A NEW REPORT on how New Zealand aid is spent, echoing a recent report on AusAID, says it goes to too many programs and should be focused more on the Pacific.
Auckland think-tank the Maxim Institute, which published the report, says the aid system is not as effective as it could be.
"New Zealand aid is very small internationally and with 800 programs, that's just way too many for one department to be handling," Maxim Institute researcher Jane Silloway-Smith said.
The institute recommends that New Zealand stop giving aid to poor countries around the world and focus on the Pacific.
Around 56% of NZ aid is channelled to the Pacific, with the largest amounts to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Most of the rest goes to countries in Asia and Africa.
The government says it is already committed to helping the region.
"We have some very chunky investments we are making in the region right now, we are trying to slim down the number of activities, focus on areas that are going to make a difference," Foreign Minister Murray McCully said.
Source: Television New Zealand
More New Zealand aid should be focussed on the smaller mini-island States in the Pacific than PNG.
Posted by: Reginald Renagi | 28 June 2011 at 07:09 PM