The global aid system: better the devil we know?

One complaint often aired by NGOs is that they do not have direct access to money from the U.N.'s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which only cascades down to them though U.N. agencies. Changing that could speed up their access to money and enable them to respond faster, they argue.

Jean-Michel Grand, executive director of the British arm of Action Against Hunger (ACF) said U.N. agencies "can prove to be a very expensive middle man in terms of programme funding".

"Instead, they should focus more on improving the coordination of humanitarian assistance and relations with host governments to increase access to vulnerable populations," he added.