work of farmers in Kapatagan Valley, the rice-growing area of Lanao del Norte province on the island of Mindanao. I know the area well – it is where I started my aid work in the early 1990s.

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How Myanmar became an example to the world in the battle against malaria

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Once a malaria blackspot, Myanmar has used aid money to tackle the disease locally – an approach, say experts, from which other countries can learn

With a plastic case full of cheap medical supplies and only a few days’ training, Say Mu Phaw is on the verge of eliminating malaria from her village in south-eastern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi region.

Back in 2015, her first full year as a village health worker, 16 people came down with the disease in Mi Kyaung Hlaung, where roughly 600 residents live surrounded by mosquito-ridden tropical forests.

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‘Alarming’ shortfall in foreign aid for world’s biggest crises

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Chief of leading aid agency warns that halfway through current funding year, less than a third of required money has been donated

The head of one of the world’s leading aid agencies has issued a stark warning over the “alarming lack of funding” for global humanitarian crises.

Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, noted that halfway through the current funding year, humanitarian organisations had received less than a third of money – 27% – needed to provide relief to people affected by crises worldwide.

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Nepal jails Canadian former UN official for sexually abusing boys

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Aid worker Peter Dalglish, 62, sentenced for abusing two boys, aged 12 and 14

A former United Nations official has been jailed for sexually abusing children in Nepal after a trial that underscored the country’s growing appeal for foreign paedophiles.

Peter John Dalglish, 62, a high-profile humanitarian worker from Canada, was sentenced on Monday to two separate terms of nine years and seven years after being convicted last month.

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Ban government investment in fossil fuels, urges cross-party group of MPs

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UK aid projects ‘actively undermine’ efforts to tackle climate crisis, MPs and campaign groups warn

A cross-party group of MPs, backed by campaign groups, has called for an immediate ban on all investment in fossil fuels and for all UK aid to be “nature positive”.

The 28 MPs, led by Tory Zac Goldsmith and Labour’s Kerry McCarthy, with support from Amnesty International, WWF and other organisations, criticised the UK for “actively undermining” its own investment in tackling the climate emergency by continuing to fund fossil fuels through aid and export finance.

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UK government among those exaggerating impact of aid

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Academics warn of ‘success cartel’ of powerful organisations seeking to influence aid evaluations

A “success cartel” of major donor agencies, including the UK government, is exaggerating its impact in the world’s poorest countries, hundreds of researchers have warned.

Writing in the journal BMJ global health, academics raised serious concerns about the independence of evaluations into global health and development projects, and called for greater safeguards to stop powerful bodies from influencing results.

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Only 1% of gender equality funding is going to women’s organisations – why? | Kasia Staszewka, Tenzin Dolker and Kellea Miller

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There’s been a $1bn boost in support in the last two years, but only tiny pots of money are trickling down to feminist groups

In the past two years alone, governments and international institutions have announced more than $1bn (£0.8bn) in new commitments to support gender equality globally.

These include: €500m (£440m) for the European Union and UN’s joint Spotlight Initiative, €120m by France for its feminist foreign policy and $114m by Norway to end sexual and gender-based violence in conflicts. Canada has announced CAD$490m (£290m) towards three programmes: women’s leadership ($150m), the LGBTQ2 Fund ($40m), and the Equality Fund ($300m). This fund was among the nearly $600m committed to women and girls in June at the Women Deliver conference.

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Yemen’s Houthi rebels accused of diverting food aid from hungry

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Head of UN’s World Food Programme threatens suspension of food aid if safe delivery not assured

The head of the United Nations food agency has accused Yemen’s Houthi rebels of diverting food from the country’s hungriest people and threatened to suspend food aid.

David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP), said the agency had found “serious evidence” that food supplies had been diverted in the capital, Sana’a and other Houthi-controlled areas in the country, which is in the midst of a four-year civil war. He called on the Houthis to implement agreements that would allow the UN agency to operate independently.

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Oxfam’s ‘hypocrisy’ is not unique: the aid system is built on a power imbalance

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Money and power are the cornerstones of exploitation, and rich donors have both. No wonder saints have become sinners

Just over a year since the allegations of sexual abuse in Haiti were revealed, Oxfam have been through the equivalent of a reality TV colonoscopy: the organisation has been turned inside out and upside down to reveal what lurks beneath.

An independent investigation on sexual misconduct found abuse far beyond Haiti. The independent commission’s conclusion, after visiting 20% of countries where Oxfam works, was that the issues were endemic.

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Oxfam failed to report child abuse claims in Haiti, inquiry finds

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Damning Charity Commission report warns incidents in country were not isolated events

There were “serious problems with the culture, morale and behaviour” of Oxfam staff in Haiti according to a damning report which has found that the charity failed to disclose allegations of child abuse.

The Charity Commission report surveyed 7,000 pieces of evidence related to allegations that Oxfam had covered up its investigation into staff paying for sex while working on the response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

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‘Prejudiced’ Home Office refusing visas to African researchers

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Academics invited to the UK are refused entry on arbitrary and ‘insulting’ grounds

The Home Office is being accused of institutional racism and damaging British research projects through increasingly arbitrary and “insulting” visa refusals for academics.

In April, a team of six Ebola researchers from Sierra Leone were unable to attend vital training in the UK, funded by the Wellcome Trust as part of a £1.5m flagship pandemic preparedness programme. At the LSE Africa summit, also in April, 24 out of 25 researchers were missing from a single workshop. Shortly afterwards, the Save the Children centenary events were marred by multiple visa refusals of key guests.

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Aid groups need a major shake-up to meet the challenges of a fractured world | Simon O’Connell

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Humanitarian assistance is too siloed, inefficient and expensive to achieve lasting impact for billions of people in need

It is just over three years since the “Grand Bargain” was struck.

It was signed by the world’s major donors and aid providers, promising structural reform and committed to getting more money directly through to local and national organisations. But the deal has seen little change. The system remains dominated by a familiar group of UN agencies and international NGOs. Progress is at a glacial pace.

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