This is a good program (from Al Jazeera) about how the role of profitability and foreign investment in the aid response to Haiti. There’s some great footage of Gildan boxes in amongst the rubble of a former garment factory.
Black is Back Coalition resolution on Haiti
From the Black is Back Coalition Conference, January 23-24, 2010
UhuruNews
Published Feb 11, 2010
WE, the members of the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace, and Reparations, following our Conference on January 23rd and 24th, 2010, where we discussed at length the current situation in Haiti, demand:
- The removal of all foreign military troops in Haiti including those from the United States, Canada, Europe and the combined imperial forces of the United Nations.
- The return of President Jean Bertrand Aristide from forced exile in South Africa and the restoration of democracy in Haiti.
- Reparations be made to Haiti by France as repayment for the billions of dollars that Haiti was forced to pay France following the struggle for the abolition of slavery and the creation of the First African Republic in the Western Hemisphere on the 1st January 1804. We also demand that the United States makes reparations to Haiti for its brutal and unjust occupation of Haiti from 1915 – 1934 that culminated in the looting of the Haitian Treasury. We also demand that the United States provide reparations to Haiti for its constant interference in Haiti’s domestic politics that has undermined the economy. This should include the cancellation of debt that totals approximately $1.3 billion, much of which was accumulated during the U.S. backed Papa and Baby Doc eras.
- The release of all Africans from Haiti who are being imprisoned in Detention Centers throughout the world.
- The repudiation of the Wet Foot/Dry Foot Policy that unfairly discriminates against Africans from Haiti and the establishment of an open door policy that allows Africans from Haiti to enter the United States, and any other country, unfettered.
- An automatic removal of the $80 Temporary Protective Status (TPS) fee that is associated with the application for this status. This fee is an economic barrier to the 100,000+ Africans in Haiti who are eligible for this status.
- The immediate removal of trade, aide and loan restrictions by the World Bank and other international financial institutions that impose restrictions on growing food necessary for development. This includes restrictions on production on domestic rice and other agricultural products that Haiti can do for herself.
- The immediate removal of maritime restrictions that keep out neighboring countries of CARICOM and Latin America from providing assistance to Haiti
In the News: Canadian aid groups told to keep quiet on policy issues
by Campbell Clark, The Globe and Mail
Aid groups say the federal government is casting a chill over advocacy work that takes positions on policy or political issues – and one claims a senior Conservative aide warned them against such activities.
An official with a mainstream non-governmental aid group said that Keith Fountain, policy director for International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda, gave a verbal warning that the organization’s policy positions were under scrutiny: “Be careful about your advocacy.”
The official did not want to be identified out of concern that it might jeopardize funding for the group’s aid projects from the Canadian International Development Agency, or CIDA.
That’s a concern voiced by some other NGO leaders, who said they have received hints the government dislikes their policy advocacy or criticisms of the government policies, but did not want to be identified.
Most aid organizations, from church-based organizations such as Anglican and Mennonite aid agencies to big agencies such as World Vision, Oxfam and CARE, take public positions on some policy issues, and some organize letter-writing campaigns or publish pamphlets.
The aid groups use CIDA money to finance 75 per cent of specific programs, but don’t use it for advocacy.
Some have had veiled warnings about positions that clash with Ottawa’s on issues such as climate change, free trade with Colombia, or the Middle East, said Gerry Barr, president of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation, an umbrella group.
“NGOs are being positively invited to remain silent on key questions of public policy,” he said.
Cheryl Curtis, executive director of the Anglican Church’s Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, said government officials have never warned her organization about public-policy positions, but other aid organizations have reported such messages.
“We’ve certainly heard that amongst colleagues,” she said, adding: “There clearly is a conversation that’s brewing at the government level.”
Haiti Numbers – 27 Days After Quake
by Bill Quigley at Smirking Chimp
890 million. Amount of international debt that Haiti owes creditors. Finance ministers from developing countries announced they will forgive $290 million. Source: Wall Street Journal
644 million. Donations for Haiti to private organizations have exceed $644 million. Over $200 million has gone to the Red Cross, who had 15 people working on health projects in Haiti before the earthquake. About $40 million has gone to Partners in Health, which had 5,000 people working on health in Haiti before the quake. Source: New York Times.
1 million. People still homeless or needing shelter in Haiti. Source: MSNBC.
1 million. People who have been given food by the UN World Food Program in Port au Prince – another million in Port au Prince still need help. Source: UN World Food Program.
In the News: Some facts Stephen Harper should have on Haiti
If Canada is to play a positive role in Haiti’s future, we must know what the situation actually is, and why.
Recently I described how Haiti came to be in such wretched shape, thanks to its own brutal leaders and the interventions of France and the United States, a story that is rarely told in the mainstream media. What follows is more recent information about Haiti, shortly before and after the earthquake, all of it publicly documented yet little of it known.
For a serious government, there are important lessons to be learned here.
Continue reading In the News: Some facts Stephen Harper should have on Haiti
Aid Distribution
Less than a penny of each dollar the U.S. is spending on earthquake relief in Haiti is going in the form of cash to the Haitian government, according to an Associated Press review of relief efforts.
Two weeks after President Obama announced an initial $100 million for Haiti earthquake relief, U.S. government spending on the disaster has nearly quadrupled to $379 million, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced Wednesday. That’s about $1.25 each from everyone in the United States.
Each American dollar roughly breaks down like this: 42 cents for disaster assistance, 33 cents for U.S. military aid, nine cents for food, nine cents to transport the food, five cents for paying Haitian survivors for recovery efforts, just less than one cent to the Haitian government, and about half a cent to the Dominican Republic.
The U.S. government money is part of close to $2 billion in relief aid flowing into Haiti — almost all of it managed by organizations other than the Haitian government, which has been struggling to re-establish its authority since the quake. On Wednesday, a defensive President Rene Preval acknowledged his country’s reputation, but said aid money isn’t lining the pockets of government officials.
“There’s a perception of corruption, but I would like to tell the Haitian people that the Haitian government has not seen one penny of all the money that has been raised — millions are being made on the right, millions on the left, it’s all going to the NGOs (nongovernmental organizations)” Preval said, speaking in Creole at a news conference.
– Associated Press, emphasis added