Two legislators yesterday proposed establishing a Cabinet-level committee to head overseas aid in a bid to improve efficiency.
"The establishment of this committee would allow closer cooperation between the government and NGOs as well as enable the work of overseas aid to operate more effectively," KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) said.
Chen made the remarks at a public hearing he jointly held with DPP Legislator Chang Hsu-cheng (
Several NGO representatives, such as Chen Fang-yi (
According to Apollo Chen, the central government currently lacks an agency whose sole responsibility it is to take care of foreign assistance.
"Instead what we have are various departments such as the Coun-cil of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Department of Health having their own divisions taking care of related overseas aids issues," Chen said.
"This kind of system is inefficient and time consuming, as NGOs often times have to make several contacts and phone calls before they can locate needed information and funds to help facilitate their foreign assistance programs," Chen added.
The DPP's Chang said that the establishment of a Cabinet-level committee would centralize services for NGOs when they seek information on aid proposals, programs and related issues.
"Doing so would also allow the government to improve cooperation with the private sector and help facilitate foreign assistance programs," he added.
While most of the attendees at the hearing supported the idea, some reservations were raised.
Chen Fang-yi of the Red Cross Society questioned how effective the committee could be.
"What happens if the establishment of such a committee results in more overseas aid proposals and programs being delayed due to the fact that they will have to go through countless meetings and discussions before they are approved?" he asked.
"Since timely help is crucial in most foreign-assistance situations, we really need to look at how effective such a committee would be when it comes to overseas aid," Chen Fang-yi said.
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