Responsible Donating

Donating items to global south countries is problematic for many reasons, some of which I discuss here. Now I am going to provide a great resource for people to go to in order to find out what to donate. The Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI) is an organization that provides guidance to individuals, groups, corporations and nonprofits on appropriate international disaster relief. The main goal of the organization is to "ensure that the public's generosity results in effective disaster relief". CIDI's motto is "cash is best" and gives three main reasons why sending cash is the most effective way to help in disaster relief efforts: 

• It allows professional relief organizations who work on the ground in countries effected by a disaster to purchase exactly what people need
• Money is easy to transport
• Money can be used to purchase needed local items, which helps the local economy and allows items to arrive quickly

CIDI also provides reasons why donating goods is not effective:

• Doesn't meet people's needs
• High shipping and storage costs
• Items are often not culturally appropriate

I encourage everyone to visit CIDI's website to learn more about effective disaster relief donation.



Photo Credit: CIDI website