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Economie

The Enemy Within – Are Haiti’s Ngos Poverty Pimps?

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Catégorie : Economie

camp-refugie-apres-Isaac-thony-Belizaire-afp-600Photo AFP Thony Belizaire

By: Emmanuel Roy

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - January 12, 2014 will mark the fourth anniversary of the devastating earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands of people and left half a million destitute. Shortly after the earthquake NGO’s raised billions. Private donors promised billions more to Haiti. Four years later the victims are no better off; the NGOs have little to show for the money they amassed. People in Port-Au-Prince are still under tents, and the Martelly/Lamothe administration chooses to be subservient to the NGOs at the expense of the people they were elected to represent.    

 Haiti has over ten thousand NGOs, with fewer than four hundred registered with the Haitian Government. That is one NGO for every one thousand Haitians.  Few people, including Pierre Richard Casimir, the Minister of Foreign Affairs know what these NGOs do in Haiti.  Supporters argue that they provide necessary humanitarian services that the Haitian government is unable to provide.  As the government’s inability to deliver services continues, the need for NGOs increases. This is a catch-22 considering that NGOs are often subverting and working against the interest of Haiti and its government.  In fact, many of the NGOS have the wherewithal to influence policy makers in Washington, DC, and with it, NGOs often advocate for and support policies that are against the interest of Haiti.

 Subsequent to the earthquake, NGOs descended to Haiti, rushing as if there was a Haitian gold rush.   The Red Cross and others raised billions of dollars from donors around the world. Four years later, neither the Red Cross nor any of the other NGOs have provided noticeable services to victims of the earthquake; or released detailed information regarding monetary spends.  NGOs such as Medecin Sans Frontiers, Partners in Health have provided minimal services to the community, but with the amount of money raised, the assistance should have been more pronounced and comprehensive.

On March 31, 2010 the United Nations held an International Donors Conference in New York City where donors pledged over $5 billion dollars for Haiti’s recovery. They agreed to work in partnership with the Haitian government and to show adherence to the “principles of aid effectiveness and good humanitarian donorships.”  They created the Interim Haitian Reconstruction Commission (IHRC), known as the Clinton Commission. But as the money started to flow, the hope for a happy partnership failed to materialize. With the support and assistance of donor countries, NGOs follow their own agendas and set their own priorities. Both the Haitian government and the people they are supposed to help were largely excluded. 

After the donor conference, foreign donors such as the United States, France and Canada began to strong-arm the Haitian Government into privatizing many public services; then they turn around and give the money to the NGO’s who contract-out the services. The NGO’s in turn retain cronies of foreign donors as “experts” paying them exorbitant fees pursuant to long-term established contracts.  This resulted in about 93% of all aid money earmarked for Haiti going back to the countries where the money came from.  This system unwittingly expands the reach and control of the NGOs at the expense of a retracting Haitian Government; continuing to justify the release of more money directly to the NGO’s without the Haitian government’s participation in shaping and or implementing solutions for Haiti.

 This form of foreign aid is designed to exclude not only the Haitian Government from decisions about its own nation; but it also excludes the very people the foreign aid was designed to assist.  Haiti’s future is entrusted to foreign agencies. Most Haitians do not understand the magnitude of NGO’s influence and most NGO’s do not understand the Haitian people and its rich culture.

 NGO’s exalted in the weakness of the Haitian government to control, supervise and evaluate their performance.  As NGO’s activities and responsibilities become more pronounced, the Haitian government is reduced to the status of a spectator with little to no influence at all.  That should not be and cannot continue.  NGOs may exist to the extent that they are serving the country; but the Haitian Government has the responsibility to enforce its laws and decide the terms under which foreign companies operate within its borders.

 The Haitian government does not currently enforce the law requiring NGOs to register with the government and monitor their programs and whereabouts in the country. The government is powerless when it comes to NGO’s.  This powerlessness reflects in the fact that more seventy-three percent of all foreign aids to Haiti from donor countries went directly to NGOs.  At the exception of American Jewish World Service and Partners in Health, the rest of NGOs serve as a mouthpiece spreading and sustaining their donors’ power and ideology at the expense of Haiti.  It’s time that the Martelly/Lamothe administration show its understanding of sovereignty by doing the following immediately:

1. Create an office of NGOs under the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This office shall have the mandate to ensure that all NGOs are properly registered with the Government.

2. The Government will decide where in the country a particular NGO should be based. For example, Medecin Sans Frontier and Medus may combine their resources to provide better medical services to people.  Duplication of services is a huge preventable waste.

 3. All NGOs shall have six-months to register with the Minister. After six months, all violators will be fined, or closed-down for non-compliance.

 4. All NGOS must file their annual budgets with the Minister of Finance and commerce detailing how they intend to spend the money, and whom they are paying and for what reasons. After all, the money is supposedly giving for the benefit of Haiti and Haitians.

 5. Require all NGOs to file annual income tax return detailing the amount of money raised and the amount of money spent.  This new agency will accomplish the following: create jobs for qualified Haitians, bring all NGOs into compliance, regulate and monitor the services provide to citizens. This will eventually force fraudulent NGOs to close their doors, and allow those who are truly helping to flourish.

 Legally preforming NGO’s shall continue to play a vital role in Haiti’s survival.  These agencies should be key participants in Haiti’s infrastructure development of  50 year plan.  However, seeking a détente with NGOs in exchange for a greater share of the foreign aids will not do.  The government must take the steps outlined above to ensure that NGOs operating in Haiti are providing noticeable help. NGOs and their supporters may oppose such reform and will seek to block it. They may complain that the Haitian government is not able to control and monitor itself; or that too much bureaucracy will delay much needed assistance to people. These arguments are designed to retain the status quo, and President Martelly will do well by his countrymen to show his mettle on this issue. The future of Haiti depends on it.

 Follow Manny on Twitter @EJRMANNY.

This article is dedicated to the memory of the Victims of the 2010 Earthquake – May they rest in peace. 

 Correction:  In the last article: HAITIAN DIASPORA: EDUCATED, DIVIDED AND DISORGANIZED, we wish to correct that: Dr. Bernier Lauredan is not engage in a fight with Judge Lionel Jean Baptiste for the control of the Haitian League. According to Dr. Lauredan, Judge Lionel Jean Baptiste and others orchestrated a coup d’état a L’haitienne against him, and like Aristide he is fighting to retain control of the organization.

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