by Roger Annis
The six month mark after Haiti's Jan. 12 earthquake saw a flurry of news reports in Canada and around the world. The depictions of the harsh conditions still prevailing for most earthquake victims took many people by surprise. The relative silence of the media over the last few months led many to assume that the international aid effort had accomplished much more than it has.
On the eve of July 12, contradictory or exaggerated claims were made about Canadian government aid to Haiti. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Canwest news agency reported that Canada has committed "more than $1 billion" for Haiti. Yet only days earlier, on July 9, the Quebec French-language daily Le Devoir, and the English-language Canadian Press news agency, reported that Canada has not given a dime to the Haiti Reconstruction Fund established by the March 31 United Nations Donor Conference in New York. So what is the true record of Canada's assistance to Haiti since the earthquake, and what more needs to be done to assist the hundreds of thousands of victims who have received little or no aid?
The Numbers
In a July 9 press release, written as a rebuttal to the aforementioned Le Devoir and Canadian Press reports, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and Minister of International Cooperation and Development Bev Oda stated that Canada had contributed $150 million to Haiti in the weeks following the quake. The ministers also said an additional $400 million has been pledged to Haiti for the next two years.
At a subsequent July 12 press conference, the ministers upped the figure, saying that Canada has spent, or is committing, a total of $1.1 billion in aid to Haiti. But their time frame of commitment predates the earthquake considerably, covering the years 2006 to 2012.
Other figures are also misleading. The $150 million figure noted on Jul. 9 reflected spending announcements in January and April. The $400 million figure was announced by Canada at the March 31 UN Donors Conference. Media reports gave the impression that this $400 million is Canada's contribution to the Haiti Reconstruction Fund (HRF) established at the conference. In fact, Canada's contribution to the Fund is listed on the Fund's website as "$30-$45 million" [funds listed are in US dollars].
It so happens that $30 million is the minimum payment required to secure a seat on Fund's board of directors. The HRF's spending decisions are controlled by international financial institutions, the Fund's board of directors, and the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission. The latter consists of 26 members, half of whom are non-Haitian. It is chaired by former U.S. president Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Max Bellerive.
Few of the countries pledging to the Fund are in a rush to pay up. According to the undated pledge page on the Fund's website, only three countries have met their pledges - Brazil, Australia and Estonia, for a total of US$64 million. Canada says it will pay up "soon." But Cannon and Oda voiced a reason for their delay at the July 12 press conference. They said they are concerned by Bill Clinton's remarks the preceding week in which he criticized laggard donor countries for their failure to pay.
Cannon said: "I want to be able to, with Minister Oda, discuss with [Clinton] so that we scope all that out and get a better sense of what he means by those comments." Canada's government has been telling its people that its response to the earthquake was swift and generous. Clinton's remarks were an embarrassment to it.
The Fund's total pledges amount to a paltry US$509 million. The $5.3 billion-plus figure which the international media reports as pledged consists of money promised to Haiti by the world's governments and aid agencies at the March 31 conference, in all forms and covering the next 18 months.
For Haiti, there is a major concern with the promises. The record following previous natural disasters is that the majority of funds promised are never paid. There is every reason to believe that this will again be the case unless significant political pressure demands aggressive and meaningful reconstruction aid from the world's big powers.
There is another flaw in the international financial promises: very little aid is going to Haitian organizations. Dr. Paul Farmer of the prestigious Partners In Health testified before the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, DC on Jul. 27 that of the $1.8 billion in earthquake relief sent to Haiti to date, only 3% was delivered to the Haitian government. Even Canada's outgoing Governor General, the Haitian-born Michaëlle Jean, was moved to say in France recently: "The time has come to break with the logic of aid that has transformed Haiti into a laboratory [for NGOs]" [Agence France Presse, Jul. 20].
On the eve of July 12, contradictory or exaggerated claims were made about Canadian government aid to Haiti. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Canwest news agency reported that Canada has committed "more than $1 billion" for Haiti. Yet only days earlier, on July 9, the Quebec French-language daily Le Devoir, and the English-language Canadian Press news agency, reported that Canada has not given a dime to the Haiti Reconstruction Fund established by the March 31 United Nations Donor Conference in New York. So what is the true record of Canada's assistance to Haiti since the earthquake, and what more needs to be done to assist the hundreds of thousands of victims who have received little or no aid?
The Numbers
In a July 9 press release, written as a rebuttal to the aforementioned Le Devoir and Canadian Press reports, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and Minister of International Cooperation and Development Bev Oda stated that Canada had contributed $150 million to Haiti in the weeks following the quake. The ministers also said an additional $400 million has been pledged to Haiti for the next two years.
At a subsequent July 12 press conference, the ministers upped the figure, saying that Canada has spent, or is committing, a total of $1.1 billion in aid to Haiti. But their time frame of commitment predates the earthquake considerably, covering the years 2006 to 2012.
Other figures are also misleading. The $150 million figure noted on Jul. 9 reflected spending announcements in January and April. The $400 million figure was announced by Canada at the March 31 UN Donors Conference. Media reports gave the impression that this $400 million is Canada's contribution to the Haiti Reconstruction Fund (HRF) established at the conference. In fact, Canada's contribution to the Fund is listed on the Fund's website as "$30-$45 million" [funds listed are in US dollars].
It so happens that $30 million is the minimum payment required to secure a seat on Fund's board of directors. The HRF's spending decisions are controlled by international financial institutions, the Fund's board of directors, and the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission. The latter consists of 26 members, half of whom are non-Haitian. It is chaired by former U.S. president Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Max Bellerive.
Few of the countries pledging to the Fund are in a rush to pay up. According to the undated pledge page on the Fund's website, only three countries have met their pledges - Brazil, Australia and Estonia, for a total of US$64 million. Canada says it will pay up "soon." But Cannon and Oda voiced a reason for their delay at the July 12 press conference. They said they are concerned by Bill Clinton's remarks the preceding week in which he criticized laggard donor countries for their failure to pay.
Cannon said: "I want to be able to, with Minister Oda, discuss with [Clinton] so that we scope all that out and get a better sense of what he means by those comments." Canada's government has been telling its people that its response to the earthquake was swift and generous. Clinton's remarks were an embarrassment to it.
The Fund's total pledges amount to a paltry US$509 million. The $5.3 billion-plus figure which the international media reports as pledged consists of money promised to Haiti by the world's governments and aid agencies at the March 31 conference, in all forms and covering the next 18 months.
For Haiti, there is a major concern with the promises. The record following previous natural disasters is that the majority of funds promised are never paid. There is every reason to believe that this will again be the case unless significant political pressure demands aggressive and meaningful reconstruction aid from the world's big powers.
There is another flaw in the international financial promises: very little aid is going to Haitian organizations. Dr. Paul Farmer of the prestigious Partners In Health testified before the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, DC on Jul. 27 that of the $1.8 billion in earthquake relief sent to Haiti to date, only 3% was delivered to the Haitian government. Even Canada's outgoing Governor General, the Haitian-born Michaëlle Jean, was moved to say in France recently: "The time has come to break with the logic of aid that has transformed Haiti into a laboratory [for NGOs]" [Agence France Presse, Jul. 20].
Stumble It!
Canada has now "pledged" $33M to add to the "pledge" of $2M!