Via The Guardian, an op-ed: The world's broken promises to Haiti. Excerpt:
Taken together, less than a tenth of the total amount promised has even arrived in Haiti, much less been spent.
Also worrying is the way in which development aid agencies are resorting to old practices, including preferential treatment of their own contractors. On the grounds of minimising the risk of wasting aid through corruption, "no bid" contracting is now the norm. This results in serious distortions in aid allocations: out of every $100 pledged by USAID, for example, Haitian firms are awarded less than $2. Other major donors are following suit.
This runs counter to the now widely-held view among development professionals that supporting local capacity and ingenuity is key to sustainable successful outcomes.
As most Haiti watchers know all too well, the situation before the earthquake was dire. Despite meagre economic gains in 2009, the country was at the very bottom of virtually every international index. And while this "Republic of NGOs" was visited by massive promises of assistance and an additional 500 relief agencies in 2010, Haiti's three horsemen of the apocalypse – displacement, disease and instability – have brought the nation to its knees.
Almost 12 months after the earthquake, there are still an estimated 1.3 million people living in tents, waiting to be relocated to new houses. Recent household survey data revealed how, in the months after the quake, these population groups were the most food insecure. Less than a third of them claimed to have had access to international assistance, and most managed to survive owing to resilient social networks, including remittances from Montreal to Miami.
In the meantime, a cholera epidemic has killed over 2,500, infected over 100,000 and could kill thousands more, if not immediately contained. According to epidemiologists, the pathway of the epidemic since October – running as it has from north to the central and southern regions – suggests that it has spread virtually unhindered. Water purification tablets, improved sanitation and small adaptations in personal hygiene could effectively control its movement.
Finally, the country continues to be wracked by political instability. The lack of leadership and poor handling of the elections have been reported on extensively. Most of the 18 presidential candidates – some with links to the former regime of Duvalier dictators (father and son) – proved incapable of providing a compelling vision for Haiti's masses. The persistent allegations of fraud and intimidation during the electoral cycle were as predictable as they were depressing.
The poor way in which the vote count was managed and the weak response of outsiders (notably, with the OAS and Minustah refusing to acknowledge the full extent of "irregularities") guarantee continued unrest in 2011.
