INGO Fundraising in Myanmar’s Context and China a New Donor

(By Johan @ Lin Yaw)

What is the most difficult challenge that millions of Non-government or Non-profit
Organizations (NGOs) face worldwide? Always at the top of their agenda is getting the
necessary funding for their businesses to continue while they are striving to change the lives of
millions of people out of poverty and help the people they serve have access to their basic
human rights such as access to education, health care, food security, legal rights and so on.
Especially in the underdeveloped and the developing countries, they have been instrumental to
bringing substantive changes in the lives of the people they serve. Since the funding of NGOs
are project-based with time limit, acquisition of continuous aid-funding is a challenge they have
to take for their good work to continue.
Sources for getting funding agencies are varied but limited due to the available funding
the donor agencies can give. Added to their burden are the changing nature of the orientation
and priorities of the donors. When a donor country changes its funding objective from
humanitarian aid to developmental aid to advocate for a country’s policy change, the
humanitarian NGOs have to strive to look for other
agencies that can support their works elsewhere.
Moreover, the growing number of NGOs all over the
world have posted the competition for funding
tougher.
Traditionally, the largest part of INGO funding
come from the United Nations agencies, and from the
Official Development Programs (ODA) of the likes of the
United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and other
developed European countries like England, Norway,
Denmark, France, Italy, and Germany under which scheme the participating countries commit to
contribute to the development of developing countries. In 2016 - 2017 alone, Myanmar received
ODA assistance increased from $1542.3 million to $1687.7 million. The grants come in the form
of humanitarian aids and bilateral developmental assistances to a country. The iNGOs
implement the programs as ODA partners for humanitarian assistance programs.i
Though China has a long history of foreign aid activities, the aid flow has never been
done with a well-structured program like the ODA of the west. Lately China has become an
emerging donor country. Though not falling into the scheme of ODA programs in the eyes of the
west mainly, China has become one of the biggest donor countries through its own way
ofdevelopment assistance programs. According to the Washington Post “China provided $354.4
billion in official funding around the world between 2000 and 2014 — not far off the amount
spent by the United States in the same period, $394.6 billion.”ii Myanmar has also received $4.5
million in aid from China to tackle the effect of corona virus.iii
However, how NGOs can acquire funding from the Chinese government is a working
question to answer.

Myanmar’s INGOs and Funding Agencies at a Glance

 The Global Leadership Bulletin
estimates that there are around 10
million NGOs worldwide accounting for
both local and International NGOs
(INGOs), namely nonprofits and
charities.iv In Myanmar alone around
110 INGOs are operating as registered
in the INGO forum (INGO Forum), an
organization of NGOs led by the UN.
According to the Asian Development
Bank’s estimate, around 10,000 local
NGOs working in the varieties of fields
as nonprofit organizations.v

Large international NGOs such

as CARE Myanmar, Oxfam, Save the
Children International, Pact Myanmar,
International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC), World Vision,
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and Marie Stopes
International have been actively operating in Myanmar with
hundreds of staff for decades. Among Asian NGOs, JICA of
the Japanese government and KOICA of Korean government
have set their long presence felt with their developmental
assistance activities with ODA programs. INGO programmes
have reached across development sectors such as health
care, food supply, education, agriculture, child care, water and
sanitation, gender equality, civil society capacity building and
micro financing. Their work varies according to an
organization’s program niches and grants received from
donors.
The tracking from the MIMU shows that INGOs have
their offices in every state and region strategic and have
reached out to towns and villages of the country.

Ever since the country started its democratic reform in

2011, Myanmar has seen a surge in international
developmental assistance. According to the United Nation
Officer for Coordination Humanitarian Affair, $ 233.6 million
was spent in Myanmar to address humanitarian across various sectors such as health care,
food security, child care, refugee services etc. in 2019 alone.vi The largest part of the funding
were sourced from the government of the United States, the UK, Japan, Australia, European
Commission and other developed countries. Several other millions of NGO funding are
undocumented.
On the other hand, Myanmar has, as bilateral ODA, received aid commitment amounting
to $ 2.13 billion within the period of January 2019 to October 2020. UK Department for
International Development tops the assistance, totalling $ 525.6 million, followed by the World
Bank and European Union with over $ 400 million each. Much more has been donated to
Myanmar China and other countries, but they are left undocumented due to their varying
partnership report system.vii
Shifting INGO Funding Trend

Though ODA grants are a big part of NGO funding, total reliance on them become a
challenge to the survival of an organization due to the changing programs of the ODA. Lately
ODA programs focus more on bilateral developmental aid and access to funding become harder
for humanitarian aid NGOs. Currently Myanmar still has large ODA funding for humanitarian aid
but when compared to larger amount spent for bilateral development assistance, a shift that is
focused on government to government funding is observed.
Another prominent challenge comes as many traditional donor countries are cutting their
ODA funding. Economic downturn due to corona virus, UK was reported to have cut £2.9bn of
its aid budget in 2020.viii Australian’s Department of Foreign Affair and Trade (DFAT) was seen
slashing 60 job positions to reduce its financial spending.ix The United States’ Trump
administration also proposed $ 3bn USAid budget cut, including WHO funding, to focus on
internal economic development.x This shrinking humanitarian aid spending from donor countries
become a threat to the operation of the NGOs as uncertainty for grants is mounting. Thus,
NGOs have to find ways to source their financial flows.
Corporate funding or having partnership with multinational companies have been a
growing source where international NGOs are obtaining grants for their projects. With the
emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in their business practices, companies all
over the world have been releasing fund for humanitarian aids to specially where they are
operating but not limited to boundaries and cooperated interest. Having technical abilities and
know-how in humanitarian ecosystem, many NGOs are enjoying the partnership from corporate
funding. Lately multinational companies like Microsoft, Google, Wells Fargo & Company,
Goldman Sachs Group, Johnson & Johnson and several others have been large contributors to
humanitarian aids.

A number of private donors, corporate and wealthy individuals, have been seen
increasingly providing private donation for humanitarian aid, amounting to US 6.2 bn, which is
22% of all donations.xi

In 2017, private donation was recorded to have reached estimated $410 billion in the United
States alone. Biotech firm Gilead Sciences alone donated $388 million, and recorded to have
been the biggest donor.xii
The charitable giving by companies and other wealthy individuals show that sources of
donation are not limited to geographical boundaries and governmental restriction. As the world
grows in business many donors can also be sourced in Asia. Now NGOs are turning to the
continent.

China as a donor prospect

China is also one of the options for international NGOs to get funding as the country has
become a global leader and its contribution to the world’s socio-economic development
becomes essential. Not only the government’s contributions but also private donations are
essential to help lift the poor out of poverty. That also means to build a good image for the
country among the international community and a better business profile for the private entities.
China has long been one of the biggest donors to the UN agencies which re-channels
the funding to humanitarian NGOs. In 2019, China contributed $367.9 million (12 percent in
total) to the UN regular budget, and that makes China the second-largest contributor after the
US.xiii To some extent, this shows China is not only becoming the leader in the global stage but
also its commitment in response to global humanitarian crisis and global sustainable
development.
Furthermore, China has established the China International Development Cooperation
Agency (CIDCA), like Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) of Japan, as the country’s
efforts to reform its development aid model.xiv CIDA is working toward improving development
assistance practices and regulating the country’s foreign aid program.
Foreign aid programs injected in relation to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is managed
by CIDA and international NGOs have to find a way to collaborate with CIDA to become project
implementing partners. Given rich experiences and resources INGOs have in humanitarian
ecosystem, it is possible that CIDA can make use of them for better effective funding channel.
Coupled with building better bilateral relationship and economic cooperation, Chinese
President Xi Jinping, while visiting Myanmar in January 2020, pledged to give 4 billion yuan
(over US$580 million) in aid to support Myanmar’s development over the next three years.xv
How the aid budget will be implemented is unspecified yet, but that can also be a good budget
option for NGOs in Myanmar for their good work to continue.
Provided China’s growing economy which gives birth to a large pool of wealthy
enterprises and affluent population, corporate funding from them is undeniably potential. As
businesses around the world grow along with their responsible business practices, China’s
multimillion dollar enterprises may have a lot to give. Their contribution to the poor will not only
give companies good imags but better financial returns.

Conclusion

Over the past decade, with its political transition from military dictatorship to democracy,
Myanmar has been enjoying economic growth and improvement in social status. Much of the
development can be attributed to the good work of international NGOs and aid from various
donor countries and agencies. However, for NGOs to continue their good work that directly
contribute to poverty stricken communities in the country, enough access to funding become a
primary challenge as traditional donor countries either change their courses of donation or cut
funding. Thus, NGOs have developed various fundraising channels. Private or corporate
funding emerge as promising channels. Unrestricted by geographical boundaries and
government restriction, and growing Chinese companies and wealthy population become
potential donors. Also, the emergence of China as a leading donor in developmental aid
landscape has given NGOs another possible channel for access to funding. Given that NGOs
have rich experiences and resources in developmental and humanitarian ecosystem, the
Chinese government can partner with them in its aid projects.
In Myanmar alone, billions of dollar worth of China backed BRI projects are grounding,
Chinese businesses can make use of NGOs as their CSR partners. This gives NGOs and the
poor in Myanmar a chance to their much-needed funding, and businesses to build their good
reputation. Win-Win results for the poor, NGOs and corporate entities.
i
Top Ten Donors of Gross ODA for Myanmar, 2017-2018 average, USD million. Retrieved from
https://public.tableau.com/views/OECDDACAidataglancebyrecipient_new/Recipients?:embed=y&:dis
play_count=yes&:showTabs=y&:toolbar=no?&:showVizHome=no

ii
Tylor, Adam. (2017, October). China treats its foreign aid like a state secret. New research aims to
reveal it. The Washington Post. Retrieved from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/10/11/china-treats-its-foreign-aid-like-a-
state-secret-new-research-aims-to-reveal-it/

iii
Tower, Jason. (2020, May). China Using Pandemic Aid to Push Myanmar Economic Corridor. The
United Institute of Peace. Retrieved from
https://www.usip.org/publications/2020/05/china-using-pandemic-aid-push-myanmar-economic-
corridor
iv
Fact and Stats About NGOs Worldwide. (2015, October). Retrieved from
https://www.standardizations.org/bulletin/?p=841
v
ADB. (2015, February). Civil Society Briefs: Myanmar. Retrieved from
http://themimu.info/sites/themimu.info/files/documents/Civil_Society_Briefs_Myanmar.pdf
vi
Financial Tracking Service, UNOCHA. (2019). Myanmar 2019. Retrieved from
https://fts.unocha.org/countries/153/summary/2019

Aid by Location. (2019-2020). Mohinga. Retrieved from

vii

https://mohinga.info/en/dashboard/location/?
aid_type_category=project_type_interventions&aid_type_category=experts_and_other_technical_assis
tance&aid_type_category=scholarships_and_student_costs_in_donor_countries&aid_type_category=a
dministrative_costs_not_included_elsewhere&aid_type_category=other_in_donor_expenditures&aid_t
ype_category=budget_support&aid_type_category=core_contributions_and_pooled_programmes_and_
funds&finance_type_category=project_type_interventions&finance_type_category=experts_and_other
_technical_assistance&finance_type_category=scholarships_and_student_costs_in_donor_countries&fi
nance_type_category=administrative_costs_not_included_elsewhere&finance_type_category=other_in
_donor_expenditures&finance_type_category=budget_support&finance_type_category=core_contribut
ions_and_pooled_programmes_and_funds

viii
Coronavirus: UK foreign aid spending cut by £2.9bn amid economic downturn. (2020, July). BBC.
Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-53508933

ix
 Dziedzic, Stephen. (2020, July). DFAT to slash 60 positions with 'no job losses' as the coronavirus
pandemic puts added pressure on its budget. ABC News. Retrieved from
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-15/dfat-to-slash-60-positions/12459452

x
Gramer, Robbie and Lynch, Colum. (2020, February). Trump Seeks to Halve U.S. Funding for World
Health Organization as Coronavirus Rages. Foreign Policy. Retrieved from
 

https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/02/10/trump-world-health-organization-funding-coronavirus-state-
department-usaid-budget-cuts/

The Future of Aid INGOs in 2030. RW. Retrieved from

xi

https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/The_Future_Of_Aid_INGOs_In_2030-
20.compressed.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1bdYiNdB2JSP4j_V25GIGr7Eq9X7lDbWeLg2GW3d2Lbjj-
yp61E5zI8Ew

xii
Greenwood, Chelsea. (2018, November). 10 of the companies that give the most to charity in the
US. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-that-give-the-most-to-charity-in-the-
us-2018-9#5-jpmorgan-chase-and-company-supports-financial-initiatives-5

xiii
Is China Contributing to the United Nations’ Mission?. (2020). China Power.
https://chinapower.csis.org/china-un-mission/#:~:text=China%20contributed%20a%20total%20of,US
%20(amount%20and%20percent)

xiv
Cheng, Cheng. (2019, May). The Logic Behind China’s Foreign Aid Agency. Carnegie
Endownment for International Peace. Retrieved from https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/05/21/logic-
behind-china-s-foreign-aid-agency-pub-79154

xv
Aung Thiha. (2020, January). China Pledges 4 Billion Yuan in Aid to Myanmar. The Irrawaddy.
Retrieved from https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/china-pledges-4-billion-yuan-aid-
myanmar.html