Govt website to make disaster aid more transparent

 

Dubbed the Foreign Aid Transparency Hub (FAiTH), the website allows the public to know the status of foreign assistance to the country in response to super typhoon Yolanda and other disasters.

The website is already up, but will be officially launched on Monday, November 18.

 

“There’s an urgent call now for us to monitor the movement of foreign aid funds for Yolanda so they will go exactly where they’re supposed to: to the survivors of the typhoon for whom recovery will be a long and arduous process, and to the communities that need to be rehabilitated as quickly and efficiently as possible,” Department of Budget and Management Undersecretary and Chief Information Officer Richard “Bon” Moya said.

Monitoring calamity aid and assistance
 

According to Moya, FAiTH is an online portal of information on calamity aid and assistance, and will show information on the use of both in cash and in kind donations received by the Philippines from other countries, multilateral organizations, and also those sent through Philippine embassies abroad.

 

Moya added that in particular, if the donations are coursed through government agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Office of Civil Defense of the Department of National Defense (DND), the portal will show users how the funds were spent.

 

FAiTH, which was launched on November 14, shows that P 9,105,305,900 has been given to the country in aid since Yolanda hit the country.The DBM also said that FAiTH is the first time the government will track the use of disaster-relief funds donated by other countries and aid organizations.

Multi-agency cooperation
 

The Department of Foreign Affairs, DBM, Department of Finance (DOF), Commission on Audit (COA), DSWD, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the Presidential Management Staff (PMS), and the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) under the Office of the President will comprise the FAiTH monitoring team, with the DFA providing the main resource for information on foreign aid.

 

“Counter to what most people think, foreign aid isn’t given to the Philippine government in hard cash. Instead, these arrive in the form of pledges, which are released to aid groups or their corresponding organizations in the Philippines, such as USAID and Red Cross. In cases like this, FAiTH doesn’t monitor these funds; instead, it tracks foreign aid that is coursed through Philippine government agencies,” Moya said.

 

Meanwhile, DBM Secretary Florencio Abad said that FAiTH was developed as a way to comply with the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI).

 

“Working together, the Philippine government and the global community can accomplish much toward rebuilding the communities damaged by Yolanda and restoring normalcy to the lives of those who were affected by the typhoon,” Abad said.

 

“While the Philippines is certainly no stranger to calamity, Super Typhoon Yolanda exceeded expectations around the world in the most unfortunate way possible. The Aquino administration and the Fiipino people are very grateful for the generosity of the international community in response to the devastation left by Yolanda,” he  added. — TJD, GMA News