Business expertise tapped for disaster aid

The for-profit and non-profit sectors have traditionally been at odds when it came to humanitarian aid, with aid workers suspicious of corporate motives and businesses doubtful of charities’ efficiency.

But a growing number of aid agencies have teamed up with companies offering logistics services and new technologies in recent years to find ways of responding more effectively to disasters like famine, floods and earthquakes.

Since its first experience helping the Red Cross and Red Crescent in the 2006 Lebanon conflict, logistics firm Agility has contributed transport, forklifts and warehousing and shared supply chain know-how in around 20 emergencies, for example.

“There is certainly a lot of value for industries to engage with humanitarians,” said Frank Clary, who manages disaster relief contributions at the company, which is based in Kuwait and the Middle East’s largest logistics provider.

“It is something employees want to do... and it doesn’t cost too much.”

The private sector has also given more cash, with corporate donations tending to rise sharply when big natural disasters hit the headlines. In recent years, funding from private sources — businesses, individuals, foundations and trusts — has accounted for about a quarter of all humanitarian aid, rising to $4.3bn in 2010 from $2.7bn in 2006, according to Global Humanitarian Assistance, a British-based group that monitors aid flows.

The UN refugee agency, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), alone has managed to increase corporate-sector income to $32m in 2011 from $3.7m in 2006.

The trend is likely to continue as private donations become more important to charities, who fear that debt-laden governments — traditionally the biggest donors — may start squeezing aid budgets.

In an AlertNet survey of 41 of the world’s largest aid groups released last week, nearly half saw the private sector as a key source of extra funding to meet rising needs as crises get worse in coming years due to climate change and urbanisation.

Olivier Delarue, who manages UNHCR’s business relationships, said UN aid workers have become more receptive to private-sector solutions. Skype, for example, has developed a low-bandwidth version of its messaging software to allow UNHCR staff to communicate in remote areas. Furniture retailer IKEA and UNHCR are now working on a three-year project to set up new camp facilities for Somali refugees pushed into Kenya and Ethiopia by drought and conflict, backed by a $62m grant from the IKEA Foundation.

“It is not about the company telling you what to do, but offering ways of doing your work better,” Delarue said. “The aim is to improve our efficiency, reduce our costs and increase the self-reliance of refugees.”

The relatively new concept of cash transfers is also proving fruitful.

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