Jersey overseas aid to offer money instead of supplies

The JOA said that providing flexible funding would "contribute to a swifter and more efficient humanitarian response"

Jersey Overseas Aid (JOA) plans to offer money instead of supplies to areas hit by emergencies.

Its new strategic plan said that was now "the most efficient way of helping the most vulnerable", and will help contribute to "economic recovery".

The agency said it planned to target "underfunded emergencies", with Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, and Nepal among the places it hoped to help in particular.

Chairman Deputy Carolyn Labey said transferring money is safe strategy.

She said: "We ensure that there are systems in place in these remote areas where a lot of people can now access banking through their phones.

"That gives them access to cash in those countries and then they spend the cash where they are so it boosts the economy in that area."

In 2020, JOA allocated more than £1.5m in emergency relief to address Covid-19.

Mrs Labey added it was the relief and development agency's "moral obligation" to target those most in need.

She said: "This strategic plan highlights JOA's principles and approach and demonstrates what a well governed, effective, professionally-staffed donor organisation it has become.

"We realise that we can achieve greater impact by focusing our development grants in ways that enable Jersey to add more value than just the funds we contribute, promoting sustainable economic and human development in some of the poorest countries on earth through carefully-chosen interventions which play to our strengths as an island."

Follow BBC Jersey on Twitter and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [e-mail]