Time, November 29, 2007" title="External link to: Time, November 29, 2007" class="external">The US Trails Behind on Humanitarian Aid
A new rating of 22 developed countries (and the EC) puts the United States at 16th on Humanitarian Aid. The new Humanitarian Response Index (HRI), carried out by a Spain-based NGO called DARA, focuses less on total funding and more on how well aid dollars reach their target.
Sweden gets top marks for quickly delivering funds in cash, and consistently following up. The US on the other hand tends to send goods not cash, has failed to ratify key international treaties on humanitarian and human rights laws, and also ranks lowest in perceptions of its “neutrality” from political and strategic considerations. As Kofi Annan recently told reporters in London, “Only promises kept are promises that matter.”
