The joy of giving
According to a report issued in 2014 by the non-profit organization Global Humanitarian Assistance (GHA) and based on data released by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and by UN agencies, in 2013 total implemented humanitarian assistance worldwide reached US$22 billion, an all-time high. Of this, US$16.4 billion came from governments, while US$5.6 billion came from private organizations. It is clear that many governments and NGOs see humanitarian assistance as a core duty of the international community.
The report notes that four countries—the US, the UK, Turkey, and Japan—gave at least US$1 billion each in humanitarian aid in 2013. They combined for a total of US$9.26 billion, accounting for 42% of all governmental aid.
But when you look at aid as a percentage of gross national income (GNI), the top three countries in 2013 were Turkey, Kuwait, and Luxembourg. Turkey gave US$2.10 in international humanitarian assistance for every US$1000 of GNI, making it the most generous country in the world.
In 2012, a total of US$130 million was spent on humanitarian assistance for people affected by events in Myanmar, placing that country 20th among aid recipients. Syrian refugees got the most aid, at US$1.536 billion, or roughly equivalent to the total for the second and third ranked locations: (a) South Sudan and (b) the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The United Nations says that in 2013 there were 16.7 million refugees worldwide in urgent need of outside assistance. In response to this problem, says Ray Mou, humanitarian aid is a major direction of work for MOFA currently and for the future. Besides the Thai–Myanmar border, the government and people of Taiwan continue to show concern for asylum seekers in the Middle East, where war in Syria has created more than a million refugees and the largest refugee camps in the world. The US has expressed its appreciation of Taiwan’s attitude.
Large private groups from Taiwan like the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation and World Vision Taiwan have committed resources to countries like Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria to assist in improving the lives of refugees and the poor within their respective territories. In addition, the ROC Red Cross has also launched a fundraising drive on behalf of Syrian refugees.
Last year Ray Mou, at the invitation of TBC, personally visited the Mae La Oon and Mae Ra Ma Luang refugee camps on the Thai–Myanmar border. He says that these mountain areas are resource-poor and can be reached only by steep and difficult mountain roads, which makes assistance work all that much more meaningful. The willingness of Taiwanese to offer humanitarian assistance in such a faraway place has earned praised from the international community.
Mou adds that in the future MOFA will continue to work with NGOs to deliver aid from Taiwan—the expression of a deep desire to help others that shows the most admirable side of our citizens—to every corner of the world where it is needed.
Ray Mou, director-general of MOFA’s Department of NGO International Affairs, personally visited the Thai–Myanmar border area last year, seeing first-hand how difficult life is for those in the refugee camps.