Major Aid Organizations "Duped Donors" and "Failed Haiti" Group Charges

"Cholera should not be spreading in Haiti."

The Disaster Accountability Project (DAP) released an online petition today, targeting leaders of major disaster relief and aid organizations for failing to do more to prevent the cholera outbreak in Haiti ten months after a devastating earthquake killed up to 300,000 and left 1.5 million homeless. Major relief organizations raised billions of dollars, while telling the public that their relief efforts included water and sanitation work. With half of the funds raised still in the bank, DAP says that aid organizations failed to use the funds with the same urgency conveyed to donors, and that a cholera epidemic was avoidable.

Executive Director Ben Smilowitz says the failure of aid organizations to respond quickly to the epidemic is different from donor nations promising aid that never materialized.

"Donors have been duped. They generously donated in response to urgent appeals to save lives and help the people of Haiti after the devastating earthquake. Now, after billions in cash was raised, earthquake survivors are dying of cholera because conditions are so poor and the donated money is sitting in the bank. This is not what donors had in mind and it underscores the importance of transparency and accountability in relief and aid situations," Smilowitz said yesterday in a phone interview.

The petition targets the leadership of major aid organizations by name, accusing them of "not doing their jobs" and allowing the epidemic to become a major threat. Quoting the Chronicle of Philanthropy, DAP named major charities involved in sanitation and water projects.

Each of these organizations stated that they worked on Water and Sanitation after the Haiti earthquake. As of July 2010 - six months after the Haiti earthquake, American Red Cross raised $464 million and spent $117 million; Catholic Relief Services raised $140.8 million and spent $30.6 million; Oxfam America raised $29 million and spent $11 million; Salvation Army raised $20.5 million and spent $6.8 million; Food for the Poor raised $20.5 million and spent $10.7 million; Mercy Corps raised $14.9 million and spent almost $2.9 million; International Medical Corps raised $13 million and spent $4.5 million. World Vision raised $192 million worldwide and spent $56 million worldwide and CARE raised $36.5 million worldwide and spent $9.6 million worldwide.

When asked about the numbers, Smilowitz said, "These groups try to make their numbers look as impressive as possible. The bottom line is that aggregate numbers tell you very little about what an organization is actually doing on the ground. Programmatic oversight is almost non-existent."

"The international community and Haitian government failed to sufficiently invest in clean water and sanitation after the quake. Now, living conditions are so deplorable and infrastructure so poor, the situation is ripe for the cholera epidemic. The cholera death toll is expected to soar into the thousands," the DAP petition says.

The petition also quotes World Health Organization (WHO) documents which say cholera outbreaks are "closely linked to inadequate environmental management" and that "typical at-risk areas include peri-urban slums, where basic infrastructure is not available, as well as camps for internally displaced people or refugees, where minimum requirements of clean water and sanitation are not met."

Pan American Health Organization epidemiologists have said the disease has not peaked and will likely worsen and spread. 270,000 may be affected in the coming years.

Tarp camps for Haitians displaced by the earthquake lack sanitation facilities and many do not have clean water.

On November 17, the Ministère de la Sante Publique et de la Population (MSPP) reported that the cumulative number of hospital admissions and deaths due to cholera as of November 15 as 18,382 and 1,110, respectively.

Six months after the Haiti earthquake, Disaster Accountability Project released a report detailing a "shocking lack of transparency" in Haiti relief operations.

The Disaster Accountability Project (DAP) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving disaster management systems through policy research and advocacy, promoting transparency and engaging citizens to become more involved in preparedness and relief, and helping to ensure that people know what is happening on the ground during a disaster.

DAP was founded in 2007 in reaction to the response to Hurricane Katrina.

A toll-free hotline (866-9-TIP-DAP) is available as a public service for disaster survivors, workers and volunteers to report critical gaps in disaster prevention, response, relief, and recovery services or planning.

 

 

 

Follow Georgianne Nienaber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nienaber

Comments

[Fact-based Journalism]

07:48 PM on 12/16/2010

I urge readers who are interested in Haiti and NGO accountabi­lity, to consult evidence-b­ased, credible assessment­s. Comments and posts that accuse internatio­nal humanitari­an organizati­ons of lack of transparen­cy present few actual facts or hard evidence whatsoever to support the accusation­. Anecdotal observatio­ns are not very persuasive­.

I urge anyone reading this who is committed to helping make a difference to the lives of earthquake survivors to consult a range of accredited international journalists with track record of reporting on humanitarian issues fairly -- Deborah Sontag and Jeffrey Gettleman of NY Times, NPR, BBC World Service, The Economist, Guardian. And to assess the major NGOs working in Haiti by consulting credible evaluation­s of NGO finances, expenditur­es, and impact on 1) Charity Navigator 2) Better Business Bureau and 3) the HUMANITARI­AN ACCOUNTABI­LITY PROJECT. All of these sources will give you info based on detailed audits--an­d access to 990s, salaries of top executives­, total income raised, percentage spent on programs, percentage spent on admin and fundraisin­g.

NGOs are not the problem. They are the ones working day in and day out in Port-au-Pr­ince, DRC, Chad, Sudan, Afghanista­n, on the frontlines of the toughest places on earth, to meet people's basic survival needs. An internatio­nal non-profit must spend money on overhead and fundraisin­g in order to have the high-calib­er staff and funds required to deliver a response at scale.

[Georgianne Nienaber]

05:57 PM on 12/21/2010

Here is a video from a Haitian grassroots organization, reporting on the cause/effect of lack of sanitation on the cholera epidemic. It is an excellent overview of the situation on the ground there and what is needed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gri4jsdpapw

[Bob Bristow]

01:15 AM on 11/30/2010

Does anyone find it a coincidence that the American Red Cross announced today an additional $2 million “investment” in Haiti's cholera outbreak? Here’s the math: the American Red Cross raised close to $500 million from a generous public to address the immediate needs of the people in Haiti and to alleviate human suffering as a result of the earthquake. To date, and almost 11 months later, less than $250,000 has been “invested” in the Haiti people and now thousands of people are dying of cholera. Should we be impressed that the Red Cross has invested a total of $3.3 million in the treatment of a disease that was by all accounts totally preventable? Are we expected to be grateful to the Red Cross for shipping 5,000 cots to Haiti so that the cholera stricken Haitian people can die in comfort? Is this what we had in mind when we donated to the American Red Cross to alleviate human suffering following the earthquake almost a year ago? The Haitian government is an easy scapegoat but they are not solely to blame for this shameful neglect of the Haitian people post-disaster. Perhaps a more productive approach would be to investigate how the American Red Cross, an internationally recognized NGO with a $30 million deficit just a year ago, found the resources to provide bonuses to all employees who reached fundraising goals? My math may be off but something is not right at the American Red Cross.

[Georgianne Nienaber]

01:15 PM on 11/30/2010

You might find this article by Paul Farmer in "Foreign Policy" to be very enlightening.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/29/5_lessons_from_haitis_disaster?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4cf4428bd8fce52e,0

[Bob Bristow]

11:09 PM on 11/30/2010

Mr. Bristow needs to check his facts. I receive regular updates from the American Red Cross and they are the only organization in Haiti really making a difference. They own a hospital ship off the coast of Haiti providing free medical care and surgeries; building homes for all of the displaced Haitian people; providing three hot meals a day to the victims of the earthquake; operating hospitals and clinics; providing doctors and medical personnel; dispensing needed medication; re-building schools for the children; giving debit cards to the victims; providing security and protection for the people living in the tent cities; providing hygiene kits and bottled water to everyone in need; and cleaning up the debris left over from the earthquake. This is why I continue to reply every time I receive a letter from the Red Cross asking for more money to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Great job Red Cross and thank goodness you are there for the Haitian people!

[Bob Bristow]

11:43 PM on 11/30/2010

When our First Lady, Michelle Obama, advocated on behalf of the Red Cross and support for Haiti, I knew that my donation would be well spent. She must be very proud of the American Red Cross and the incredible progress they have made to alleviate the human suffering in Haiti.

[rolfmn]

07:15 PM on 11/24/2010

Thanks for a very timely, informative article. It is not surprising that you are getting such vehement responses from the NGO community, esp. Food For the Poor. Third world relief organizations are Big Business, and rely on good PR to keep the funds coming. It is imperative that all of these corporations provide easily understood but complete info to the donating public, showing the % of donations that actually end up on the ground in a useful form, not spent in fundraising , executive salaries , mass mailings etc. While there are absolutely many well meaning individuals and NGO's doing their best in a very difficult setting, I have been to post-quake Haiti and there is simply no way that even a small portion of donations have reached the suffering people. Most of the displaced families are still living in tattered low-end blue tarps that can be purchased at Home Depot for 8-12 dollars. I have also been to Africa several times as a volunteer physician, and am always shocked that virtually ALL of the American NGO's (working for the larger non-profits) are driving vehicles that are far more expensive than any car/truck that I have ever owned. Keep holding their feet to the fire!

[Fact-based Journalism]

06:07 PM on 12/16/2010

I urge readers who are interested in Haiti and NGO accountability, to consult evidence-based, credible assessments. These posts that accuse international humanitarian organizations of lack of transparency present no actual facts or hard evidence whatsoever to support the accusation. Anecdotal observations are not very persuasive. The fact is that land tenure issues and land rights prevent NGOs,UN and government from providing long-term shelter in Haiti. In many of the places in which NGOs work in Africa, there are bad roads or no roads, extreme terrain. Vehicles must be tough and mulit-purpose. No, they aren't cheap.

I urge anyone reading this who is committed to helping make a difference to the lives of earthquake survivors to assess the major NGOs working in Haiti by consulting credible evaluations of NGO finances, expenditures, and impact on 1) Charity Navigator 2) Better Business Bureau and 3) the HUMANITARIAN ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT. All of these sources will give you info based on detailed audits--and access to 990s, salaries of top executives, total income raised, percentage spent on programs, percentage spent on admin and fundraising.

NGOs are not the problem. They are the ones working day in and day out in Port-au-Prince, DRC, Chad, Sudan, Afghanistan, on the frontlines of the toughest places on earth, to meet people's basic survival needs. An international non-profit must spend money on overhead and fundraising in order to have the high-caliber staff and funds required to deliver a rapid, quality response.

[Diplomacy]

08:37 PM on 11/23/2010

The sad part about this is at the 6-month mark when the media screamed: Where's the MONEY? They intimated CORRUPTION and let the Haitian Government take the fall for it.

When in fact, the Haitian Government never received the monies, not from the Donor countries because that goes to the "Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission" who is in charge of donations & they Haitian people didn't get the aid donated to the NGO's & Relief Organizations.

One word: CRIMINAL. This needs to be made "Front Page" news.

[Diplomacy]

07:56 PM on 11/23/2010

Georgianne, hope you are paying attention to these blogs because the CEO's of the NGO are responding indirectly.

[Georgianne Nienaber]

09:54 PM on 11/23/2010

Diplomacy. Thank you for your attention to this. I am not really tracking comments other than what I see here. I guess I think my focus should be the truth of what is a happening on the ground..which is nothing to speak of in terms of relief. I go back in January...if not sooner...things have only gotten worse since last January. We will see. I am listening to the Haitian people. They know the truth.

[Diplomacy]

12:23 AM on 11/24/2010

Georgianne

Here is the Cholera Haiti Health Cluster Bulletin from today & it not good.

http://new.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4404&Itemid=3487

Cholera has spread to all 10 Departments in Haiti, that is all of the country.

Medicins Sans Frontieres was ringing the "alarm bells" 3 days ago saying it is time for action and not meetings.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11802488

PAHO Reported Numbers of "people" for today:

60,240 Hospital Visits
25,248 Hospitalizations
1,415 Deaths

PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) Press Briefing:

http://new.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4487&Itemid=1926

Keep listening to the Haitian people, you are right, they'll tell you the truth.

[FoodForThePoor]

01:49 PM on 11/22/2010

Official Food For The Poor statement on Ms. Nienaber's article:

The $20.5 million Food For The Poor raised for Haiti emergency earthquake relief has been spent entirely on those efforts by the end of September. The funds were used for purchasing food and other critical items that we could not get donated, as well as for shipping containers of relief to the country. Some of the relief money went toward building emergency sanitation facilities, as well as providing clean water sources.

As of mid-November, we have sent 1,287 containers valued at $175 million. These containers have included food, water, water treatment systems, medicines, building supplies, tools, boots, and hygiene kits.

“There is a great deal of opinion and misinformation about how aid money is being spent – or not spent – in Haiti. While we cannot speak for other organizations, we can say with full transparency that if donors have entrusted Food For The Poor with money to be used in Haiti, it has gone to that country, and it has gone without delay,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “It is simply wrong to use outdated figures and lump all aid organizations into one pile without doing the necessary research and reporting.”

[BENatDAP]

08:12 PM on 11/22/2010

It is great that Food For The Poor feels the organization is accountable to its donors and the survivors of the earthquake.

Having just spent some time looking at the Food For The Poor website, I could not find detailed facts about what Food For The Poor did last week, the week before, or the week before that. Food For The Poor isn't alone. Transparency has been lacking in most aid organizations since the earthquake hit ten months ago. This does not necessarily reflect on the effectiveness of Food For The Poor's work, but it does make these questions all the more relevant.

Food For The Poor was included in the Petition below because the organization raised at least $20 million since the earthquake and claimed to work on water and sanitation projects. After six months, a little over half of what was raised was spent. Those numbers are not outdated, they reflect the speed/urgency of how donations were spent. The petition questions why, after billions of dollars donated, conditions are so bad that cholera is such a threat.

Cholera can thrive when minimum requirements of clean water/sanitation are not met. If detailed, regular, and factual information is not available about what organizations are doing on the ground, it seems logical that tough questions should be asked.

If organizations are truly working together, why couldn't they collectively prevent cholera with the billions raised?

http://www.change.org/disasteraccountability/petitions/view/we_donated_to_haiti_relief_and_were_angry

[FoodForThePoor]

01:44 PM on 11/24/2010

Ben:

Please follow the link below to view a press release issued today. It provides detailed facts about what Food For The Poor has done to provide relief to post-earthquake Haiti. Contrary to some reports, Food For The Poor never withheld funds for Haiti. The $20.5 million Food For The Poor raised for emergency Haiti earthquake relief had been spent entirely on those efforts by the end of September. As of mid-November, Food For The Poor has sent 1,287 containers valued at $175 million in relief to help the people in Haiti. These containers included food, water, and water filtration systems, medicines, building supplies, tools, boots and hygiene kits in response to the cholera.

Rather than hoarding funds -- as has been alleged -- Food For The Poor employees are doing everything in their power to help the people of Haiti.

http://www.foodforthepoor.org/newsroom/news/relief-for-haiti/relief-for-haiti.html

-Megan@FFP

[Robert David Steele]

09:09 PM on 11/20/2010

This is a wonderful report that really helps add meat to the long-standing suspicions of many of us that the aid agencies (including Clinton-Bush Foundations) are basically running a scam on the public. Cross-posted to Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog into the Haiti Rolling Update. We predicted the epidemic in January of this year when the earthquake first happened and the US Government response, led by the US SOUTHERN COMMAND's witness commander and severely deficient intelligence section, was to send in troops and fail to organize a rescue effort conscious of the impending rainy season and the urgent need to reconstruct solid structures and sanitation infrastructure before that time. Rolling update is at the below URL:

http://www.phibetaiota.net/2010/11/journal-haiti-rolling-update/

[Georgianne Nienaber]

09:13 PM on 11/20/2010

Thanks, Robert, for the cross-post.

[sweetiebird]

12:54 PM on 11/20/2010

NGOs have raised funds by sending out solicitations stating that the moneys are needed for Haitian relief efforts. Unfortunately, donors responding to these solicitations do not specifically earmark the funds for Haitian relief work. Therefore, the NGOs are free to use the funds as they see fit. Thus, they can use them to pay executive salaries which in some cases are obscene because the executives receive six and seven figure salaries plus benefits that can include free-housing and cars, life and health insurance benefits and pensions, while in-country workers are paid far less, which is justified by the statement that they are paid in accordance with the going-rates in their native countries. They can also use the funds for administrative costs. Sometimes the funds are used to pay for other lesser known aid projects that are not as glamorous as those in the solicitation.

This disconnect was highlighted when the American Red Cross was found to have used funds collected in excess of its needs for 9/11 for administrative costs, executive salaries and other projects, and held accountable for this practice. Subsequently some non-profits made reference to this practice in their solicitations.

Unfortunately, non-profits have now gone back to business as usual. The funds that they collect are not always flowing to the projects for which they are collected as illustrated in Haiti. Until better mechanisms are in place to monitor their behavior, either government or private, funds will continue to be diverted elsewhere.

[Diplomacy]

01:53 PM on 11/20/2010

Charities that use this "practice" should have their "Tax Exempt Status" removed and donors to these "corrupt" organizations will not receive a tax benefit.

Donate to Doctors Without Borders, they do EXCELLENT work.

[ajsandq]

06:04 AM on 11/20/2010

To blame this mess on the charities trying to help is nonsense and to me just seems really wrong. Haiti is a mess of a country whicj had poor sanitiation and infrastructure prior to the earthquake, there are over a million displaced people in Haiti, my guess is the sheer quantity of people and terrible starting conditions are making it difficult for aid organizations to get much done beyond the basics like food, water and basic medical care to the masses... 1.3 million people is a lot of people. Could more be getting done, yes, would it be smart for an orgaization to blow all of is donations in the first couple months when they know they are in for a long stay, not so much. It is a sad situation but to blame the only people there trying to help is a cheapshot.

[Nancy Rice]

02:17 PM on 12/07/2010

And to make clean water available for washing hands and other more important tasks is not seen as a necessity that any of these organizations could take on? Really it is criminal that there is no apparent attempt at making these basic necessities available - there has been time enough. And organizations enough. And money enough.

[Fact-based Journalism]

06:32 PM on 12/16/2010

Agreed--it's inaccurate, and easy to stand on the sidelines and criticize the efforts of those working to improve the lives of disaster victims. Is it bad to provide therapeutic care to malnourished children? Is it bad to provide health services to pregant women and mothers, and provide emergency shelter until longer-term solutions can be delivered? More people in Port-au-Prince have access to clean water now than did before the earthquake. That is a fact. NGOs are saving lives. That is a fact. The earthquake was a megadisaster in an already devastated country--the path to recovery will be slow and bumpy. NGOs cannot guarantee recovery in a year--adn they can't do it alone. And success is not a guarantee. But they are down there making the effort and they are making a huge difference.

[Diplomacy]

01:25 AM on 11/20/2010

Part Two:

The fact that this population has been left post-earthquake like SITTING DUCKS in camps under tarps & tents during this "Hurricane Season" is INEXCUSABLE. Thank the Lord that Mother Nature was kind to them this season. "Hurricane Season 2010" officially ends November 30th, and work needs to begin on construction of COMMUNITY HURRICANE SHELTERS with WATER and TOILETS throughout this country for next "Hurricane Season" ... and beyond. WORK needs to begin NOW.

[Georgianne Nienaber]

08:39 AM on 11/20/2010

Having spent a lot of time in the rural camps as well as in Port-au-Prince and Cite Soleil, I absolutely cannot echo you loud enough, Diplomacy.

[Diplomacy]

01:18 AM on 11/20/2010

Part One:

I cannot believe that this situation in HAITI has been allowed to escalate to yet another CRISIS that will last for years. My suspicion is that it's come down to the UN doing more harm than good with now the "transplantation" of DISEASE that has not been seen in HAITI for DECADES.

This is a SHAME on our efforts to help this Island Nation. POTABLE WATER & SANITATION are BASIC HUMAN NEEDS & it is a KNOWN FACT that provision of these TWO basic needs is paramount in PREVENTION of DISEASES like CHOLERA & TYPHOID.

It simply amazes me that we can ship OIL all around the WORLD with worldwide shipping lanes crowded with tankers on ALL oceans on this planet. Is it too much to expect that a couple of tankers, some philanthropist shipping MOGULS might see fit to make available to transport CLEAN POTABLE WATER to this population? Their rivers are POLLUTED with BACTERIA, the OCEAN is salty, what are they do do?

The International community needs to make available as many PORTABLE WATER PURIFICATION & DESALINATION UNITS and PORTABLE SANITATION UNITS ASAP as a short-term EMERGENCY PLAN.

For the LONG TERM, architects, planners, government the UN, Donor countries need to look at IMMEDIATELY constructing permanent DESALINATION PLANTS & SANITATION PLANTS for the long term. Honestly, this is NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. There are lots of Caribbean Island Nations with this EXPERTISE & TECHNOLOGY.

[Diplomacy]

01:17 AM on 11/20/2010

This is a deplorable situation and these charities should lose their "Charitable Status". Keep up the good work Georgianne, of reporting, and everyone who donated to these organizations should be on the phone on Monday to these organizations holding them accountable.

[Bernique]

10:06 PM on 11/19/2010

As I watch Democracy Now with Amy Goodman, week after week, it is clear that very little money has reached Haiti, despite major donations from the world over. It's as if Haiti is an example from "the authorities" that "little people" do not count, AT ALL. For shame, neo-cons, for shame. If you ever find yourselves in the same circumstances, may you suffer the fate your neglect has brought to the helpless and poor of Haiti. Ideology is not something you can eat or drink for survival.

[Dorothy Smith Pearce]

04:55 PM on 11/19/2010

I am an American living in Haiti caring for sick children. I don't know what went wrong with the NGOs, the big charities, but something is definitely wrong. So much has been said, so much credit publicly taken, but so little actually done. The roads are overcrowded with vehicles bearing insignias of NGOs, luxury house and car rentals are scarce, prices are up. The UN is building everywhere but only for themselves. The Haitian government is partially to blame because of trying to skim most of the money for personal gain, without doubt, but the rest???? Large charities are big businesses and they are failing in their missions. They have forgotten that all of us donors expected them to help the poor and wounded, not pay bigger salaries and provide greater perks for their own employees.

[Georgianne Nienaber]

05:03 PM on 11/19/2010

Dorothy,
It is good to get commentary from the ground in Haiti. i just returned to Florida and I know you are all facing great difficulty there. Stay well and safe.

[Bernique]

10:09 PM on 11/19/2010

Thank you, Dorothy, for telling it like it is, and for all you're doing in such dire circumstances.

[Maria Garriga]

04:14 PM on 11/19/2010

We need more accountability from disaster relief organizations.