Who gets to grade the work
Three pieces from the past month. Each one asks, in its own way, who decides whether help is working: the families on the ground, the givers, or the system in between.
190 million children in Asia and the Pacific face El Niño rainfall risks
On 6 October, UNICEF said that 190 million children in Asia and the Pacific live in areas where rainfall from October to December 2026 is forecast to be unusually wet or dry, as one of the strongest El Niño events on record builds. The figure measures exposure, not how many children will be hurt. UNICEF warns that when crops fail and food prices rise, families may not be able to keep children in school, with dropout, child labour and early marriage among the risks. In Southeast Asia it names the Philippines and Timor-Leste, both expected to be drier than normal.
Why it matters to us: a child often leaves school because the household budget breaks, not because the school did. This is why living support for families sits between learning and building in our plan.
Source: UNICEF East Asia and Pacific, 6 October 2026
A Hong Kong forum asks Asian philanthropy to work as a team
Alliance magazine reported on the Philanthropy for Better Cities Forum, held in Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District with more than 2,500 delegates. The Commission on Asian Philanthropy's interim report puts domestic giving across its participating jurisdictions at US$109 billion in 2024. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust gave US$1.1 billion to 191 charities and projects in 2025/26, and one of its programmes signed an agreement with Cambodia's education ministry aiming to reach about 30,000 students and 500 teachers in three years. Grantmaking sessions urged funders to put relationships ahead of long proposals.
Why it matters to us: Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia are among the readers we write for. Giving in the region is large and growing, and the advice from its own funders matches ours: build the relationship first.
Source: Alliance magazine, 22 October 2026
The aid system grades itself more kindly than the people it serves
Writing for the Lowy Institute's Interpreter, Mary Ana McGlasson and Manny Maung of the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership argue that humanitarian aid is reaching fewer people with less, while describing the decline as efficiency. Drawing on ALNAP's 2026 State of the Humanitarian System report, they note that 67% of practitioners rated their targeting of the most urgent needs as good or excellent, but only 51% of aid recipients agreed. Local actors received 4.3% of humanitarian funding directly in 2025.
Why it matters to us: the people we serve should be the ones who grade our work, not just us. We plan to ask partners and families directly, and publish what they say, including when it is not flattering.
Source: The Interpreter, Lowy Institute, 30 October 2026
This week at Oriel
We published Column No. 3 on how a small foundation will choose partners, and why we plan to publish an annual failure report. We are still preparing to launch in January 2027 and are not taking donations.