St Thomas doubted whether Jesus Christ had indeed been crucified, as his brother Apostles had told him. He believed only when he saw with his own eyes Jesus’ wounds. For this he became better known as doubting Thomas rather than for his good deeds!

To express doubt on something one is unsure of is only human. This was much in evidence recently when doubts were expressed in the media as to whether or not funds raised from public appeals on the L-Istrina TV programme and by Caritas Malta; Red Cross Malta and SOS Malta to help the Southeast Asia tsunami victims would go entirely to the intended purpose.

Some doubters even felt justified in spreading unfounded rumours that these organisations retain a commission, in some cases as high as 30 per cent! Representatives of the NGOs concerned have strongly denied this in the media stating also that retentions are indeed minimal and cover only any administrative costs and other out-of-pocket expenses. Mgr Victor Grech, Director of Caritas Malta (CM), made Caritas’ situation in this respect very clear in a recent NET TV programme.

The purpose of this article is to amplify on what was said by Mgr Grech as, of course, I do not seek to speak for any organisation other than Caritas. This in view of my close association as a volunteer with Caritas Malta for the past 12 years and, moreover, as Treasurer of the Vatican-based Caritas Internationalis (CI) since 1999.

Thus I can state with some authority what happens at both the collection point i.e. at CM and also at CI. Before doing so it is well to clarify CI’s role in co-ordinating worldwide appeals for funds and at the same time in directing these to the intended recipients, apart from sending its own highly trained and tested staff to join other international organisations in carrying out emergency relief work.

CI is a confederation of no less than 168 member organisations operating in some 200 countries and territories even where the Christian population is a meagre minority. National Caritas such as CM operate independently and are grouped in seven geographic regions.

The CI office has an international staff of 24 salaried full-timers headed by a Secretary General. I am a volunteer and the only non-resident, being Malta-based. However my work necessitates a physical presence at the CI offices on a regular basis. Of course, had it not been for ease of phone communication and e-mail facilities for the transmission and exchange of financial data and reports, it would not have been possible effectively to maintain proper financial management and control in my role as Treasurer.

Appeals for funds are made by CI to its members worldwide to cover not only emergency relief – as in the case of the SE Asia disaster – but also to assist with major projects (e.g. agricultural; famine relief; health related; etc.) in underdeveloped countries. When such appeals are made by CI each member organisation is free to decide whether or not to respond and, in doing so, whether to utilise its own available emergency fund or to make a public appeal.

CM has no such emergency fund to cover disaster relief either locally or overseas as it is hard put to avoid an annual deficit in meeting its multifarious social activities. Only two areas (drug rehabilitation and the prison inmates programme) are financed by government funding and only partially.

Therefore, as CM has perforce to have recourse to a public appeal in such instances, its policy is to be selective in its response to appeals coming from CI. Many appeals are received from CI every year but CM selects the ones it considers most worthy of public support. Prior to that made by CM for the tsunami victims, CM’s last appeal was made in 2003 in connection with the hurricane damage suffered by Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world.

Whatever funds are donated to CM are quickly remitted to CI, the only deductions being bank charges and any (minimal) out-of-pocket expenses. Once the funds reach CI these are added to the funds received from all other member organisations. A decision on allocation is taken within CI only after urgent consultation with the national Caritas of the country affected by the disaster, or where the particular project to be financed is located.

The CI staff comprising the International Cooperation Department is a compact and highly skilled team experienced in disaster management. These act in close liaison with other international organisations involved in the particular emergency/project. More often than not it is necessary to remit out to the stricken area only part of the funds collected by CI worldwide. This is because experience has shown that the first essential needs are humanitarian and medical, and the major financing requirements come later in the reconstruction stage.

This means that, initially, the bulk of funds raised remain under the control of CI. This where the CI Finance Department, in close liaison with me as Treasurer, plays an important part in ensuring that the funds are placed with CI’s bankers or in short-term first class financial instruments in a way that these earn interest with phased maturities so as to ensure availability as and when required. Thus, interest is added to the donated funds and this is for the benefit of the eventual recipients and not to CI. CI itself only covers any administration and out-of-pocket expenses as in the case of CM.

An important aspect of CI’s policy is that all funds that are remitted to the stricken area (or project being financed) are channelled through the local Caritas. This ensures that the funds go towards the intended purpose in their entirety and do not line the pockets of any corrupt intermediary or local government official. In the isolated cases where a Caritas does not exist locally (e.g. Indonesia) the funds are administered jointly in collaboration with one of CI’s reputable partner organisations operating in the country concerned. Therefore an accountability link is maintained. Whatever local channel that is utilised must adhere to CI’s minimum accounting standards and is obliged to produce audited accounts so as to ensue full transparency.

Having explained the chain of events and controls I must emphasis that these apply equally to emergency relief as well to projects financed through CI’s appeals to its members, whether the latter resort to a public appeal or are financed from the member organisation’s own reserve funds. To give readers some idea of the variety of projects and emergency relief in respect of which funds are channelled annually through CI, in 2003 CI participated in nearly 30 major projects and emergency relief operations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East.

These alone totalled more than US$40 million quite apart from hundreds of smaller projects. These, to mention just a few areas, included displaced persons in Afghanistan and in various African countries torn by internal strife; drilling of water boreholes; setting up of primary health units; emergency feeding programmes; handicapped people and landmine casualties; achieving gender balance; flood disaster; agricultural development; and shelters for the homeless.

It is significant that since 1995, CI, with valuable assistance from Caritas Hong Kong and working closely with UN Agencies, has managed to direct to North Korea no less than US$27 million for use mainly in improving the nutritional status of young children; strengthening health services at grassroots level and supporting agricultural development and diversification. This is remarkable as CI is virtually the only NGO to be allowed into North Korea where the communist regime remains very nervous of possible outside influence and more so from Christian oriented organisations.

To return to the scope of this article, I trust that what I have said will serve to bring some reassurance to the doubting Thomases with regard to any impression they may have that Caritas Malta or Caritas Internationalis cream off by way of commissions any of the funds raised through public appeals for emergency relief or for projects in general.

Anthony R. Curmi FCIB,

Treasurer,

Caritas Internationalis