Overseas aid ‘gives Guernsey seat at the international table’
More than 100 different charities have benefitted from over £8m.-worth of overseas aid from Guernsey since 2023.
The Overseas Aid & Development Commission’s budgets for 2023 and 2024 were revealed as £3,806,000 and £4,346,000 in a freedom of information request.
However, the commission’s president Chris Blin said that currently Guernsey contributed less than other jurisdictions.
‘The commission’s current budget is just over 0.1% of Gross Domestic Product, but there is a States resolution to increase this to 0.2% of GDP by 2030,’ he said.
‘For countries that give “official development assistance”, the OECD states that the percentage of GDP they provide ranges from Russia 0.03% to Qatar at 1.17%. Of these 43 countries, 17 are at 0.2% of GDP or below, which will place Guernsey in the mid-range of countries by 2030.’
Deputy Blin said that the island had 'a moral obligation to help the poorest of the poor' and concentrated its funding on the lowest quartile of the United Nations Human Development Index.
‘A few years ago, it was calculated that anyone living on more than £26 per day – £9,500 a year – is in the top 15% of the world’s population. Conversely, there are 689m. people living on less than £1.65 or £600 a year.’
He added that effective overseas aid was also good for Guernsey’s reputation as it gave the Bailiwick a ‘seat at the table’ at a wide variety of discussions.
‘As Guernsey faces periodic external attacks on our fiscal and economic policy, our commitment to overseas aid allows us to demonstrate the constructive role that we play in the world, and our readiness to give back.’
The commission funds single-year and three-year projects that provide basic needs, which includes food and water, sanitation, housing, medical and health facilities, education, and the means to sustain a living.
It also provides disaster & emergency relief, used to fund food, water, sanitation, medical help, shelter and clothing.
Deputy Blin said that all of the charities funded had to be registered with either the Charity Commissions of Great Britain or locally with the Guernsey Registry.
Over the past two years 104 charities and organisations have benefitted from Guernsey’s help. The majority of them are small charities in remote locations.
‘As a small jurisdiction, Guernsey can appreciate scale and often small charities can focus on a particular type of need or a particular geographical area and provide targeted and very beneficial support with a small amount of money.
'They can reach small remote communities and tackle specific issues which larger charities sometimes cannot.’
He said that in 2024 alone, the commission has funded at least one project in 22 different countries.
‘This gives Guernsey much higher visibility in international development rather than just concentrating on one or two larger projects,’ he said.
‘It also allows the commission to fund projects undertaken by Guernsey-based charities working in international development.
'In recent years this has included Action Aid Guernsey, Christian Aid Guernsey, Goal 50, Hope for a Child, School Farms Africa, The Eleanor Foundation, The Ellen J Rihoy Charitable Trust and This is Epic.’
And Deputy Blin said that community partnerships for locally-based charities were important, and often involved matched funding – thereby doubling the support offered by the commission.
