logo logo
Donate
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Social Justice
    • Racial Justice
    • Climate Justice
    • Disability Justice
    • Economic Justice
    • Health Justice
    • Immigration
    • LGBTQ+
  • Civic News
  • Nonprofit Leadership
    • Board Governance
    • Equity-Centered Management
    • Finances
    • Fundraising
    • Human Resources
    • Organizational Culture
    • Philanthropy
    • Power Dynamics
    • Strategic Planning
    • Technology
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Leading Edge Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Webinars

Lessons from Haiti for Humanitarian Assistance for Syria

Rick Cohen
January 16, 2014

 

UN

January 15, 2015; Global Post

In the wake of major government leaders gathering with the UN General Secretary at an international conference in Kuwait pledging to raise $6.5 billion to respond to the Syrian humanitarian crisis, the relevant question is whether the money really gets delivered after all the big announcements. For example, this year’s request for Syria is the largest ever, but last year, only 70 percent of the money pledged by donor nations to Syrian relief actually showed up. Compared to other years and other UN requests, 70 percent is even rather high.

For many readers, a comparable situation closer to home might be whether the donations promised to Haiti in response to the devastating earthquake that hit that impoverished island on January 12, 2010 were realized—and whether they accomplished what they were supposed to. The Global Post asks, “After Haiti’s devastating earthquake, where did the aid money go?”

The findings aren’t pretty. Writing for the Global Post, Jacob Kushner says that only 5.4 percent of U.S. government spending in Haiti in fiscal 2012 went to Haitian organizations or companies. The problem appears to be resistance in Congress to reform of USAID practices, particularly in terms of food aid, a topic covered in the NPQ Newswire previously. But there is a particular problem in aid to Haiti. USAID’s global average of funding local groups and companies is 14 percent—still low, but not like the percentage in Haiti. Making it even worse is that aid programs from USAID and international NGOs have long been active in Haiti, but it appears that there has been little success in building successful locally controlled governmental and NGO structures that the U.S. government trusts enough to turn the funds over to them. That keeps Haiti in a position of perpetual dependence on external groups, regardless of the nature and extent of the crises to be addressed.

It’s not like USAID doesn’t know what’s wrong. Tim Padgett, reporting for WLRN, wrote recently that the USAID mission director in Haiti, John Groarke, made it clear to him that “we have to change the way we do business in Haiti.” Partly, he is referring, in Padgett’s words, to “Haiti’s overreliance on foreign support—and its chronic under-reliance on its own ample human and natural capital,” sometimes evidence in the surfeit of nonprofits providing assistance in the country, earning Haiti the sobriquet, “Republic of NGOs.”

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Padgett suggests that donor nations don’t follow through when they feel that local authorities are not up to the task. He cites the insufficient direction and control provided by the previous Haitian president, René Préval, during the 2010 earthquake and the current questions about the leadership and behavior of his successor, Michel Martelly. The governmental dysfunction and corruption since the election of Martelly don’t give public or private sector donors a sense that their moneys will be well used by local agencies, and consequently they either run the moneys through non-Haitian NGOs or sometimes don’t deliver on the pledges at all.

Philanthropic investments in Haiti, such as the Caracol Industrial Park, developed with funds from USAID, the Inter American Development Bank, and the Clinton Foundation, haven’t quite hit their mark. Caracol was supposed to generate 65,000 jobs, but so far has produced fewer than 1,500, amid charges that garment factories in the industrial part aren’t even meeting the government’s minimum wage requirement of $6.85 an hour, but paying more like $4.56 an hour.

It is odd, however, that members of Congress fret so much about the amount of money going to foreign aid, usually less than one percent of the entire federal budget, when the beneficiaries tend to be, at the outset, for-profit firms inside the Washington Beltway. Typically, around sixty percent of USAID moneys to Haiti goes to and through Beltway for-profit and nonprofit firms. In fiscal 2013, for-profit firms like Chemonics, which got $58 million of USAID’s $270 million for Haiti, were in charge of almost half of USAID funds for Haiti, and U.S.-based nonprofits another 37 percent.

In what part of the world is the percentage of USAID funds distributed through local organizations even lower than the 5.4 percent of funds for Haiti? As this chart from the Guardian demonstrates, it is the Middle East:

Syria

That bodes poorly for funds meant to reach people in Syria who are caught between multiple warring factions that include a government that is willing to kill hundreds of thousands of its citizens in order to keep its grasp on the levers of power. Maybe the UN will help generate the level of donations deemed necessary for humanitarian assistance in Syria, but the track record for failing or failed states like Syria isn’t good.—Rick Cohen

 

About the author
Rick Cohen

Rick joined NPQ in 2006, after almost eight years as the executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Before that he played various roles as a community worker and advisor to others doing community work. He also worked in government. Cohen pursued investigative and analytical articles, advocated for increased philanthropic giving and access for disenfranchised constituencies, and promoted increased philanthropic and nonprofit accountability.

More about: Disasters and RecoveryGlobal IssuesNonprofit NewsPhilanthropyPolicy

Our Voices Are Our Power.

Journalism, nonprofits, and multiracial democracy are under attack. At NPQ, we fight back by sharing stories and essential insights from nonprofit leaders and workers—and we pay every contributor.

Can you help us protect nonprofit voices?

Your support keeps truth alive when it matters most.
Every single dollar makes a difference.

Donate now
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

You might also like
“Unrig the Game”: Learning from Women of Color in Leadership and Social Movements
Holly Jonas
New Study Shines a Light on the Impact of Donor-Advised Funds
Chuck Collins and Helen Flannery
Report Uplifts New and Old Challenges Facing Nonprofits
Rebekah Barber
Shifting the Balance: Centering Local Leadership in Global Nonprofit Partnerships
Jennifer Johnson
Beyond Grant Capital: What the Buen Vivir Fund Experience Teaches Us
Gaithiri Siva and Joanna Levitt Cea
Merging Missions: Starting with Relationships and Shared Authority
Hoang Murphy

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
June 26th, 2:00 pm ET

From Performance Management to Mutual Commitment

Fostering a Culture of Joyful Accountability

Register
Group Created with Sketch.
July 24th, 2:00 pm ET

Organizing in Divided Times

The Relational Infrastructure We Need to Protect Democracy

Register

    
You might also like
Mural of a woman that reads “POWER & EQUALITY.”
“Unrig the Game”: Learning from Women of Color in...
Holly Jonas
A ray of sunshine breaks through the clouds and shines a light on the beach and a large rock formation.
New Study Shines a Light on the Impact of Donor-Advised...
Chuck Collins and Helen Flannery
A thoughtful young Asian woman sits at her table, appearing concerned as she navigates challenges on her laptop at home.
Report Uplifts New and Old Challenges Facing Nonprofits
Rebekah Barber

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Donate
  • Editorial Policy
  • Funders
  • Submissions

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.