YP Letters: Charity without accountability raises concerns

Two children wait for nutrition screenings at a UNICEF-assisted health centre near the town of Lodwar, capital of Turkana District, in Rift Valley Province.

FOLLOWING my first week  at school, I recall running home clutching a booklet containing pictures of little children and a letter to my parents asking for monetary support to give these African youngsters food, clean drinking water and education.

Now, 75 years later, I see that we are still being asked to give money to provide clean drinking water.

During the intervening  years, we have been bombarded  with requests for monetary  aid with unfailing regularity,  and this is on top of the  billions of pounds of our money that have been given in  overseas aid by our various governments.

There appears to be very little in the way of monitoring what happens to overseas aid, both Governmental and from private individuals, although we do hear from time to time that vast sums are being spent on what most people would regard as frivolous activities.

Meantime, my wife and  I give what we can afford  to a small, private charity to  help a severely autistic boy  have a better quality of life  and also because we know  that every penny that we  give goes entirely towards  this aim, with nothing  being siphoned off for other purposes.