Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian government is defending its aid programs in Cambodia today from claims its money is being mis-spent. The criticism centres around the big non-government organisations which gain most of the millions of dollars allocated by Canberra to help land mine victims in Cambodia.
Presenter/Interviewer: Karon Snowdon
Speakers: Teressa Gambaro, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the Australian Government; World Visions head of International Programs, Connie Lenneberg; Chris Minko, runs a victims assistance scheme through disabled sports programs
SNOWDON: Landmines continue to cause up to 20-thousand casualties a year around the world. Cambodia, one of the most heavily mined countries has reduced its casualty rate from 3000 to around 800 a year, with a lot of outside help, but there's still a lot to be done.
Some of that help comes from Australia which earmarks a proportion of its 40 million US dollars in total aid to Cambodia for landmine assistance. But Chris Minko a resident for ten years who runs a victims assistance scheme through disabled sports programs questions the aid's effectiveness.
He says large Australian based NGO's are enriching themselves on aid money and wasting between 60 and 80 per cent of landmine funding on ex-pat salaries and perks.
MINKO: I'd really like to draw attention to the massive problem of international NGO's using Cambodia, riding on the poverty and tragedy of Cambodia's recent past as a base to raise millions of dollars for operations that are now multi-nationals. And the majority of the funds that have raised internationally, World Vision, Care Australia ... it goes on; the list is endless. Those funds are being used to support very large bureaucracies.
SNOWDON: Chris Minko has received Ausaid funding of around 200-thousand dollars to help run the Cambodian National Volleyball League for the Disabled which he established.
Ausaid even uses his organisation as a good example on its website. One of his targets, World Vision Australia, says despite his good work, his criticisms are sour grapes because his grants have been smaller.
World Vision employs almost one thousand people in Cambodia and only 15 are non-expats from various countries. World Visions head of International Programs is Connie Lenneberg.
LENNEBERG: Well I think Chris Minko really is making claims that have absolutely no basis in fact. On this program World Vision is working with two other partners in World Vision's component. There are no expatriates directly involved in the implementation of the program. Mine Action group which is responsible for the technical side of taking landmines out of the ground have I think one expatriate who heads up the organisation and clearly it's a very specialist area. And our other partner is International Women's Development Agency and they have one specialised technical adviser that's supporting the program. So his claims really have no basis in fact.
SNOWDON: The Australian Government was one of first to sign the 1997 international convention banning land mines. Its committed a total of 175 million Australian or 136 million US dollars over a 15 year period for anti landmine action globally. In its newest program, three Australian agencies, including World Vision successfully tendered to share 8 million dollars on landmine work in Cambodia.
Teressa Gambaro, the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and the Special Representative on Mine Action for the Australian Government says Ausaid is expanding funding to local NGO's. But she rejects the claims that any money is wasted or unaccounted for.
GAMBARO: Well, look I would absolutely dispute that. We have some 8 to 9 million dollars that's dispersed to organisations like World Vision and also to Aus Care and that is spent on the essentials of mine action in terms of advocacy, survivor assistance and integrated mine action and also clearing and mine risk education as well, and victim assistance. So it's spread across the whole area, but it's certainly does not go out in terms of wages and salaries, it's spent on the ground; it's monitored very, very closely. I dispute the assertions that he makes in terms of most of it going out in salaries. It's just not correct.
Presenter/Interviewer: Karon Snowdon
Speakers: Teressa Gambaro, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the Australian Government; World Visions head of International Programs, Connie Lenneberg; Chris Minko, runs a victims assistance scheme through disabled sports programs
SNOWDON: Landmines continue to cause up to 20-thousand casualties a year around the world. Cambodia, one of the most heavily mined countries has reduced its casualty rate from 3000 to around 800 a year, with a lot of outside help, but there's still a lot to be done.
Some of that help comes from Australia which earmarks a proportion of its 40 million US dollars in total aid to Cambodia for landmine assistance. But Chris Minko a resident for ten years who runs a victims assistance scheme through disabled sports programs questions the aid's effectiveness.
He says large Australian based NGO's are enriching themselves on aid money and wasting between 60 and 80 per cent of landmine funding on ex-pat salaries and perks.
MINKO: I'd really like to draw attention to the massive problem of international NGO's using Cambodia, riding on the poverty and tragedy of Cambodia's recent past as a base to raise millions of dollars for operations that are now multi-nationals. And the majority of the funds that have raised internationally, World Vision, Care Australia ... it goes on; the list is endless. Those funds are being used to support very large bureaucracies.
SNOWDON: Chris Minko has received Ausaid funding of around 200-thousand dollars to help run the Cambodian National Volleyball League for the Disabled which he established.
Ausaid even uses his organisation as a good example on its website. One of his targets, World Vision Australia, says despite his good work, his criticisms are sour grapes because his grants have been smaller.
World Vision employs almost one thousand people in Cambodia and only 15 are non-expats from various countries. World Visions head of International Programs is Connie Lenneberg.
LENNEBERG: Well I think Chris Minko really is making claims that have absolutely no basis in fact. On this program World Vision is working with two other partners in World Vision's component. There are no expatriates directly involved in the implementation of the program. Mine Action group which is responsible for the technical side of taking landmines out of the ground have I think one expatriate who heads up the organisation and clearly it's a very specialist area. And our other partner is International Women's Development Agency and they have one specialised technical adviser that's supporting the program. So his claims really have no basis in fact.
SNOWDON: The Australian Government was one of first to sign the 1997 international convention banning land mines. Its committed a total of 175 million Australian or 136 million US dollars over a 15 year period for anti landmine action globally. In its newest program, three Australian agencies, including World Vision successfully tendered to share 8 million dollars on landmine work in Cambodia.
Teressa Gambaro, the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and the Special Representative on Mine Action for the Australian Government says Ausaid is expanding funding to local NGO's. But she rejects the claims that any money is wasted or unaccounted for.
GAMBARO: Well, look I would absolutely dispute that. We have some 8 to 9 million dollars that's dispersed to organisations like World Vision and also to Aus Care and that is spent on the essentials of mine action in terms of advocacy, survivor assistance and integrated mine action and also clearing and mine risk education as well, and victim assistance. So it's spread across the whole area, but it's certainly does not go out in terms of wages and salaries, it's spent on the ground; it's monitored very, very closely. I dispute the assertions that he makes in terms of most of it going out in salaries. It's just not correct.
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