PRESENTER DISCUSSION 16th MAY
Tony Thomas, Presenter.
"Aid Efficiency"
Tony spoke about “AID EFFICIENCY – a global overview”. He presented statistics showing the “inefficiency” of poorly targeted global aid agencies (such as the United Nations Development Program). Whereas smaller, targeted agencies (such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rotary Foundation) are able to generate a much greater humanitarian return from the funds spent.The new UN program from 2016 to 2030 is called Sustainable Development Goals. The inefficiency arises as a result of every form of NGO, charity lobby, pressure group and celebrity getting a look-in, creating a bureaucratic process that ran out of control. The final result was 17 goals and a bloat of 169 targets, ‘something for everyone’. The “Economist” magazine mocks it as the UN’s 169 commandments.
By way of contrast, the Rotary Foundation has not fallen into the UN trap of prioritising everything and nothing, and has just five aid priorities:
- Disease prevention and treatment
- Water and sanitation
- Maternal and child health
- Basic education and literacy
- Economic and community development
Bill and Melinda Gates direct their aid with similar priorities – contraception, vaccination and child nutrition as top priorities.
We can be very proud of the Rotary Foundation and the good it is doing around the world from such a relatively small financial base.
In thanking him for his presentation Tony thanked Tony and presented Tony with an abundant posy of flowers.