28881: Lucas: (news) Haiti: The International Aid Debacle (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Stanley Lucas <maloukwi@yahoo.com>

The International Aid Debacle:
  How to Get a Return on the Investment in Haiti
  By Stanley Lucas*
  August 10, 2006

  The international community has invested more than $15 billion in foreign aid 
in Haiti since the late 1970s.  The Clinton Administration alone spent $3 
billion in Haiti in 1994.  Looking at the current state of the country, there 
is nothing to show for it.

  Haiti is the sixth poorest country in the world.  The infrastructure is 
falling apart with limited electricity, a phone system that barely works and 
roads in shambles.  The World Bank and other international institutions have 
spent several billion dollars supporting education and various projects, 
however, illiteracy stands at about 54 percent; agricultural production is a 
quarter of what it was in 1960; per capita income is only $370/year; the level 
of unemployment is 75 percent; there are only three hours of electricity per 
day; and 80 percent of the water supply is contaminated.  Haiti is an 
ecological disaster.

  Haiti’s leaders have squandered the opportunities provided by international 
aid to address the country’s dire situation.  Current and past Haitian 
governments have effectively shunned the rule of law and have been deeply 
involved in corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering, and political 
assassinations.  International funds have often ended up in the personal banks 
accounts of government leaders and their national and international supporters. 
Meanwhile, the vast majority of Haitian people continue living in abject 
poverty.  No one has ever been held accountable.

  With the support of the international community, Peruvian officials went 
after former President Alberto Fujimori and recovered more than $40 million in 
siphoned international aid.  In sharp contrast, Haitian deposed leaders have 
never been prosecuted by the international community.  The stolen funds have 
never been seized and put to their original and intended use.

  One of the main reasons Haitian leaders continue to evade accountability is 
an unrealistic and unseeing bureaucracy that is firmly ensconced in the 
international institutions, many officers in their same positions for decades. 
It seems they continually turn a blind eye to the Haitian government’s refusal 
to play by the same rules that other countries are held to in order to receive 
and maintain international funding.  They do not, in effect, hold them to the 
same standards as other countries.  The Haitian government has yet to submit 
sufficient or correctly formatted requests for funding.  They have yet to met 
the criteria for receiving and accounting for funds, but they always receive 
their funds.

  Despite these facts, the bureaucracies of the international institutions 
offer reports outlining all the benefits Haiti has received as a result of aid 
packages, but the reports do not always reflect the reality.  Perhaps they 
should ask why, despite their efforts, there is no progress in alleviating the 
systemic poverty in Haiti and no movement on economic development.

  The World Bank’s 2002 assistance evaluation report on Haiti paints a grim 
social and economic outlook and outlines specific recommendations on how to 
address the mistakes of the past and improve accountability in Haiti.  While 
the recommendations are in place, they are not enforced.  The same situation 
exists with regard to the Inter-American Development Bank and the United States 
Agency for International Development (USAID).  Without the ability to conduct 
an honest and candid assessment of  the impact – or lack thereof – of 
international funds for Haiti, instability in Haiti will continue.  This is for 
certain.

  Recommendations

  Don’t get me wrong.  Aid must go to Haiti.  There is a hardly a country that 
is more in need.

  But we need to put in place an appropriate framework to make the system 
really work.  The international community should have a zero tolerance policy 
for undemocratic behavior including the violation of the constitution, human 
rights violations, rigged elections, corruption, and drug trafficking.  The 
following actions would go a long way to ensuring that that aid is effectively 
used:

  §         Enforce International Standards: First, the World Bank, IADB, the 
European Union and USAID have standards in place that Haiti should meet in 
order to receive funding.  They must be enforced.  If not, Haiti will remain 
mired in poverty and instability.  With the enforcement of the international 
standards, there are safeguards against the money being misappropriated, 
squandered or diverted to personal bank accounts.  These programs are in place 
to help change the system and provide opportunities for Haiti’s poor.  We must 
ensure that they actually start to reap the benefits.

  §         Require a Preval Administration Policy Agenda: After three months 
in office, it is time for Haitian government officials to present the donors 
with a strategic economic, social and political action plan.  Their current 
plan is disorganized and is not comprehensive.  Rather it is a sort of list of 
$7 billion in projects without systematic justification behind how they fit 
into Haiti’s overall goals.  This plan should include projects in the areas of 
education, infrastructure, agriculture, security, economic development, and 
environmental protection.  Equally important, this plan should take into 
account international funding requirements.

  §         Strengthen Domestic Management Capability and Accountability: The 
Haitian government needs to put in place a human infrastructure that is capable 
of project and fund management and remove those who are incompetent. They 
should recruit capable professionals from the Diaspora and within Haiti into 
government. There are too many unqualified people in the government and it is 
severely limiting progress. As a capable management team comes in, they must 
also be subject to strengthened rules to ensure proper oversight and 
accountability so that the cycle of corrosion that has weakened human 
infrastructure in government in the past, corrupting many who entered 
government with good skills and a clean conscience, cannot be repeated.

  §         Coordinate Donor Programs: In 2006, there are more than 3,000 
non-governmental organizations operating in Haiti – often at cross-purposes. 
Nobody within the international community or within the Haitian government has 
a comprehensive overview of what they are doing.  In order to maximize 
efficiency, international donors should put into place a multilateral 
coordination body and develop a database of existing programs.  Existing 
programs should then be reviewed for redundancy and to identify additional 
areas of need.  Haiti needs targeted grants for specific and measurable goals, 
not a $750 million lotto prize.  This will not only reduce waste, but will also 
make it more difficult to divert funds.

  §         Support Institutions, Not Individuals: The international community 
should support the rule of law, checks and balances, free and fair elections 
good governance and functioning ministries. Current efforts in Haiti should 
focus on clear goals, not charisma, not acquaintances, lobbying or contractors’ 
political influence.

  §         Develop an Independent and Non-Partisan Judiciary and Police Force: 
The international community should support a non-partisan reform of Haiti’s 
justice system. The Executive Branch is interfering and politicizing the 
judicial system. This must stop. The training school of judges must reopen with 
international support.  The Haitian National Police should clean out its ranks 
of known kidnappers, drug traffickers and political agents involved in human 
rights violations.  The international community should provide technical 
assistance to strengthen the police force and help put into place mechanisms 
that will ensure that it is independent and non-partisan.

  §         Require Efficiency in the State Sector:  International donors 
provide approximately 50 percent of Haiti’s budget.  International donors have 
an investment in the country and should expect to see a return.  The continued 
provision of funds should be linked to Haiti’s performance in generating its 
own revenue from its revenue generating sectors, such as telecommunications, 
ports, and the tax authority.

  §         Support Haiti’s Private Sector:  Haiti has an eager Chamber of 
Commerce with 10 chapters throughout the country.  They desperately lack 
information on how to function as a Chamber as well as the ability to carry out 
the various trade and economic promotion activities normally run by Chambers. 
In addition, there is a need for micro-credit programs and women’s development 
projects, including women entrepreneurs – a particular opportunity for the 
IADB.  Haiti also needs jobs.  One way to encourage job creation would be for 
the U.S. Congress to pass the HOPE legislation that would lower tariffs in 
certain sectors and promote greater U.S.-Haiti trade.

  §         Push for Timely Elections:  There is some concern that there is an 
effort to delay the remaining district Legislative and nationwide Municipal and 
Local elections.  The international community has a $120 million investment in 
these elections.  If they are not carried out in a timely and free and fair 
election process, this government will have undermined all the current and 
previous efforts to build viable democratic process and institutions.

  §         Support for Democratic Institutions:  Political parties, civil 
society, parliament and the Ombudsman’s office are all still in need of 
training programs on how to function and organize.  Local human rights groups 
and NGOs have good intentions but no resources.  And the average Haitian 
citizen is still largely unaware of his/her rights as a citizen.  This is a 
long-term struggle – one that international institutions have certainly been 
investing in – but one that needs continued attention.

  §         Stop the Thugs:  Gang members, thugs and drug dealers are still 
linked to state affairs.  In fact, on Preval’s trip to Washington in May, the 
White House barred access to two members of the Preval delegation who were 
known criminals.  The Haitian government must put a vetting process in place to 
keep criminals out of its ranks – and have the courage to clear out criminals 
and others unworthy of the public trust who are already in government.  The 
international community should require the development of such a process as a 
condition for further aid.  The U.S. Department of State could help by 
developing and sharing a list of those known or strongly suspected of not 
meeting transparent criteria.

  §         Peacekeepers Should Disarm All Armed Groups:  Aristide loyalists 
(chimeres, gangs and drug traffickers) control 80 percent of the weapons and 
the police.  The rebels also have some weapons in their possession.  Both 
groups need to be disarmed.  This is an important step toward restoring 
security, rule of law and the authority of the police.

  §         Prosecute Corruption:  The international community should revoke 
visas and freeze bank accounts and other personal assets of past and current 
Haitian government officials involved in corruption, drug trafficking, money 
laundering, and human rights violations. There must be accountability.  The 
international community, specifically the U.S., must continue to investigate 
what happened to prior aid to Haiti.

  §         U.S. Policy Discipline:  When USAID decided to decentralize all 
programmatic decisions giving field officers authority instead of Washington, 
the U.S. government gave up a significant amount of control over policy 
implementation.  Decision-making should, of course, take into account field 
officer input and should be a shared responsibility.  However, in order to 
ensure policy discipline in the field, USAID should follow the policies set 
forth by the NSC and State Department.

  §         Don’t Go Native:  Personal relationships are important, but should 
not obstruct a more business-like approach.  There is an increasing trend for 
representatives of international aid organizations to become personally 
involved in the political process.  Some are personally investing in the 
business sector.  They are not Haitian.  This is not their mission.  In fact, 
it is destructive.  Their mission is to assist.  They have an enormous 
contribution to make and expertise to bring to bear.  All of that, however, is 
negated when they choose sides or have a stake in the status quo.  USAID’s 
policy is to “put the client first.”  This makes good sense.

  It is time to interject some common business sense into this process. 
International donors have to stop the double standard of exempting Haiti from 
common international practice and requirements.  They should be expecting to 
see a return on their investment, but instead, they are merely accepting 
mediocrity and thus limiting opportunity.  The Haitian people are hard working, 
positive and good people.  They deserve the opportunities to contribute to 
society and move beyond subsistence living.

  * Stanley Lucas worked on Afghanistan, the Middle East, Africa and Latin 
America. Lucas i currently the Director for Latin America and the Caribbean for 
the Washington Democracy Project.



---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
 Next-gen email? Have it all with the  all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta.