THE decision to withdraw funding for lay Catholic agency PALMS, in its work to recruit and support volunteers in lesser fortunate countries, is an example of bureaucratic insensitivity to the needs of people in these countries.
The tendering process being employed by AusAID needs to take into account a wide range of volunteer services.
Business development is one of the needs in many of the countries Australia assists, but so is community development which agencies such as PALMS can provide.
The decision to cut all of the $250,000 in funding that PALMS receives each year seems somewhat harsh.
It is not a lot of money for a service that deserves to be supported by our Government.
