Word: ngos
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...getting much play in the media. Part of the reason could be that after last year's drought put Ethiopia in the headlines, the country's government - no fan of negative attention - decided this time to take matters of food relief into its own hands, pushing international NGOs to the sidelines. "Giving publicity to the issue angered the government so much that this year they decided to handle most of the activities by themselves, far away from the spotlight of non-governmental actors," a coordinator of a European NGO (who requested anonymity) tells TIME. (See pictures on the front lines...
...Another top Western diplomat puts it more plainly: "This year's problem is very serious because last year's was serious." And with aid funding drying up and the Ethiopian government restricting help from NGOs, next year can only be more serious still...
...Indeed, the Tsinghua study indicated that half of the people who donated after the quake were unsure where their money went. And some 60% said they had doubts about the work of NGOs and had more faith in the government. "I used to be more positive and thought that civil society would really take off in China after the earthquake," says Deng. "But more than a year later, we haven't seen any substantial progress." Since the initial onrush of 300 NGOs and 3 million volunteers in the months after the disaster, the damaged regions now have only about...
...some cases local governments required volunteer groups to hand over funds, says Deng Guosheng, an associate professor at Tsinghua's School of Public Policy and Management, who headed the research team. But in general the heavy reliance on the state is an indicator of the underdeveloped state of many NGOs in China. "Most NGOs are incapable and desperately in need of money," says Deng. "Some of them couldn't even afford to travel to the earthquake zone. In order to get any results for their money, those groups had to rely in turn on the government...
...This week an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs told the Beijing News, a Chinese newspaper, that the heavy state involvement was due to problems with the system for donations. "The credibility of a number of NGOs is not high and their feedback is unclear," said Wang Zhenyao, director of the ministry's Social Welfare and Charities Division. "That's why the donations finally go to government." (Read "A Year After Sichuan Quake, Citizens Press for Answers...