Global Charities Say More Relief Aid Should Go to Local Groups

Major international aid organizations say emergency response to humanitarian crises could be drastically improved if more relief money was channeled directly to nonprofits based in conflict and disaster zones, according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The news service polled 25 global aid charities ahead of the first World Humanitarian Summit, which will take place later this month in Istanbul and, among other issues, will consider the role of local nonprofits that have proliferated in crisis zones.

The survey focused on war-torn Syria and post-earthquake Nepal. Just over half the international groups working in Syria and some 90 percent of those active in Nepal after last year’s quake said bilateral aid funding from the United Nations and national governments should go directly to organizations in the affected countries. Respondents said such groups’ knowledge of local conditions can make aid delivery more effective and build future capacity. But the study also found skepticism among big charities that local nonprofits can meet donors’ compliance standards.