Two articles: first, Clinton's deal with the Inter-American Development Bank regarding aid for Haiti and second, from Canada, concerning the governments concerns about giving aid DIRECTLY to Haiti.
This is the old struggle where international financial institutions want non-governmental (largely based in the US)to receive the money and establish programs for Haitians. Of course, Haitians rarely see any this money as most of it goes back to the US. In addition the intentions of the NGOs have been suspect since the US funnels its "democracy" programs through them and Haitians become the pawns in what is sometimes a deadly game..
"Clinton pledges more than $50 mln in aid for Haiti
1 day ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged Tuesday more than 50 million dollars in US aid for poverty-wracked Haiti, as it struggles to recover from last year's devastating hurricanes.
Clinton, preparing to visit Haiti on Thursday, said the United States was setting aside 20 million dollars for roads and infrastructure, 20 million dollars to ease its debt load and another 15 million dollars in food aid.
She also pledged two million dollars for counter-narcotics efforts under the Merida Initiative, a program launched last year to fight drug trafficking in the Caribbean, Mexico and neighboring countries.
Speaking at an international donors conference in Washington organized by Haiti and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), she outlined efforts to help the Haitian government with its recovery, after the country was flattened by four massive storms in the space of a just a few weeks last year.
"Even the most responsible government in the world cannot prevent a natural disaster," Clinton said.
"The hurricanes didn't just wash away crops and houses, they washed away months of government planning," the chief US diplomat said, adding Haiti faced a 50-million dollar budget deficit that could undermine its plans.
"We will provide 20 million to help Haiti's debt service obligations and to free up other resources," Clinton said.
She invited other donors to help clear up the budget deficit.
She added that the destruction of crops caused by the hurricanes, combined with a rise in global food prices, expose Haitians to the risk of malnutrition.
"Food security is not only a source of suffering, it is a direct threat to economic growth and global stability," Clinton said.
"The United States will provide a 15-million dollar in-kind contribution of food to help Haiti as it rebuilds," she said.
"But that is not an answer. We need to revitalize Haitian agriculture. We need to reforest the upper watersheds," Clinton added.
Clinton said the 20 million dollars for infrastructure in order to help with the flow of goods and services.
Some of it would go toward roads which she called "beyond inadequate," including those needed to build up the tourism industry.
The IDB and Haitian government organizers said the conference will focus the international community's support on priority projects in the Haitian government's economic recovery plan, a two-year program aimed at generating 150,000 jobs."
Also attending the conference is Haitian Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is facing a serious economic crisis that led to bloody food riots last year. Haitian President Rene Preval has forecast a difficult 2009 amid the global financial downturn.
Clinton is due to arrive Thursday in Haiti and travel later the same day to the Dominican Republic -- both countries share the island of Hispaniola -- before heading Friday to Trinidad and Tobago to join President Barack Obama for the Summit of the Americas.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Clinton will meet with Haitian President Rene Preval "to discuss issues of common concern, including stability, security and assistance."
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »"
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i0vtqlmpiKI-5VkFrRKXqINsYsJw"Haiti not ready for financial aid, Ottawa says
Apr 15, 2009 10:15 AM
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Joanna Smith
Ottawa Bureau
OTTAWA – Canada is not ready to give money directly to Haiti, even though the island nation's government has asked for budgetary support from donor countries as part of its plan to reduce poverty.
"(They) recognize that they have to build into their processes more accountability (and) more transparency," International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda told reporters from a conference of international donors to Haiti in Washington yesterday.
More than 30 donor countries and multilateral organizations attended the conference to discuss how to co-ordinate efforts to safeguard recent progress, rebuild infrastructure devastated by four hurricanes last summer that killed about 800 people and caused about $1 billion (U.S.) in damage, and take steps to reduce poverty.
The government of Haiti, which is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, completed and approved the strategy in November 2007 to qualify for $1 billion (U.S.) in multilateral debt relief from the World Bank by the end of this year.
The strategy requires more than $3.8 billion (U.S.) by 2010 and the Haitian government asked donor countries for direct budgetary support to help finance the plan.
Oda said Canada is not ready to consider distributing its aid solely through non-governmental organizations and multilateral organizations such as the United Nations because the Haitian government is still grappling with corruption.
"We are offering help in that area and so consequently as they improve their abilities for accountability and transparency, we will then be considering budgetary support," said Oda.
Oda said much of the programming supported by the Canadian International Development Agency is in line with the long-term strategies of the Haitian government, such as building economic growth in the garment and agricultural sectors to help meet a target of creating more than 150,000 jobs in the next two years.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who travels to Haiti tomorrow, announced $57 million (U.S.) in additional aid yesterday, but Canada did not promise any funds beyond the $555 million it has already committed over five years ending 2011.
"A country like Haiti is not going to be fixed in one year, so therefore we believe that longer-term commitments are as important as one-time commitments," Oda said.
Bernice Robertson, senior analyst for Haiti at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said in an interview from Port-au-Prince that the Haitian government had made a genuine effort to gain donor confidence leading up to the conference by coming up with real priorities, and direct funding is a way for the government to have control over meeting them.
"The government does not always have the capacity to follow up what each organization is doing to ensure that it is compatible with their priorities," said Robertson, who also conceded corruption is an issue.
Robertson said preparing for the hurricane season, which is about three months away, is a good example of where the government would prefer to have more control of resources.
"I know that agencies have been providing assistance in the field, but there have been several indications that they are not properly co-ordinated," Robertson said.
"As well-intentioned as the assistance is given, there needs to be some central force to bring it together and the government did seek this time to gain some form of control in that regard and to provide a better response to the population.""
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/618715
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