Tracking External Donor Funding.pdf - NDC

When asked whether international aid contributes to social justice, only 32% responded positively, while the
remainder chose no.
MAS 2009 Donor Straw Poll
In order to supplement our quantitative survey, MAS approached donors with a follow-up straw poll. These brief
surveys were given anonymously to international aid agency employees who were asked to respond according to their
opinions, as opposed to the position of their organization. It should be noted that this survey was not of adequate size,
30 people, to be taken as more than indicative. It should also be noted that we expect many of the responses to have
been affected by the recent war on the Gaza Strip, especially the question asking about the need for aid based on
geography.
The table below shows aid workers’ perceptions of the sectors most in need of international funding in the final opinion
column. The columns 2006 – 2008 represent the actual disbursements of international aid by sector as captured in our
survey.
Table 2: International Donor Worker Perceptions
versus Organizational Trends by Sector
Sector 2006 2007 2008 Opinion
Children’s Activities 2.31% 2.74% 3.73% 1.4%
Charity & Relief 5.21% 4.04% 8.88% 2.9%
Elderly Care 0.22% 1%
Family Planning 0.53% 0.08% 1.70% 1.9%
Liberal Arts Education 5.40% 6.22% 8.25% 1.9%
Rural Development 10.93% 15.88% 10.17% 14.8%
Water and Environment 5.47% 2.38% 3.51% 15.2%
Health Services 18.74% 15.45% 14.72% 5.7%
Research 2.05% 1.26% 3.00% 1%
Disabled Care 5.05% 4.68% 3.83% 1%
Vocational Training 2.85% 2.04% 3.06% 4.8%
Religious Activities 0.03%
Scientific Education 1.87% 4.28% 2.61% 4.8%
Women’s Affairs 7.29% 8.97% 7.99% 10%
Human Rights 10.21% 10.83% 10.60% 15.7%
Enhancing Democracy 6.65% 4.81% 3.58% 3.8%
Good Governance 8.73% 9.32% 7.84% 14.1%
Youth and Sports 2.66% 1.64% 1.54% 1.9%
Other 4.04% 5.35% 4.78%
Total 100% 100% 100% 100%
Note: Of the 30 international aid workers given the survey, 29 returned
completed questionnaires.
Empty Cells are equal to 0% and numbers for the opinions are rounded to the
nearest tenth of a percent.
The most dramatic differences between international agency worker perceptions and the reality on the ground are in the
sectors of Charity and Relief, Water, Health, Liberal Arts Education, Human Rights and Good Governance. If worker
perceptions were to become reality in 2009, Charity and relief would decrease by nearly 2/3, as would funds to the
Health Sector. Water would nearly quintuple its funding while Human rights would increase by a third. Other sectors
that international workers would emphasize more than their organizations were: Youth, Governance, Democracy,
Women, Scientific Education, Rural Development, Vocational Training and Elderly Care. Other sectors that these
workers would de-emphasize were: Children’s Activities, Liberal Arts, Research and Disabled Care.
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For more analysis on this subject, see: Brynen 1995; Hanafi and Tabar 2004, 2005; Said 2005; and Taylor 1997.
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