What You Should Give in Emergencies

by Alanna Shaikh · 2009-05-29 12:11:00 UTC
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(photocredit:purpleslog)

Yesterday's post on what not to give has a logical second part. What should you give in a humanitarian emergency? For once, the answer is easy. Give money.

Money doesn't expire. It has no shipping costs. It can be used for whatever need is greatest. It's immediately useful, or can be saved for later use. Donations of money free up emergency assistance agencies to do the work they know how to do. And no matter what kind of great deal you can get on bandages or blankets, buying in bulk from established sources is going to be faster and cheaper.

You and I don't know that much about any given emergency situation. We don't know if a cholera epidemic is best fought through better water treatment, fixing the latrines, or providing drugs. The organizations on the ground do know. We should support them.

Some people want to send goods instead of money because they think that the money will be lost to corrupt governments. But that's not how international aid works. NGOs use donations to run emergency relief programs that serve people in need directly. Cash doesn't go to the host government unless it is part of a contract to do a specific thing.

Another reason people want to send goods instead of money is because they already have stuff that they can give. There is no cost to the donor to give things they already have. The cost to the receiving organization, though, can be terrible.

Alanna Shaikh
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