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Donate nowWhere is your AID money going?
Where is your AID money going? Is an exciting new AID/WATCH project which gives you tools for information and action on where your aid money goes. AID/WATCH's guide to Australian Aid and Development NGO profiles will assist you in holding our government to account on aid spending and making well-informed private donations.
Photo: Nick Moir The coastal and central business area of Meulaboh was totally annihilated after a huge Tsunami hit Aceh City in 2004
Have you ever wondered where your aid money is going?
Australia delivers, on average, around $3.3 billion in aid each year, funding aid projects and programs in the Pacific, Southeast Asia, as well as parts of Africa and the Middle East. However aid payments don’t necessarily go directly to the communities or governments they’re intended to assist. Australian aid dollars end up in the hands of a variety of players including private contractors, Australian government departments, NGOs and multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and UN agencies. Unfortunately, there exists limited accountability in aid spending and delivery to both recipient communities and the tax- payers who fund the aid program.
'Where is your AID money going?' is designed to break-down the complex web of aid and provide an overall picture of the Australian aid program, how it works, where the money goes, and how you, as someone living in an aid donor country, can become more informed and critical about where your aid money is going. As this section of the website reveals, the Australian aid program is not about simple charity, nor is its delivery solely about social or environmental justice for the world’s poor. It is fraught with commercial and national interests, which impede governments and communities determining their own development needs and futures. Aid, like trade and debt, constitutes an unequal power relationship where donors and recipients are not mutually accountable or on equal terms in determining aid spending. This is why it is crucial that we, the Australian public, be informed and active in holding our government to account and demand a more effective and just aid program.
'Where is your AID money going?' also looks beyond government and multilateral aid, providing a gateway to information on Australian development NGOs. If you currently donate to charitable organisations, or wish to in the future, this guide will assist in your making an informed decision about where your contributions go and give you the know-how to ask the right questions about how your money is being used.
Aid has the potential to be community-determined and focused on social and environmental justice for the majority world. AID/WATCH intends to help build communities of well-informed Australians seeking to take global social responsibility seriously within our aid program.
