Charities ‘feeding on aid for their own benefit’

BIG charities such as Oxfam have been accused of campaigning for higher levels of foreign aid because it benefits them and helps them to grow.

Aid has become ‘an important industry’ that ‘feeds’ on greater spending and voluntary organisations skew the debate on the issue because they are ‘contractors and lobbyists’, an expert on international development said.

Jonathan Foreman, senior research fellow at the think-tank Civitas, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that charities were accepting too many contracts from the Department for International Development rather than just relying on cash from individual donors.

He accused the chief executive of Oxfam GB, Mark Goldring, of engaging in ‘aid marketing’, saying: ‘Oxfam

‘Big agencies reap the rewards’

is a contractor for DfID in the same way that BAe might argue for greater defence spending.

‘He’s a contactor and a lobbyist who has a direct financial interest in greater aid budgets. That distorts the discussion on aid.’

The Daily Mail has campaigned against the waste of billions of pounds in foreign aid.

The latest row comes a day after it emerged that Britain’s foreign aid budget now accounts for £1 in every £7 given by rich countries.

The UK spent more than £12billion last year, thanks to David Cameron’s target to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on development.

Mr Goldring said it was true that Oxfam accepted government contracts, but most of its money came from its 500,000 individual donors.

‘We work with the Government,’ he added. ‘But the money that we get from the Government is 10 or 15 per cent of our total budget. Most of it is coming from the public.’

Mr Foreman said other international aid charities such as Save the Children benefited from increased DfID spending.

‘All the big charities are contractors, as are many private companies such as (the professional services business) Adam Smith International, which are profit-making,’ he added.

‘The real function of Britain’s excessive aid spending is about detoxifying the reputation of certain politicians.’

In a book published three years ago, Mr Foreman warned: ‘The big private aid agencies like Oxfam and Save the Children are prime overseas contractors for DfID and draw significant income from it.’

He said DfID’s agenda is ‘heavily influenced’ by charities such as Oxfam. ‘It is not just that Oxfam and others publicly lobby DfID and use their influence to shape its agenda; many DfID officials are former activists from the NGO sector,’ he added.

‘Contrary to popular impression, much of the money that little old ladies give to Oxfam… does not necessarily go to feeding the hungry.

‘In Britain it is normal for aid NGOs, especially the more powerful, corporate-sized private humanitarian agencies like Oxfam and Save the Children (both of which receive large grants from DfID) to lobby for particular foreign aid policy goals and spending levels.’

Comment – Page 16 The dirty dozen – Page 17