Current Events: Haiti Today...Effective Aid or Not?

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By: Lorís Simón Salum (Production Assistant)

After the disaster in Haiti this January, little has been said about what has been going on these days. Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, criticized the president and Prime Minister of Haiti on their lack of initiative to accelerate Haiti’s recovery. He reported that there are superfluous “bureaucratic obstacles at a time when Haiti cannot afford to delay.” According to an article in the Yahoo News , “In all, just 2 percent of the $5.3 billion in near-term aid pledges have actually been delivered, up from 1 percent last week,” so it could become a debatable matter when it comes to Haiti’s efficiency.

On the other hand, the Clinton Foundation has donated 141 trucks, 40 pieces of heavy equipment, $300,000 worth of seeds, portable classrooms, educational supplies, flashlights and lanterns, street lights, 68 generators, tents, large tents, community water purification systems, bottled water, medical supplies and medicines, latrines, clothing, stoves, whistles, a mobile command center, and educational needs since Janurary 2010. The Clinton Foundation, through the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative, along with the Fundación Carlos Slim, found a $20 million fund to help instigate small to medium businesses for Haitian entrepreneurs with no profits intended. They believe it will help create more jobs and facilitate the economy. Carlos Slim commented, "Employment is the way to fight poverty and dignify a human being."

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), informed that as of May 31, Haiti relief received about $122 million in public donations. On that same day, MSF spent $71.5 million, where more than $14.8 million went to surgery, $5.4 million to maternal health (MSF delivered 3,700 babies) and over $11 million in providing shelter. MSF has predicted that $120 million will be spent on helping the Haitian population alone by the end of 2010. “The publicly disseminated Action Plan for Reconstruction and National Development of Haiti, produced by the government of Haiti with inputs from the U.N., European Commission, the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and civil society, has assessed Haiti’s reconstruction needs over the next three years at $11.5 billion.”