a997: FL Senator denounces channelling aid to NGOs (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: MKarshan@aol.com

Haiti: Senator again denounces channelling of external aid through NGOs

Haiti: Senator again denounces channelling of external aid through NGOs
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Mar 1, 2002

We shall discuss with Senator Louis Gerald Gilles of the Lavalas Family [FL] international aid to Haiti and the problems which have been registered in that sector, according to the FL.

[Rotchild Francois Jr - recording] Senator Gilles, yesterday you made a lot of statements in the Senate of the Republic denouncing the international community, which has apparently channelled 70m dollars through NGOs [non-governmental organizations] to support the [opposition] Convergence and civil society and to destabilize the current government. In short, where did you get that information from exactly?

[Gilles] It is clear and I want to make it clear that there is no hostility and that the senators are not against the NGOs. Not at all. We must acknowledge the importance of certain NGOs as regards development, the global objective; that is, the promotion of the country's economic and socio-cultural development.

Actually, we have heard that information from certain foreign diplomats. And everybody knows that. It was on Radio Metropole that we heard with stupefaction and sadness that the international community specifies that the external aid allocated to Haiti will be and is being channelled through NGOs in order to help the Haitian population. We heard clearly that it was to help the Haitian population. And that foreign diplomat, as we heard it, specified that there is about 70m dollars.

[Francois] Who are you talking about exactly? Are you talking about the US ambassador or somebody else?

[Gilles] I mean the ambassador, Brian Dean Curran. As I said, the ambassador said in the press and on several radio stations that there are about 70m dollars, which is more than 2bn gourdes, that have been channelled to Haiti through NGOs.

Meanwhile everybody knows that most of the NGOs in Haiti are branches of political organizations that have missed their global objective. The global objective of that external assistance should have been the promotion of economic, social and cultural development. But we know that most of the time, those objectives are often different from the main objectives that are rather hidden objectives in terms of destabilization, in terms of works that are simply political against the current government, against the state, against state welfare.

So, I sincerely think that we have to get to the facts. Now, all negotiation involves concessions from each party. I am criticizing the international community, because I think that the American people who pay taxes so that there can be this external aid will not accept that, and will demand that their money be accounted for.

There have been negotiations. All negotiations involve concessions from all the parties. The first concession that the FL made was the fact that, despite the majority vote of 21 May we agreed to discuss and hold a dialogue with the minority. When I say minority I mean the Convergence and civil society, the Civil Society Initiative Group [GISC]. And what did they give in return? Nothing. The second concession that we made was that despite the 21 May majority vote, seven senators submitted their resignations. And what did the other parties give in return? Nothing.

When I say other parties I mean the international community and its local clients, that is, the Convergence and the GISC that are most of the time chief executive officers [CEOs], that have among them some CEOs of most of the NGOs.

[Francois] So, according to you, US aid is given to NGOs that are controlled by the opposition and the GISC?

[Gilles] Exactly. And we are waiting for [Planning and External Cooperation Minister Marc Louis] Bazin who should come with figures to show us - [changes thought] because the American people as well as Haitians should know what they have done with the external aid...

[Francois] Last week, Congressman John Conyers was here. He is a good friend of President Aristide, as everybody knows; he was a member of the Aristide Foundation for Democracy, a member of the board of directors. Representative Conyers said that he was satisfied. He visited the Grace Children's Hospital and said that he was happy to see how US aid was being used for the Haitian people Conyers is a member of the Black Caucus, therefore we do not really understand the FL's position.

[Gilles] Listen, Rotchild. Representative Conyers knows very well that I said clearly to start with that there are certain results, mitigated or not. There are progressive NGOs. And as the vice-president of the CIUE [expansion untraced], Senator Pierre Sancon Prince, said during a parliamentary session, he spoke of the necessity for NGOs to be part of globalization. We cannot get away from that. There are some NGOs that, despite the proliferation of NGOs, do not do anything other than being a channel for transferring money to certain political organizations...

Source: Radio Metropole, Port-au-Prince, in French 1145 gmt 28 Feb 02

/BBC Monitoring/ © BBC.

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