NZ Aid rejects 60 applications

Foreign Minister Murray McCully. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Many applications to a fund for overseas aid projects were rejected because they were not good enough, Foreign Minister Murray McCully said today.

Sixty of 104 applications were rejected.

The Government last year moved aid funding agency NZAID back into the Foreign Affairs ministry and refocused its goals on economic development as the way to lift people out of poverty, with special attention on the Pacific region.

It changed the way funding was granted and set up a new Sustainable Development Fund.

Some non-government organisations (NGOs) have complained that the process ran three months late and detailed reasons for rejections were not given.

Christian World Services board member Pauline McKay said her agency made six applications but only one was accepted and Catholic charity Caritas only had two of its 14 applications conditionally approved.

Caritas head Michael Smith told Radio New Zealand that all applications had an economic development focus and the majority were Pacific-based. Ironically the ones that were approved were in Afghanistan and Palestine.

"We're in the dark as to why some projects have been approved and why most haven't. We really have a lack of information at this stage."

He said the applications were high quality and professional. Projects would be drastically downsized or put on hold.

Mr McCully told NZPA that he had no involvement in the assessment process but had asked Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials why the rejection rate was so high because he had hoped for a better result.

"Many of the applications were of very poor quality, the paperwork was not up to scratch in many cases and that led to some delays in the processing of the applications... I am satisfied that officials were simply being professional with taxpayers' money."

The most common problem was insufficient information.

Previously funding went to the Council for International Development, which allocated it to charities doing overseas development work.

"The NGOs were simply handed over $21 million a year to distribute amongst themselves with no accountability to a process where we now require them to account."

Some organisations were struggling with that and they needed to become more professional.

He had asked officials to work with applicants that had good projects but poor applications. That process only started in the past couple of weeks.

Mr McCully said so far $40m of funding over three years had been allocated.

"There is no limit at this stage on the funding that we are prepared to allocate for NGO partnerships."

The Government wanted to work more with NGOs because it was an effective way of getting good work done but public money was at stake and quality was vital.

- NZPA