[afro-nets] World Vision's "More than Words?..."

[Peter Burgess <Profitinafrica@aol.com>]

World Vision's "More than Words?..."
------------------------------------

Dear Colleagues

I wanted to address a question to World Vision as a result of a
posting on the CABA forum... but USAID rules did not allow it to
get posted according to Virginia Lamb, the CABA Moderator. The
person who did the posting, Helen Young, was out of the office
when my message was received.

It is interesting to see the messages that are now addressing
the question of "Phantom Aid", the biggest segment by far of the
official relief and development assistance (ORDA) industry.
Maybe this is the opening we have all been waiting for to make
donors start to act with some honesty. Up to now donors have
driven the process, even if it makes no real development sense.

By being part of the global Transparency and Accountability Net-
work (Tr-Ac-Net)... in due course I expect to be able to make a
difference. Tr-Ac-Net is getting ready to use a new framework
for "management information for development" that will ensure
that the result of using development resources is on the record
and people get held accountable for inadequate performance. It
is going to be interesting.

Sincerely,

Peter Burgess
Tr-Ac-Net in New York
Tel.: +1-212-772-6918
mailto:peterbnyc@gmail.com
The Transparency and Accountability Network
With Kris Dev in Chennai India
and others in South Asia, Africa and Latin America
http://tr-ac-net.blogspot.com



In a message dated 6/6/2005 4:33:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
cabaforum@s-3.com writes:

 > Subj:RE: New publication- World Vision's "More than Words?..."
 > From:cabaforum@s-3.com
 > To:Profitinafrica@aol.com
 >
 > Dear Mr. Burgess,
 >
 > Thank you for your email. USAID requests that The Children Affected 
by
 > HIV/AIDS (CABA) Forum exclude listserv postings targeting specific 
organiza-
 > tions
 > and therefore, we regretfully will not be able to distribute your 
message to
 > all of our subscribers. We would be happy to post requests for 
information and
 > discussion topics if there are further questions CABA members might 
be able
 > to discuss.
 >
 > Please let me know if you have additional questions or concerns. 
Thank you
 > for your understanding.
 >
 > Best regards,
 >
 > Virginia Lamb
 > CABA Moderator
 >

 > >> -----Original Message-----
 >> From: Profitinafrica@aol.com [mailto:Profitinafrica@aol.com]
 >> Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 5:57 PM
 >> To: helen.young@worldvision.org.uk
 >> Cc: peterbnyc@gmail.com; CABA Forum; krisdev@gmail.com
 >> Subject: Re: New publication- World Vision's "More than Words?..."
 >>
 >> Dear Helen Young
 >>
 >> I was interested to see World Vision presenting a report on the OVC 
crisis.
 >> Why are you doing a "qualitative report" at this time? Why are you 
doing it
 >> in Ethiopia, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia and not in 30 other 
highly
 >> affected countries? Why are you doing it at all.
 >>
 >> Surely by now there is a huge amount of study, and hardly any 
action to
 >> address the problem.
 >>
 >> World Vision today is one of the largest money raisers on the 
planet ...
 >> and in a position to do a huge amount of good. But only if the 
money gets into
 >> doing things that are worth doing, and really deliver value on the 
ground
 >> to people who are in desparate need.
 >>
 >> There is a crisis in progress, Big organizations like World Vision 
are
 >> doing some very good work, but my observation on the ground would 
be that World
 >> Vision is probably being about one tenth (1/10th) as effective as 
it could
 >> be if it was using management information (quantitative) in a 
professional
 >> way and was 100% committed to the delivery of excellence from 100% 
of its
 >> resources.
 >>
 >> I may be wrong, and I would be delighted to be proved wrong. Most
 >> communities I know are not seeing very much assistance ... even 
though there is a
 >> huge amount of talk and study about the problem.
 >>
 >> Sincerely
 >>
 >> Peter Burgess
 >> ____________
 >> Peter Burgess
 >> Tr-Ac-Net in New York 212 772 6918 peterbnyc@gmail.com
 >> The Transparency and Accountability Network
 >> With Kris Dev in Chennai India
 >> and others in South Asia, Africa and Latin America
 >> http://tr-ac-net.blogspot.com
 >>
 >> In a message dated 5/18/2005 9:42:40 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
 >> cabaforum@S-3.COM writes:
 >>
 >> >>> Subj:New publication- World Vision's "More than Words?..."
 >>> Date:5/18/2005 9:42:40 AM Eastern Daylight Time
 >>> From:cabaforum@S-3.COM
 >>> To:CABA@LIST.S-3.COM
 >>>
 >>> MORE THAN WORDS? Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in 
Africa
 >>> Monitoring progress towards the UN Declaration of Commitment on 
HIV/AIDS
 >>> [publication]
 >>>
 >>> The impact of HIV and AIDS on children in developing countries is 
immense.
 >>> As well as threatening a child's right to life and a family 
environment,
 >>> it also undermines a multitude of other rights, and can leave 
affected
 >>> children vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
 >>>
 >>> Given the devastating impact on these children's lives, urgent
 >>> international action is needed to ensure that their rights are 
protected and needs
 >>> met. In 2001, specific commitments to orphans and vulnerable 
children were
 >>> made as part of the United Nations General Assembly Special 
Session (UNGASS)
 >>> Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS - commitments which were to 
be met by
 >>> 2005. Despite this, many governments and donors have fallen short 
of the
 >>> promises made and progress has been frustratingly slow.
 >>>
 >>> Intended to inform and challenge, More than words? is a 
qualitative
 >>> investigation of how far the rights and needs of orphans and 
vulnerable children
 >>> are being met in four of the worst-affected countries in 
sub-Saharan
 >>> Africa. Based on surveys and focus group discussions with 
children, parents,
 >>> caregivers and officials in Ethiopia, Mozambique, Uganda and 
Zambia, this
 >>> report offers a timely insight into how far the commitments are 
being met and
 >>> provides practical recommendations for action at both national and 

 >>> international level.
 >>>
 >>> The report concludes that orphans and vulnerable children are most 
likely
 >>> to be missing out in terms of education, health, nutrition and 
other basic
 >>> needs. Furthermore, very few are receiving appropriate 
psychosocial support
 >>> and many find themselves the victims of property grabbing. Given 
these
 >>> findings, it is clear that care and support for orphans and 
vulnerable
 >>> children must be considered an integral part of national and 
international
 >>> response to the HIV/AIDS crisis, not an optional addition.
 >>>
 >>> To view the report visit:
 >>>
http://www.worldvision.org.uk/advocacy_issues/publicationsindex/publicationsindex2005.asp
 >>>
 >>> For more information, contact:
 >>>
 >>> Helen Young
 >>> World Vision UK
 >>> Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0ZR, UK
 >>> Tel: +44 (0)1908 841032
 >>> Email: helen.young@worldvision.org.uk <
 >>> mailto:helen.young@worldvision.org.uk>
 >>> Website: www.worldvision.org.uk <http://www.worldvision.org.uk>