How the Red Cross Raised Half a Billion Dollars for Haiti ­and Built Six Homes

[Judi Lynn]

How the Red Cross Raised Half a Billion Dollars for Haiti ­and Built Six Homes

Even as the group has publicly celebrated its work, insider accounts detail a string of failures
by Justin Elliott, ProPublica, and Laura Sullivan, NPR

June 3, 2015

The neighborhood of Campeche sprawls up a steep hillside in Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince. Goats rustle in trash that goes forever uncollected. Children kick a deflated volleyball in a dusty lot below a wall with a hand-painted logo of the American Red Cross.

In late 2011, the Red Cross launched a multimillion-dollar project to transform the desperately poor area, which was hit hard by the earthquake that struck Haiti the year before. The main focus of the project — called LAMIKA, an acronym in Creole for “A Better Life in My Neighborhood” — was building hundreds of permanent homes.

Today, not one home has been built in Campeche. Many residents live in shacks made of rusty sheet metal, without access to drinkable water, electricity or basic sanitation. When it rains, their homes flood and residents bail out mud and water.

The Red Cross received an outpouring of donations after the quake, nearly half a billion dollars. The group has publicly celebrated its work. But in fact, the Red Cross has repeatedly failed on the ground in Haiti. Confidential memos, emails from worried top officers, and accounts of a dozen frustrated and disappointed insiders show the charity has broken promises, squandered donations, and made dubious claims of success.

More:
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes

[Judi Lynn]

1. The Red Cross, Haiti and the 'black hole' of accountability for international aid

The Red Cross, Haiti and the 'black hole' of accountability for international aid

Experts said there is virtually no way to monitor how nonprofits operate, nor for governments or disaster victims to hold them accountable for mismanagement

Alan Yuhas in New York
@alanyuhas
Friday 5 June 2015 10.36 EDT

International aid groups largely operate in a “black hole” of accountability, charity watchdogs have said, as fresh allegations emerged this week of the Red Cross’s misrepresentations of its accomplishments after Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2010.

Officials at nonprofit watchdogs were not surprised by a ProPublica and NPR investigation which found the Red Cross had misrepresented its efforts in Haiti and delivered only a portion of the $488m it raised to Haitians, in spite of a pledge to give “91 cents” of every dollar.

The Red Cross disputes the report, saying the accusations are overblown and unfair characterizations of a program beset by the challenges that all aid groups face in Haiti. But the organization has faced accusations of mismanagement before, including withholding funds after 9/11, delays of emergency supplies after hurricane Katrina and disarrayed and selective relief after hurricane Sandy. Indeed, members of Congress are currently waiting for the results of an audit into the American Red Cross’s disaster relief efforts.

Experts said there are virtually no ways to monitor how nonprofits operate, nor for governments or disaster victims to hold them accountable for deliberate or accidental mismanagement.

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/05/red-cross-haiti-black-hole-accountability-international-aid

[Demeter]

2. Liz Cheney was the last straw

She destroyed the Red Cross.