INGOs criticised for overspending, luxury lifestyles
Not all in the country appreciate international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) as there are growing complaints over the luxury lifestyles of many organisations.
One complaint is that many of the organisations appear to spend only 30 per cent of their million-dollar budgets on actual projects, with an alarming 70 per cent going into management and personal spending.
“INGOs are making use of their position for personal gain. I don’t mean all NGOs and INGOs. There are also NGOs and INGOs really serving the interest of the people and the region. Some go for selfish interest. Some are making a profit,” said Dr Saw Mon Theint, the chairperson of the Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA).
There were only a few INGOs in Myanmar before 2008. After Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in 2008, the number of international organisation increased when the government allowed humanitarian aid into the country.
There are more than one hundred officially registered INGOs in Myanmar. Many are relatively new to the country and are working together with UN agencies and international financial institutions, giving them access to donors and large budgets. Some have expensive offices and lavish homes for foreign staff.
According to sources close to the INGO community, the head of USAID spends US$17,000 a month on the rent of his personal home. A UN-related organisation has also submitted US$15,000 as budget for the sole use of generators.
“If you go to the most expensive coffee shops and bars in Yangon, you will only see the staff from INGOs, cronies, those working with cronies, and officials from embassies,” said a person close to the INGO community who asked not to be named. “You will also see them at the most expensive restaurants and massage parlours. The hundreds of thousands of Kyats they are spending a night is the money they have received from donors.”
The 150-odd local NGOs working in Myanmar often find it hard to compete with the larger organisations for funding, though they know the problems at home better. Some were also tainted with corruption problems.
“Local NGOs do not acquire much funding. At most they can get only ten thousand US dollars. There may be corruption, but not much. But there are INGOs having direct links with the government spending tens of millions of US
dollars. Management expendi-tures are much more than the amount of aid going back into the country,” said a political scientist who works closely with INGOs in Myanmar.
Workers of some international organisations fled Rakhine State in March, as their offices were attacked due to communal tensions among the Buddhist and Muslim population.
In New York on Friday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that the violence has highlighted a growing polarisation between the Buddhist and Muslim communities that could undermine the country’s reform process.
“The deliberate destruction and looting of the premises and properties of the United Nations and international NGOs in Sittwe was completely unacceptable… The government must ensure the safety and protection of all civilians in Myanmar, no matter what their religious or ethnic affiliation…I have also been assured by the Government of its commitment to protecting and supporting the United Nations and NGO presence throughout the country.”
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