Washington - A total of 260 humanitarian aid workers were killed, kidnapped or seriously injured in 2008, one of the highest figures on record, according to a study released Tuesday in Washington that ranked the quality of crisis aid by donor countries. The toll on aid workers provided a window onto the increasingly complex challenge of crises, such as those in Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Haiti and Sri Lanka, the Development Assistance Research Associates (DARA), an independent non-profit organization, said in its report.
These crises "show how challenging it is for the humanitarian sector to consolidate gains and move beyond emergency relief to more integrated approaches to stability and recovery," the authors wrote. "This is not a new situation, but it does reflect a trend that appears to be growing."
DARA's third annual Humanitarian Response Index ranked performance among the world's 22 top donor countries and the European Union and looked at the quality of the aid and how efficiently it was delivered.
Norway ranks tops on DARA's list, followed by Sweden and Ireland. The United States, the world's largest donor by volume, ranked 14 and Germany 16. The European Commission has remained steadily at fifth place for three years.
Performance was measured against a set of standards established in 2003 that include funding for forgotten emergencies, speedy delivery of assistance, neutrality, impartiality and support for international humanitarian law and human rights in crisis situations.
"Almost half of the world's main donor governments are not doing enough to ensure that public funding for humanitarian assistance is reaching those most in need, when they need it most," DARA found.
It noted that 10.4 billion dollars in crisis aid was provided in 2008 by the 22 member countries of the Organization for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission. By October 2009, there was a shortfall of 3.6 billion dollars for the current year, according to United Nations figures.
Citing other reports, DARA said that climate change, disasters and environmental degradation are expected to claim 660 million lives by 2030, underlining the need for more support from donor countries.
The countries, all OECD members, were ranked as follows:
1. Norway 2. Sweden 3. Ireland 4. Denmark 5. European Commission 6. Netherlands 7. Luxembourg 8. Switzerland 9. United Kingdom 10. Australia 11. New Zealand 12. Finland 13. Canada 14. United States 15. Spain 16. Germany 17. Belgium 18. Austria 19. Japan 20. France 21. Italy 22. Greece 23. Portugal
