International Red Cross sees less charitable giving
18 Nov 2008 15:54:38 GMT Source: Reuters
By Laura MacInnis GENEVA, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Companies and individuals have cut back charitable giving and donations may fall further in 2009 as a result of the global financial crisis, the world's largest relief network said on Tuesday. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), a Geneva-based body linking together national groups such as the American Red Cross, said that pre-Christmas fundraising events had yielded less than normal. "Unfortunately the signals that we get from our member Red Cross and Red Crescent societies from all over the world are not very encouraging," IFRC delegate Encho Gospodinov told a news briefing about the organisation's 2009 budget. "There will be less and less money for humanitarian work in 2009," he said. The United Nations will also be asking donor governments to set aside money in their increasingly pinched budgets for aid programmes in a multi-billion-dollar "2009 Humanitarian Appeal", to be launched on Wednesday in Geneva. Development experts will watch the yields of that annual appeal as a yardstick of how much the financial crisis has affected countries' development aid contributions. Gospodinov, speaking after meeting diplomats about the IFRC's funding needs, told journalists that governments should not use the credit crisis and its aftermath as an excuse to pare back development aid. "If they want to bail out banks and major industrial companies, that is fine. But we want to remind them that there are people out there who are suffering," he said. "Money that used to be used for humanitarian causes should not be taken hostage by the current financial situation." The IFRC is seeking 265 million Swiss francs ($221 million) to assist 150 million people affected by natural disasters, food shortages, and health and humanitarian emergencies next year. It also wants to help vulnerable communities prepare for crises such as earthquakes and floods. "Early warning and early action brings significant savings and is an effective us of donations," IFRC Secretary-General Bekele Geleta said, stressing that aid groups are stretching every dollar they receive given their current constraints. "This is why we also urge donors not to cut budgets for humanitarian aid at a time when the number of disasters is increasing, as is their frequency and impact," Geleta said. (Editing by Michael Roddy)
