Africa: how to ensure the £ gets there

User_Bob

I have been racked by the recent scenes from Africa and want to send money.

But I want to ensure its being used properley and those babies and families are getting as much of my money as they possibly can. I dont want War Lords getting it, or corrupt officials or unnecessary admin.

Is there a League Table, or an independant report, or any advice?

Autumn19

Unfortunately with headlines like Mugabe 'spends £2m per month on travel abroad with his huge entourage' it does not give u much hope that any financial donations go to the people who need it most.

Over the years appeals have come and gone for the same countries over and over again.

Is there a solution? I do not know, perhaps if the United Nations got together and with the agreement of any of the governments that govern said stricken countries put together some sort of mentoring project that would cover a period of 5-10 years (just an aproximate timescale could take upto 25 years or longer) which covered all the areas that you need to run and maintain your country to be self sufficient - this mentoring would be for the ordinary person up to the people in power. There would also have to be a financial support system here as well to pay for putting in irrigation systems and the like, but the financial support system should be controlled by external parties.

Throwing money at these problems does not work, it requires commitment and dedication not only by the nations that want to help but by the people who govern these countries and the ordinary person in the street.

Would suggest donations of basic staples, food, drink, shelter, warmth, clothes etc. Perhaps these donations should be taken and distributed by the United Nations and if there is any aggressiveness by the government or individual groups then the only option would be to withdraw. It all gets a bit complicated and messy when certain groups become aggressive when all you want to do is help the people who are starving.

Do not mean to be negative, no-one wants people to starve to death in this day and age, or die for the want of clean water, but how is this problem to be resolved?

Sometime u wish u could just wave a magic wand and make it right.

Lara44

Yes it is definitely depressing. However it's in the places where governmental structures have completely broken down that people need aid the most, like in parts of rebel-held Somalia. Although I research the charities that I give to, in my heart I know that some of the aid money will go to warlords (by whatever corruption and back-channels, I'm not accusing the aid agencies). However, if this is the price for feeding those that exist under them, then for me it is a price worth paying... Certainly in this situation where drought, not great governance, high food and oil prices, runaway inflation and currency devaluation are all conspiring against East Africans.

However it is a good idea if you're making other donations to do a bit of general research on the charity itself and how it gets and spends its income. You can do this on the Charity Commission website. HTH

oldtoolie

I would highly recommend the Disaster Emergency Committee

This is a coalition of charities with vast experience delivering relief and development aid to those who need it. These agencies are already there before the disaster appeals are announced and they really know what people need and how to get it to them. In the aftermath of the disaster, they evaluate their efforts and publish the results. They use what they have learned to improve their work. Go to their website to find out more about what they do and how to make a donation. https://www.dec.org.uk

PompeyPete

Is this one of the reasons why the poor people of Somalia are starving...

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article480495.ece

...some of the comments at the bottom of the article are interesting too.

No doubt the Somali owners of these sheep are the autocratic, corrupt Somali government.

Surely Charities (and UK government) must know what's going on, and should at least be honest with the British public when looking for donations.

The Saudi's don't come out of this very well either.

1jim

oldtoolie wrote: »

I would highly recommend the Disaster Emergency Committee

This is a coalition of charities with vast experience delivering relief and development aid to those who need it. These agencies are already there before the disaster appeals are announced and they really know what people need and how to get it to them. In the aftermath of the disaster, they evaluate their efforts and publish the results. They use what they have learned to improve their work. Go to their website to find out more about what they do and how to make a donation. www.dec.org.uk

I agree DEC is probably the way to go, but I do get concerned about the large overheads that these charities have, I dont mean the overseas operating costs, more the costs of headquaters and top managers when you add it up it all makes quite a % of overall donations

I now sponsor a child using Heal.co.uk as all of this money is used in sponsorship as no one takes a wage in this charity, and the money goes to support a named child not a hybrid profile cobbled together

I also use www.lendwithcare.org where you can "loan" money to entrepreneurs (small business people)- when they pay it back you can relend or withdraw the money, again 100% of the money is loaned and no cut to the charity.
The above 2 arnt perfect but they meet my aims of charitable giving (although only small amounts)

marywooyeah

hmm it is a hard one. I have a friend who refuses to give money to charity because he doesn't believe it reaches anyone who needs it - and I can see his point to a degree.
I give £20 a month to action aid - £15 of this is to sponsor a little girl in rwanda, of which around £12 goes to her and the other £3 is for admin. the other £5 goes to a centre for women who lost their homes and many experienced sexual abuse after the pakistan floods.
I would reccomend action aid as they are very upfront about the percentage which goes to charity. I have no problem with charities having admin costs, but I think some charities have too many if you see what I mean. I used to give £6 a month to shelter, but stopped after I read that the head/md/whatever the right title is was on £130,000 a year! how many £6 a month payments is that before the charity sees anything?
if I were you I'd look around at the different charities and check out how much of the money actually goes to helping people, trust your instincts too.

Bewe

I'd agree using the Charity Commission site is useful to see where they spend their money and to check that no one earns over £100k - does anyone, particularly in a charity, really need to earn that much!

I also have no problem with money being spent on admin, it's a necessary function for organisations. I think if you check out the efficiency/results of their projects through annual reports etc that's a good indication of how well an organisation operates.

I'd say go for organisations that do a lot of advocacy work as well as aid - if they're just giving aid and not trying to tackle the root causes of the problem through campaigning then what's the point in their existence?