I popped over to Jim Bobby Sez's "boog" and saw this Toronto Star article get mentioned.

An excerpt:

According to a report released last week, just one-fifth of international aid ever gets to those who need it. Inefficient governmental systems, excessive red tape and nepotism, the report says, are to blame.

The inevitable fear is that the same pattern of waste and inefficiency may continue with the delivery of the $6 billion or so the world has pledged for tsunami relief.

Unpacked cargo containers still sit on the docks in Colombo, waiting to clear Sri Lankan customs.

Hundreds of thousands of Acehnese still live in squalid camps, with nothing but thin tarps over their heads.

And only 4 per cent of the reconstruction costs — around $75 million (U.S.) — has trickled into Sri Lanka, Reuters reports.

Much of the $265 million the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has pledged for tsunami relief this fiscal year (which ends March 31) still sits in the federal government's bank account, waiting for aid groups to submit proposals about how they're going to spend it.

To read the Bobster's inimitable (even by him! :) ) commentary on this, click here.

Reuters did a story on Feb. 28 about the report (.pdf file), which was produced by Action Aid International UK and Oxfam.