With countries around the world grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, international non-governmental agencies have reduced their aid pledge for the new fiscal compared to the previous year.

International non-governmental organisations have pledged aid worth Rs 21.62 billion for 2020-21, around 13 percent less than their pledge for 2019-2020, which stood at Rs 24.79 billion, said the Ministry of Finance in its Statement of Technical and other Assistance.

“A reduced aid commitment from international NGOs reflect the impacts of the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Shiva Kumar Basnet, spokesperson for the Social Welfare Council, the regulator of non-government organisations.

In addition to bilateral and multilateral assistance from donor communities, the country has been receiving significant resources through international non-governmental organisations that work in various sectors such as water, sanitation, education and health through service delivery, advocacy, and programmes to raise awareness and strengthen accountability.

Basnet said the council was seeing a far less number of foreign NGOs come to the office to apply for approval for their programmes compared to the previous years. “Based on the programmes that have received approval from the council, we can project a downturn in aid flow from foreign NGOs at least until the next fiscal year,” said Basnet.

The report comes as COVID-19 hammers the global economy, which is projected to plunge into the deepest recession since the Great Depression. This will impact resources that would have gone to international NGOs, stakeholders said.

Representatives of international NGOs also see the prospect of reduced aid. “Now the landscape of foreign aid availability has changed after the pandemic,” said Achyut Luitel, chair of the Association of International NGOs in Nepal. “Major donor agencies are postponing fresh calls for international NGOs to submit proposals for the funding and we’re not sure whether they will make calls again this year.”
 
He said reduced funding could hurt foreign NGOs that work in fields other than health. “There can be a general reluctance on the part of many donor countries to contribute to overseas development efforts at a time when their own people are facing economic hardship due to the pandemic,” he said.

The United Kingdom government recently decided to merge its foreign and commonwealth office and the Department for International Development (DfID). DfID was one of the key contributors to the international NGOs besides providing aid to the national governments.

Luitel said there is uncertainty about how the UK government would provide funds to the international NGOs under the new arrangement.

According to the Development Cooperation Report released by the Ministry of Finance, the share of foreign NGOs in the total official development assistance of donors stands at 12 percent in the last fiscal year 2018-19.

International nongovernmental organisations had disbursed $215 million to various projects in Nepal in 2018-19, which was almost double of what they had spent—$110 million—in the previous fiscal year. Such a momentum in foreign aid was shattered due to the pandemic, according to the representatives of foreign NGOs and council officials.

Basnet said that the council used to approve programmes of many international NGOs for additional funding and additional works before the pandemic. “The situation has now changed, and international NGOs are even struggling to bring in money they had earlier committed,” he said.

https://kathmandupost.com/national/2020/07/03/international-nonprofits-cut-aid-pledge-to-nepal-amid-COVID-19-pandemic