International child sponsorship schemes have come under attack for perpetuating racist thinking, as an apology by a charity to thousands of children in Sri Lanka has sparked a debate over the money-raising schemes.
Plan International last week said that it had made “mistakes” in its exit from Sri Lanka last year, following criticism from donors and former employees that it had failed 20,000 vulnerable children in the country.
It apologized to sponsored children, as well as to communities and partners, some of whom felt that the organization had left “abruptly” and without sufficient communication.
The controversy has reignited debate over international child sponsorship schemes and whether, amid growing calls to decolonize aid, the benefits that they offer can outweigh the north-south power relations they re-enforce.
Carol Sherman, an independent humanitarian consultant who has held senior director roles in international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for two decades, said that the schemes perpetuate “racist and paternalistic thinking” similar to the “poverty porn” images of poor black children used by charities in the past.
“For years, we didn’t talk about the white gaze, myself included,” Sherman said. “Child sponsorship is a small part of decolonizing aid, but it’s a part NGOs need to change. It is a relic of the past.”
Sherman said that many large schemes have evolved to provide benefits to communities, not individuals, while others, such as World Vision, allow the child involvement in choosing a donor.
However, “tweaking” the model is not enough, she said.
“Many agencies have moved away from sponsors of individual children to sponsors of communities, but they are still using individual children to ‘sell’ to donors,” Sherman said.
“Donors stick a picture of a child on their fridge and think of them as ‘our child’. They are well intentioned, but the parents of that child can’t refuse the money because they are living in poverty,” Sherman added.
The schemes remain a popular and lucrative method of fundraising with international NGOs, and do not have the same restraints as, for example, government sources.
For example, Compassion International raised US$755 million from child sponsorship, three-quarters of its total income of US$1 billion last year.
In the same year, child sponsorship accounted for nearly one-third (US$27 million) of World Vision’s US$99 million income, while Plan International raised US$439 million — more than one-third of its US$1.11 billion income last year.
World Vision UK public engagement director Graham Newton said that, unlike other forms of funding, child sponsorship allows it to provide communities with long-term support of 10 to 15 years.
He said that 99 percent of staff in the 57 countries where 3 million children are sponsored are local.
“World Vision staff from these communities know what the issues are and what needs done,” Newton said. “It is led by the communities and gives them the opportunity to deliver change.”
The “chosen” initiative, introduced in 2019 to allow children to pick a sponsor, aims to give children more of a voice, build a meaningful relationship with sponsors, as well as offer donors “a window” into their lives.
Newton rebuts criticism that the scheme is paternalistic, saying: “The child sponsorship model is about how we truly give children a voice to achieve change in their communities.”
Plan International spokesperson said: “We are constantly evolving our sponsorship model, and the impact of COVID-19, digitization and decolonialization of aid has challenged us to accelerate this evolution process.”
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