* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
-- Author Andrew Hogg is head of the News Unit at Christian Aid. --
It started as a plug on BBC On-Line for a World Service radio programme. The claim was damning. "Millions of dollars in Western aid for victims of the Ethiopian famine of 1984-85 was siphoned off by rebels to buy weapons."
The story went global immediately. One of the greatest outpourings of compassion the world has ever seen, the Live Aid concerts masterminded by Sir Bob Geldof in 1985 to raise funds for the famine victims, had apparently ended as a sham.
Instead of helping the starving, the millions of people who gave money had, it seemed, been contributing to a war effort. Sceptics who had always had their suspicions about the efficacy of aid smelled blood.
One former rebel leader during the broadcast suggested that as much as 95 percent of aid sent to the region held by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in 1985 was diverted away from famine victims.
The edition of Assignment, broadcast in March, didn't directly state that Live Aid donations had been compromised - it didn't need to. Sir Bob and his fundraising activities, including Do They Know Its Christmas, were a leitmotiv throughout.
Christian Aid was then identified as an aid agency that had been hoodwinked. Rebels disguised as merchants had allegedly sold us a consignment of grain that turned out to be sand.
It was Mark Twain who said: "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes" and he was writing in an age before electronic communication, let alone the Internet. Right now, his views seem more prescient than ever.
'TERRIBLE MISTAKE'
Last week the BBC apologised to the Band Aid Trust for giving the "unfair impression" that Band Aid and Live Aid money was diverted. It also apologised for giving the "misleading" impression given in a BBC news bulletin that millions of Band Aid money had been siphoned off.
Trustees of the Band Aid Trust include former BBC Director-General Michael Grade, and Sir Bob and Midge Ure who raised much of the aid sent to Ethiopia at the time through a series of Live Aid concerts and a chart-topping record.
On the Today programme, Michael Grade pulled no punches: "They've made a terrible, terrible mistake," he said of the programme. "They've damaged 24 years of work. They've damaged the public perception of giving aid to relieve suffering of starving people around the world. It is outrageous the damage they have done."
A little later, however, Peter Horrocks, Director of the World Service, appeared less than contrite. Also interviewed on Today, he maintained the programme had been a piece of "substantial journalism which was a sober, non-sensational piece..."
While accepting that the erroneous impression had been created that Band Aid money had been diverted, for which the BBC had apologised, he was, he said, "sticking by the story which was the fundamental core of the documentary".
It is difficult to see what the fundamental core of the story was that Mr Horrocks is referring to if it was not the claim that large amounts of aid money had been diverted from the starving to the rebel war effort.
And in assessing the validity of Mr Horrocks' view, it is worth examining the basis of that claim. The programme relied on four sources.
Two were purged members of the TPLF with axes to grind against their former comrade in arms, Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia's president. Indeed, it was he who was alleged to have suggested the diversion of 95 percent of aid. The two men can hardly be regarded as impartial witnesses.
Indeed, the BBC apology conceded that in the case of Aregawi Behre, the source of the 95 percent claim, "the programme was not clear about the extent to which the evidence of Aregawi was open to question".
CLIMB-DOWN
A third source was a CIA report from 1985 which said aid had "almost certainly" been diverted - hardly a categoric assertion. And the fourth was the U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Addis Ababa in the mid 1980s who spoke of aid purchased in Sudan being sold before it reached the border. He gave no indication as to how widespread this problem had been.
It was the evidence of the second former TPLF fighter Gebremehdin Araya that was of particular concern to Christian Aid. For it was he who claimed to have posed as a merchant and sold us sand instead of grain.
To support, the claim, the programme referred to a photograph showing Araya, in civilian dress, with our man on the spot in 1984, Max Peberdy, on their haunches apparently discussing a grain purchase. The picture was from a book Mr Peberdy wrote about his experiences.
There is no evidence that sand instead of grain was forthcoming. Nor did the programme refer to the considerable detail Mr Peberdy went into in the book about the measures he took to avoid being cheated, including following the aid he had purchased to the point of distribution.
Welcoming the Band Aid apology, Christian Aid director of advocacy and influence Jude Mackenzie said today: "The allegation, which was amplified on the BBC website and in other programmes, suggested money had been wasted. Reinforcing such attitudes is damaging and has the potential to cost lives. The BBC climb-down is welcome.
"Aid agencies should not be above public scrutiny - far from it - but the evidence the programme presented to back up its claims was hugely questionable. In addition, the stringent efforts Christian Aid and other agencies undertake, both then and now, to ensure aid reaches the right people were completely ignored."
She went on to list the challenges surrounding delivering life-saving aid in the form of food, water and shelter in emergency conditions. For when disaster strikes, whether caused by natural disaster or the effects of war, key infrastructure and institutions usually suffer, with problems exacerbated by some people seeking to take advantage of the desperation of others.
As a precaution, Christian Aid always channels the funds it raises through partner organisations, which are already based in the country where the disaster has struck. And before agreeing to any such partnership, we investigate to ensure that the organisation is genuine and competent. That investigation includes face to face interviews and independent audits of accounts.
In addition, during any programme of work Christian Aid staff visit the area where work is being undertaken and meet with local people to ensure the aid is appropriate.
There is meticulous documentation of where the money goes, whether to buy emergency food rations or set up drinking water and sanitation facilities, so tracking where the vital funds we raise are used is straightforward. Independent, objective evaluations are also conducted to review what has been achieved and to learn lessons.
No aid agencies working in crisis conditions can assert with absolute certainty that not a penny goes missing. Christian Aid, however, along with other mainstream relief organisations can offer supporters an absolute assurance that the utmost rigour is used to ensure the money goes where it is supposed to.
