There are plenty of governments that miserably fail to distribute very large amounts of aid in a way that actually helps the target groups [0] is one in the US, and internationally, things can be really, really sketchy.

One advantage about doing it via charity is that if a charity is ineffective, or fraudulent, switching to a new one is easy. Fixing a government full of corruption or inefficiency is quite a bit harder.

Government does have an important role, but it is no panacea.

[0] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-newark-schools-p...