NGOs in Haiti
On
January 12, 2010, a 7.0 Earthquake hit at the heart of Haiti, Port Au Prince.
The Haitian government put the death toll at 250,000. In total, enough money
was raised to give each displaced family $37,000, or $13 billion total.
However, much of the money never reached Haiti. Many were quick to blame the
Haitian government and René Preval, the Haitian president at the time. Due to
the history of political corruption in the country, the government became an
easy scapegoat for the people. However, it was not the Haitian government who
spent or took the money but rather the various NGO’s that flooded into the
country after the earthquake. Much of the money was spent on unnecessary
commodities for the aid workers.
When
all was said and done, only $210 million of the pledged money went to the
Haitian government, all with restrictive strings attached. With a population of
10 million in 2010, it would mean each person would only get $21.00. This amount
is nowhere close to the amount of money each family or person should have
gotten. Therefore, even if the Haitian government decided to pocket the money
instead of helping the country, it would not have even mattered. The question
then remains, where did the money go?
The
United States alone spent at least $368,000 on hotel rooms and food for their
workers. Now obviously money needed to be allocated to take care of the
workers, but they did not need to stay in four-star hotels not even located in
Haiti. Also, there is no need for $50,000 in elevator maintenance in a country
that only has a dozen elevators. The most shocking number the $151 million that
could not be accounted for at all. Hillary Clinton stated at the United Nations
donor conference, “If the effort to rebuild is slow or inefficient,” she said,
“if it is marked by conflict, lack of coordination, or lack of transparency,
then the challenges that have plagued Haiti for years could erupt with regional
and global consequences.” This statement became a reality when
much of the money raised never reached Haiti but instead was used by the NGOs
for trivial things.
Therefore, the Haitian government
and Preval cannot be blamed for the lack of change in the country after the
earthquake. Due to the history of corruption in the country, they became an
easy scapegoat for everyone. However, them being accused took attention away to
the actual problem; the NGOs were not handling and spending money in ways that
would help the Haitian people. Organizations such as the American Red Cross and
Doctors Without Borders found that they simply could not spend the money raised
for earthquake relief. However, instead of trying to find a way in which the
money could be helpful, they did nothing. A question then arises on whether
these organizations are structured in ways that will actually be beneficial to
relief efforts.
The
money raised for earthquake relief was not used in a manner that was effective
for the Haitian people. The Haitian government was wrongly accused of stealing
the aid money when in reality, most of the money never even made it out of the
NGOs. In the future, NGOs need to focus more on helping the country or people
in need and not using the money on unimportant things. In doing so, more
progress will be achieved in countries in serious need of help.
I agree with your point that the Haitian government is not necessarily to blame for the ineffectiveness for earthquake relief. The American Red Cross is notorious for their extremely poor use of funds raised in many different natural disasters, especially the earthquake in Haiti. However, in this case, there still was very little that the government could have done as an alternative. But this is certainly a valid concern that NGOs have been ineffective and need serious reform in the event that something else happens again.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your statement that the Haitian government should not be completely blamed for the earthquake relief failure. As you stated, the country has a history of corruption and thus it is easy to find blame in their system. The misuse of fund is extremely unacceptable and concerning, as the NGOs could have provided displaced families with much more than what was achieved. The true corruption lies within the unnecessary accommodations received by workers. Money must be managed more efficiently in future instances in order to provide help for victims of such disasters.
ReplyDeleteI agree that NGOs took advantage of Haiti's history of corruption to essentially launder money from them and take a tourist-like vacation. It also puts under scrutiny the actions of these NGOs in their efforts in other parts of the world. For example, I find it interesting that both you and Andrew bring up Doctors Without Borders, and while he was pretty positive about their Ebola response, in your case you cast them in a negative light. Perhaps the same concerns you raise could transfer over to Doctor's Without Borders's Ebola response, though I can't say I have proof about malpractice there.
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