‘Hard look’ at overseas aid groups urged

Press, 13 April 1978, Page 6

‘Hard look’ at overseas aid groups urged

The Public should take a good, hard look at some overseas aid organisations, says the director-elect of the overseas department of the Save the Children Fund (Colonel H. Mackay). “I would welcome legislation forcing aid organisations to publish their accounts,” he said. “This would show how much some organisations spend on administrative frills.”

This would “separate the sheep from the goats,” Colonel Mackay said. “It is a ‘con’ to take donations unless organisations can show that the money is going where it is supposed to be going.” The Save the Children Fund published its accounts, he said. “We are allowed to spend only 2 per cent of our budget on administration.” It was inappropriate for him to name the aid organisations spending too much on administration, he said.

; Colonel Mackay was in [Christchurch yesterday to speak to the Woolston and Hornby Rotary Clubs. He will go to Nelson today to attend the Save the Children Fund’s New Zealand annual meeting on Friday. He will report on the work being done overseas by the fund. Colonel Mackay will take up his post as director of th'e overseas department in London on May 2. The overseas department is responsible for using the money raised in donor coun-

tries like New Zealand to send medical teams to developing countries. “These teams train localgovernment health-Service personnel and mothers in matters of child care: nutrition, health care, and hygiene,” he said. The New Zealand Save the Children Fund raised about SIM a year. Of this, $BOO,OOO went to the overseas department, Colonel Mackay said. “New Zealand raises more per capita than any other country,” he said. The overseas department spend about S7M a year. It! employs 1500 full-time staff, including 150 doctors and nurses.

“Most government aid programmes tend to affect countries at a fairly high level. We are involved with the rural poverty zone.” Colonel Mackay, who is 50, is a Scot. He spent 27 years in the Army, most of those serving in under-developed countries. “1 joined the fund in 1976 because 1 saw it providing a very vital function,” he said. He described his job as “overseer of the overseas department.” “I spend six months of the year travelling around the world, making certain that our teams are working efficiently.”