IRELAND:Ireland ranks near the top of a global index that rates nations on the quality of their humanitarian aid. The State has been placed sixth in the worldwide index of humanitarian donors, according to a report launched yesterday by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.
The report was prepared by Dara, a Madrid-based evaluation organisation. Sweden is the leading humanitarian donor among developed nations, followed by Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
Ireland follows close behind and, in terms of its relative population, dwarfs larger nations like the US (16th) and the UK (9th). Each country is rated for overall performance, and for individual elements of its programme: in total, Ireland scored 4.86 out of a possible seven, compared to 3.17 for the poorest performer, Greece.
"Ireland is really doing quite well," said project director Augusto López-Claros.
Dara researchers visited strife-torn nations Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, East Timor, Haiti, Lebanon, Niger, Pakistan, and Sudan to evaluate humanitarian aid on the ground.
More than 800 people and groups were polled to assess the worth of each nation's aid.
"We were very careful to develop indicators not to penalise countries with small aid operations," said Mr López-Claros. "It's not about the volume of aid, but about the efficiency of the aid delivered. It's about who delivers humanitarian aid in a way that reflects best practice."
Nevertheless, he noted that Sweden and the Netherlands contributed about 1 per cent of GNP, compared to the US's 0.15 per cent of GNP.
"Efficient" aid includes cash donations, rather than assistance for particular projects. "The more of the aid that is delivered in cash the better, instead of being delivered in ways that force countries to earmark aid, to say, 'Here's the money, you're to spend it in the following ways'."
Mr Annan, now president of the Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum, said the index would help improve the quality of aid delivered. "I firmly believe that the Humanitarian Response Index will serve as a crucial tool to help ensure that no disaster is ignored, and that every dollar spent helps those most in need."
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said it had no comment about the report, but Irish non-governmental organisation Concern welcomed the establishment of the index. "Concern is very much in favour of focusing on evaluating the effectiveness of aid programmes," said chief executive Tom Arnold.