A
new paper from the
Center for Economic and Policy
Research (CEPR) and the Haiti Advocacy
Working Group (HAWG) reviews reports released by the
U.S. State Department on contracts for Haiti aid and
finds significant omissions and deficiencies, including
incomplete data, a failure to link projects and
outcomes, and a failure to adequately identify mistakes
and lessons learned. The State Department reports are
intended to comply with the Assessing Progress in Haiti
Act (APHA), which was signed into law in August 2014.
CEPR and HAWG incorporated Haitian civil society
feedback in their review of these reports.“The Assessing Progress in Haiti Act represents a
significant, bipartisan effort by the U.S. Congress to
shed light on how effectively U.S. taxpayer dollars are
being used to assist Haiti with its ongoing rebuilding
efforts years after its devastating 2010 earthquake,”
CEPR analyst and report coauthor Alexander Main said.
“Unfortunately, while State is releasing some
information, there is still a great need for additional
clarity and detail to obtain the transparency and
accountability that people in both the U.S. and Haiti
deserve.”
“Nearly seven years after the earthquake, much of
the Haitian population still struggles to meet basic
needs; there has been improvement in some sectors, but
key national indicators such as food security and
economic growth have actually worsened,” Jasmine
Huggins, paper coauthor and Senior Policy and Advocacy
Officer for Church World Service, said. “As Haiti
addresses future development challenges in the aftermath
of Hurricane Matthew, it is critically important that we
all understand how past U.S. aid was spent, who
benefitted and what lessons we have learnt from projects
implemented.”
Among the shortfalls that CEPR and HAWG identify:
•
Incomplete information: There is a significant
quantity of missing data at the subprime level,
equivalent to 34% of the $300 million awarded to
subprime partners.
•
No clear links between projects and outcomes: The
report fails to provide information about what
benchmarks and goals have and have not been met at the
project level.
•
No clear picture of who the beneficiaries of U.S.
assistance are.
•
Scant information on U.S. coordination with
Haitian and international entities.
•
No information on non-governmental capacity
building.
•
A failure to identify mistakes and lessons
learned.
CEPR and HAWG also noted:
Haitian [civil society] groups are largely
unaware of the APHA reports, suggesting that USAID and
the State Department have done little to familiarize
groups with the reports. In addition, no part of the
report has been translated into French or Kreyòl,
rendering them inaccessible to the vast majority of
Haitians.
“As organizations that partner with local Haitian
civil society, we continually push the U.S. government
to more and better consultation with Haitians to make
international aid more accountable to the people it is
intended to reach,” noted coauthor Charissa Zehr of the
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office.
The paper’s authors attempted to remedy this by
sharing selections of the State Department reports with
Haitian civil society organizations, and included their
feedback and questions in the CEPR/HAWG review.
The Assessing Progress in Haiti Act’s key
actionable component is its reporting requirement
instructing the U.S. State Department to produce four
annual reports with detailed information on the status
of US aid programs in Haiti. CEPR and HAWG reviewed the
2014 and 2015 reports released by the State Department.
The Haiti Advocacy Working Group is comprised of
international development, faith-based, human rights,
and social justice organizations advocating on issues
related to U.S.-Haiti policy.
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