Organisations such as Care, Save the Children, Caritas, ChildFund, Plan International and the Fred Hollows Foundation – who have partnership agreements with the government – have had their current year funding cut by about 8%.
They say that means they are losing money already allocated to programs related to water and sanitation, elimination of violence against women, disaster reduction work and small-scale agriculture, among others.
The organisations say the cuts clearly break a Coalition promise not to cut their funding when it announced a $4.5bn cut to the aid budget over the next four years two days before the federal election.
https://www.hollows.org.au/news-media/coalition-aid-cuts-will-hurt-real-lives
The Fred Hollows Foundation CEO Brian Doolan has responded to foreign aid cuts outlined by the Coalition by highlighting the human cost.
“Who is going to miss out on malaria treatment? Who will miss out on having their sight restored? These are cuts that will have a devastating impact on real lives,” Mr Doolan said.
http://catholicleader.com.au/news/caritas-hit-by-government-cuts
CARITAS Australia has added its voice to other groups protesting against the Federal Government’s cuts of $650 million from Australia’s official aid program in the 2013-14 financial year.
Caritas Australia chief executive officer Paul O’Callaghan said it was “unfortunate such a decision had been made in the first year of our partnership with the new government”.
He said the generosity of the Australian public, bolstered by Caritas’ 40-year partnership with the Australian Government, had led to beneficial change in many countries.
“In the last year alone, this partnership enabled Caritas Australia to reach more than 1.1 million people across 20 countries,” Mr O’Callaghan said.
The Australian Christian Lobby also expressed disappointment at the funding cuts, announced on January 18.
ACL managing director Lyle Shelton said Christians had been at the forefront in urging the both Labor and the Liberal-National Party Coalition to keep the Millennium Development Goal promises, which included increasing aid to 0.7 per cent of gross national income by 2015.
http://devpolicy.org/in-brief/ngos-accuse-coalition-of-plotting-to-break-pre-election-promise-201401...
ACFID’s Marc Purcell told Guardian Australia that fears about cuts began in November when the government asked ten large NGOs, including World Vision, Oxfam and the Fred Hollows foundation, to “hold off” invoicing for their funding. Purcell also spoke to Radio National’s AM on the topic, noting a lack of response from DFAT or the minister on questions from the sector.
Just two days before the election, during the Coalition’s costings launch, Treasurer Joe Hockey emphasised his government’s intention to “re-prioritise foreign aid allocations towards non-government organisations that deliver on-the-ground support for those most in need”
But was this just a cynical statement to try to quieten public backlash from the sector to aid cuts before election day or an actual policy promise?
