Goalposts keep shifting for overseas aid funding

Guidelines published this week for government funding schemes of development NGOs still leave unanswered questions, says Catholic aid and development agency Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand. Director Mike Smith says they've written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) seeking answers and more detail.

“The goalposts keep shifting with no consultation or consideration,” says Mr Smith. “For example, earlier draft guidelines in April indicated allocations under the new Sustainable Development Fund would be apportioned 50% to the Pacific by 2012/13. The latest Guidelines stipulate 75 percent for that region, and 15% for Southeast Asia, while NGO projects 'elsewhere in the world' would receive only 10% of funds available. We foresee there could be several strong partnerships and quality development work in say sub-Saharan Africa that may suffer due to insufficient funding.

“There have been other substantial changes from the earlier draft, and some terms used that aren't clearly defined. We received no feedback on comments made to MFAT on the earlier draft. Now we have this final framework – substantially changed – 3 weeks into the new financial year and only 5 weeks away from the deadline for the first of two funding rounds under the new scheme. We're still waiting for application forms to be released.

“This is placing extraordinary pressure on our staff and those of our partner agencies, as well as affecting project planning and design,” says Mr Smith.  He said the timing and clarity of the scheme seems to have little regard to the real needs of programme beneficiaries.

“We and other NGOs represent a large percentage of taxpayers who contribute to programmes in addition to government funding. These taxpayers are concerned about the impact on projects they support because of the uncertainty brought about by these changes. It threatens to seriously compromise good development practice and people's lives,” says Mr Smith.

MFAT is holding a Wellington seminar on 29 July to explain and answer questions about the scheme and the associated new Humanitarian Response Fund (for emergency relief). However, Mr Smith says they've already written to the new Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs and head of the International Development Group, Amanda Ellis, seeking clarification and detail on aspects of the new Guidelines.

“Such is the gap in information and the tight timing for the first application round, we need answers now,” says Mr Smith.

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is a member of Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of 165 Catholic aid, development and social justice agencies active in over 200 countries and territories.