Where is Your Money Going?: Examining Post Crisis Aid Relief in Haiti
Emma Rupar, Selena Hussain & Shannon King , UNIV 1200*5
The Earthquake in Haiti
Haiti:
• Between Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean
• West of the Dominican Republic
• More than 55% of Haiti’s population lives on less than $1 a
day
• Only country in Western Hemisphere on UN’s Least
Developed Countries list
• In need of foreign aid to help them out of extreme hunger
and poverty
Earthquake- January 12, 2010:
The earthquake which struck Haiti significantly increased the
number of individuals and their families’ facing extreme hunger.
Over 1.9 million people were food insecure prior to the
earthquake. The natural disaster not only left many injured,
homeless, but also increased those facing hunger to over 3
million.
The catastrophic 7.0 on the Richter scale earthquake destroyed
many homes and the access to clean water resources and food
was limited. This earthquake tore, the already fragile
infrastructure apart, which left Haitians hungry and dependent
on relief for weeks.
The earthquake had and continues to have over 500, 000
Haitians relying on foreign aid.
Two years after the quake, Haiti is still struggling to maintain
their food supply. Constant aid is being given to Haiti with hope
that fewer will go hungry.
The Question
Our research has focused on whether or not the postearthquake aid relief in Haiti was effective in terms of its
influence on extreme hunger? We hope to use the
gathered information to enable us to advocate and work
towards creating a more effective disaster relief model.
Our evidence
Hunger specific problems:
• Haitians import 80% of rice from US- need to focus on bringing in
other resources to deal with the crisis
• International community put too much emphasis on donating food
rather than Haiti's agriculture-based economy
• Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea,
hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
• Clean water source: unimproved: urban: 29% of population, rural:
45% of population, total: 37% of population
• Unmet Food Aid requirements:$ 101,987,574
Current Hunger specific solutions:
• Immediate after earthquake- WFP provides emergency food
assistance to four million Haitians
o Targeted food aid to ~1.6 million of Haiti’s most foodinsecure
• 1.1 million children daily nutritious meal under Haiti’s National School
Meals Program
o Connecting meal programs to local producers of milk,
maize & rice
o January 24, 2012: announced food program to feed 2.2
million school children across the country; "Aba Grangou"
meaning "down with hunger" (enlist 10,000 workers)
• 140,000 people are getting employed through short-term cash and
food-for-work programs
o World Food Programme paying workers in cash, food or
combinations of the two
• Lacking long-term solution
Where is the donated money?
• ½ of the money raised for Haiti is in bank accounts of aid
organizations waiting for the "right" time to spend it
• Congress allocated $1.14 billion for Haiti in 2011 and only $184
million has been put to use
• Aid that has been offered to Haiti is too much for some sources to
absorb
o Doctor’s Without Borders stopped taking donations for
Haiti because they had no where to spend it
o American Red Cross: raise $479 million and has only
“spent or signed agreements to spend” $245 million
Our conclusions
• Lack of control with regards to food distribution (corruption/lack of
cooperation between various relief groups)
• Long-term relief needs to be obtained
• Identify priorities in aid (hunger clearly important so bring in more
food)
Our recommendations
To others-Country/International Agencies/Other Agencies:
• Improve distribution of food aid by getting the NGO/government to work
together and find a uniform strategy all across the country
• Establish (as quickly as possible) infrastructure to make the country selfsustainable (especially with regards to food)
• Governments can shift spending (money sitting in bank meant for building
infrastructure should be used to solve immediate problems-lack of food)
o If not using money, stop collecting
• Spread feeding programs all over country (currently only in urban areas)
• Part of the solution should include improving agriculture and farming
To you- other students:
Inform yourself about situation
Inform yourself about what international aid
agencies are doing to help
Make informed decision about where you
donate
Share what you have learned with others
Advocate for better emergency aid relief
References
Associated Press (2012, January 24). Haiti creates nationwide food program, seeks to feed 2.2 million school children. The Canadian Press. Retrieved
from http://global.factiva.com/ha/default.aspx
Akinyemi, A. (2012, January 12). Haiti embarks on economic recovery plan with help from private sector. The Guardian. Retrieved from
http://global.factiva.com/ha/default.aspx
Carment. D and Samy. Y (2010) Haiti without Tears: Getting Aid Right. Retrieved fromhttp://www4.carleton.ca/cifp/app/serve.php/1297.pdf
Central Intelligence Agency. (2012). The World Factbook: Haiti. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/ha.html
Feed My Starving Children. (Jan 10, 2012). Two years after earthquake, Haitians receive ongoing help from FMSC. Retrieved from
http://www.pitchengine.com/feedmystarvingchildren/two-years-after-earthquake-haitians-receive-ongoing-help-from-fmsc
Grunau, A. (2011, November 7). The business of famine. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved from http://global.factiva.com/ha/default.aspx
Leonard. T (2010) Haiti earthquake: hunger bites a week after disaster. The Telegraph. Retrieved from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/7030190/Haiti-earthquake-hunger-bites-a-week-after-disaster.html
Reitman J. (2011, August 4). Beyond relief: how the world failed Haiti. Rolling Stone. Retrived from http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/howthe-world-failed-haiti-20110804
The Guardian. (2011). Haiti Earthquake aid pledged by country. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/jan/14/haitiquake-aid-pledges-country-donations#data
Timur, S. & Cheviron, N (2011, May 3). World' poorest nations aim to halve their number. Agence France Presse. Retrieved
from http://global.factiva.com/ha/default.aspx
Van Auken, W. (2010, February 9). Haiti: hunger sparks growing protest. World Socialist Website. Retrived from
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/hait-f09.shtml
World Food Programme. (2012). Two years after the earthquake food security is still a high priority for haitians. Retrieved from
http://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/two-years-after-earthquake-food-security-still-high-priority-haitians-0