19839: Tjpershing: Re: 19830: (Chamberlain) re 19821 Vander-Zaag, Orenstein (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tjpershing@aol.com

According to my research,  the democracy and governance program of USAID
Haiti had a FY funding of $2,500,000, a proposed FY 2003 of $2,000,000. The
projects I know about, NDI's Civic forum, RAMAK a community radio support project
(through contract to Creative Associates) and an Ethics in Journalism project
were functioning in 2003.
       According to an official at USAID the rapidly declining numbers over
the last four years revealed the obvious lack of any concern by the current
administration with Democratic Development in Haiti. Once the fixed costs are
figured in, this same official noted, you have only half left (those big, hazard
pay salaries, new jeep Cherokees, offices, housing, etc.). That leaves little
cash to do any real work.
       RAMAK was a mess for a variety of reason, not the least of which was
half the stations turning down an offer of thousands of $ worth of digital
equipment because it came with lots of USAID stickers and a USAID produced civic
education program. The potential political problems this could cause are
obvious. This program ate some good money and was a poorly managed program, from
mission statement, to initial assessment (which had to be done twice) to
execution (the program production was done twice as well). Because it dealt with so
many opposition Journalists it was seen by many as an AGO (anti-gov. org).
       NDI's civic forum seemed to be the best run, and is based on a model
used elsewhere, tailored a bit to the Haitian experience. The individuals I met
who participated in the forums, including Lavalas officials, appreciated its
intent, but felt its complete lack of funds to support projects it helped
develop made it relatively insignificant in the end. The NDI administrators were
very forthcoming.
       I didn't make much headway into the Journalism/ethics project. When I
asked persons administering these programs what the IRI was doing, I was told
they were doing party building in the DR. I have failed to find any records of
IRI projects or finances concerning this since they pulled out of Haiti
proper in 1998 (if my memory is correct). The IRI website posts end at that time,
and I can find nothing via USAID DR
       Doing the math-and knowing RAMAK was sitting on a big pile of digital
gear, I'd say that if the  IRI was getting big cash, it might have been coming
from elsewhere (not USAID Haiti). The opposition was certainly being attended
to, but in all fairness NDI's program, Civic Forum, seems to have reached
across the aisle. Note that NED in Washington recently gave a grant  of 53,000 to
Sumate, a group started in Venezuela to support the Chavez recall-you can
find a link to the actual document on Washingtonpost.com.
       It is important to note that no funds were being aimed at the central
government, nor were any of the programs. In fact, I was told in no uncertain
terms that the GOH would never see any of this money. This is in keeping with
USAID stated policy shifts that can be found in numerous documents:
" Given the political situation, USAID has shifted away from its previous
efforts to strengthen public institutions such as the judiciary and the national
elections commissions, and launched a new program to strengthen civil society
and develop political parties by: developing political leadership; helping
non-governmental organizations resist Haiti's growing trend towards authoritarian
rule; and strengthening the independent media [this would be RAMAK]  (I don't
have an exact publication date, but it seems this came from early 2002)

       There is some good work on USAID by Thomas Carothers (The Learning
Curve), and I also recommend The Power and Limits of NGOs by Mendelson and Glenn
ed. though neither deal directly with Haiti.

       If anyone can really talk about the IRI projects of the last few years
I would love to hear from them. That's the straight dope as I can verify
through documents or field work.

                               Tim Pershing