There are a number of accusations about the Red Cross' lack of transparency when it comes to the relief effort in Haiti.
I think the Haitian people have spoken clearly through the PDNA process, which included town meetings all over Haiti.
They want THEIR government to be consulted in the spending of money on their nation, and they want their government to be accountable to the voter people of Haiti.
However, this process needs to continue. The actual #s of Haitians, who got to participate in the meetings, were a microscopic fraction of the whole.
I believe the Red Cross, and many other NGOs, are between a rock and a hard place here.
While an astronomical amount of money was pledged, donated, and actually delivered, it is not enough money to
buy the land, that is safe from flooding etc. to relocate the people to;
build there enough for all victims that is safe from hurricanes and quakes;
provide them with basics for survival ... water food medical sanitation etc.
fix up their environment, so they no longer at such risk of landslides, and their farming become productive
rebuild their economy so that the massive unemployment (90%?) can be turned around, and the nation begin to stand on its own feet and participate in the community of nations
Donor Nations, via the UN, pledged in excess of $ 11 billion to rebuild Haiti, but not one penny of that has been delivered yet, and none of it is for protecting the people of Haiti from the next Hurricane Season, or more immediate needs.
I believe what is needed includes:
Vastly superior communication with the people of Haiti, because the current misinformation and lack of information is breeding ground for civil unrest;
Vastly superior communication of funding needs, with flexibility so that for example, if funding is needed to pay Haitians to clear drainage canals, or to renew a contract for trucks to deliver water, we don't have to wait 3 months to see it materialize because the money is available, but has been budgeted for something less urgent.
Gov of Haiti enact some rulings about human rights for the displaced, and an appeal process for people who are asked to pay what they think are bribes to be able to bring in humanitarian aid.
http://www.redcross.org/www-files/Documents/pdf/international/Haiti/HaitiEarthquake_ThreeMonthReport.pdf
BIM_LOD_Owner_Relationships_Tiny.ppt
INTOSI_Audit_Workplan_1946211.pdf
Haiti is on a collision course with additional crises. There are many challenges with lots of talk but little or no action yet, reported by the mainstream media. I think the info in the UN NGO clusters is a great window into what's happening on the ground in Haiti, that is failing to be communicated to the people of Haiti, and thus providing fuel for Civil Unrest.
Hurricane Shelters in time for Hurricane Season
Numerous relief operations halting because funds ran out
Transition from Aid Dependency to Productive Economy where GoH is calling for the people to get there via Cold Turkey (stop distribution of basic necessities to homeless jobless individuals)
Mass Vaccinations are under way, concurrent with a steady rise in various diseases associated with sanitation not yet fully repaired, combined with rainy season flooding camps etc.
As we have seen in news stories I posted to HEDR-CA (and they fall off into LI "archives"), corruption is not exclusively the province of the GoH, or other nations where there is humanitarian effort. It is found across the spectrum, also including UN military, UN personnel, NGO personnel, Church groups, land owners, private corporations, foreign government actors, the very structure of how the aid is delivered. Solutions are at risk of perpetuating corruption, if they are designed by people who think all the corruption is in leaders of a government, or employees of a government, in denial that it is a weakness of human character which can occur anywhere.
In the current structure, NGO's can only deliver aid some place with the permission of:
GoH border personnel (can demand bribes before cargo enter nation)
GoH national government (weak, just tell them what you plan)
GoH local government (can prohibit certain types of aid to certain types of people)
UN military which has declared some zones "red" (don't help anyone there)
Gangs in opposition to GoH & the UN forces (relief workers get security escort)
Private owners of the land on which the victims are to be served (may need bribes before relief is delivered)
Here is map, from Red Cross report on WHERE in Haiti the money was spent, as of reports to date.
http://www.redcross.org/haiti
Symbols on the map show the type of aid given where.
The UN has been pushing identification of camps with a system of SSID (Camp id assigned by UN) P-code (like a zip code in Haiti), but this is a recent change. Previously different efforts promoted GPS coordinates and Longitude Latitude (occasionally included Elevation), so because of transition in what the UN calls for, and quality of communicating the latest requirements, different map systems have inconsistent ways to correlate the data.
Your grievance is shared by many people, but the information is out there. I suspect part of the problem is news media stories that fail to give good links to information provided by the Red Cross, failure of the Red Cross to have good links on their own pages to information people are looking for, and the explosion of different kinds of software needed to access all the relevant data.
The people of Haiti need to have decent news media that can reach them where 1st world infrastructure like cell phones and Internet wi fi has not yet been brought up. The Red Cross is the largest of 10,000 NGOs serving Haiti, where over 90% of them choose not to share good info on what they are doing, with UN, Haiti, or the world in general. The Red Cross is in fact sharing info in periodic reports available from their web sites, and also posted to Relief Web
http://reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/doc106?OpenForm&view=rwlusppublished&po=72&rc=2&offset=0&hits=50&sortby=rwpubdate&sortdirection=descending
to share with the entire humanitarian community.
The UN NGO relief effort is organized into industry clusters.
http://oneresponse.info/Disasters/Haiti/Pages/Clusters.aspx
People who drill down into them can find what NGOs are reporting their activity where in Haiti, such as the Red Cross. They are all over the place.
Friday, April 30, 2010
RFA: American Red Cross Haiti Transitional Shelter Programming
RFA: American Red Cross Haiti Transitional Shelter Programming
The American Red Cross is launching a Request for Applications (RFA) to fund up to $30 million dollars in programming for transitional shelters in Haiti. This RFA focuses on the transitional and host family support shelter component of ARC’s assistance program. Please refer to the attached RFA for a more detailed explanation of the goal, scope and expected outcomes.
Due Date: Due to the pending rains and hurricane season, the need to expedite transitional shelter programming is urgent. Applications to this RFA are due on May 7, 2010 10pm EST.
Delivery: Completed applications should be sent to HaitiShelter@usa.redcross.org. Confirmation of receipt will be sent to all applicants.
Questions/Comments: Programmatic questions or comments regarding the RFA should be submitted to HaitiShelter@usa.redcross.org no later than April 30, 2010 5pm EST. A consolidated response will be provided to all applicants.
We request that you distribute this RFA to the participants in the shelter cluster and post it on the cluster website.
American Red Cross Haiti Transitional Shelter RFA 2010.pdf
Annex 1 ARC Haiti Cluster Shelter Technical Guidance.pdf
Annex 2 ARC Haiti Partner Proposal Guidelines.pdf
Annex 3 ARC Haiti Budget template.xls
Annex 4 ARC Haiti Partner Grant Agreement.pdf
Thank you very much,
The American Red Cross, International Services Department
Haiti Assistance Program
The American Red Cross is launching a Request for Applications (RFA) to fund up to $30 million dollars in programming for transitional shelters in Haiti. This RFA focuses on the transitional and host family support shelter component of ARC’s assistance program. Please refer to the attached RFA for a more detailed explanation of the goal, scope and expected outcomes.
Due Date: Due to the pending rains and hurricane season, the need to expedite transitional shelter programming is urgent. Applications to this RFA are due on May 7, 2010 10pm EST.
Delivery: Completed applications should be sent to HaitiShelter@usa.redcross.org. Confirmation of receipt will be sent to all applicants.
Questions/Comments: Programmatic questions or comments regarding the RFA should be submitted to HaitiShelter@usa.redcross.org no later than April 30, 2010 5pm EST. A consolidated response will be provided to all applicants.
We request that you distribute this RFA to the participants in the shelter cluster and post it on the cluster website.
American Red Cross Haiti Transitional Shelter RFA 2010.pdf
Annex 1 ARC Haiti Cluster Shelter Technical Guidance.pdf
Annex 2 ARC Haiti Partner Proposal Guidelines.pdf
Annex 3 ARC Haiti Budget template.xls
Annex 4 ARC Haiti Partner Grant Agreement.pdf
Thank you very much,
The American Red Cross, International Services Department
Haiti Assistance Program
Vector Borne Disease Group Minutes - 4-23-2010
• a reported outbreak of malaria in Grand Goave. .
• National Sentinel Sites still be reporting on suspected cases only, and not confirmed cases.
• CDC/MSPP Quality Assurance study completed data collection. Results in a couple of weeks.
• MENTOR, and previous employees/volunteers recommended by PNCP, are implementing a larval surveillance exercise and are identifying productive containers for aedes larvae.
• WASH reporting format will include larviciding of latrines and small bodies of water as well as environmental management.
• it was confirmed that zones of high transmission (Petit Goave, Grand Goave, Leogane) should be priority for LLINs not already allocated for a specific camp.
• PNCP was at a regional conference for DR and Haiti last week and discussed several plans and strategies:
o May 2010-2012 move towards harmonizing national strategies
o Chloroquine studies to take place
o Evaluate the effectiveness of non-microscopic confirmation (including RDT)
o Continued discussion on the role of primaquine in the treatment of malaria
o G6PD deficiency studies to take place
o Apply policies related to the studies above
o Improve electronic surveillance
o Epidemiological and Entomological study of LLINs
Vector Borne Disease Group Minutes - 23 AVril 2010
Case Management and Epidemic Surveillance:
• Surveillance: there was a reported outbreak of malaria in Grand Goave. The MSPP and Cubans responded with fogging, larviciding and entomological investigation. There may also be increased cases in Petit Goave. Note: surveillance meetings are open for attendance and held at LNSP Mondays and Thursdays at 9:30am.
• NGOs delivering health services that would like to report on increased cases should report to:
• The National Sentinel Sites appear to still be reporting on suspected cases only, and not confirmed cases. Could Aaron from the CDC see if this can be changed?
• Diagnostics: a 1-week training will be organized by LNSP to assist NGOs in developing their microscopic capacity. MENTOR will try to recruit technicians from NGOs to attend and the LNSP will train the technicians at the National Lab. If an NGO has not hired a technician, the LNSP has names of individuals that could be hired by NGOs.
• CDC/MSPP Quality Assurance study completed in terms of data collection
Vector control:
• There is still no confirmation from PAHO on whether or not there is BTi available or whether or not it will be made available for larviciding large bodies of water. The Cubans appear to be using BTi, but its origin was unknown by the group.
• MENTOR and previous employees/volunteers recommended by PNCP are implementing a larval surveillance exercise and are identifying productive containers for aedes larvae.
• It was recommended that Dr. Pierre-Louis of the DPSPE and WASH cluster partners should be in contact regarding fly control.
• Noted that the reporting format for WASH cluster partners will include larviciding of latrines and small bodies of water as well as environmental management.
Prevention:
• LLIN sub-working group met and drafted some guidelines soon to be made available for NGOs to utilize when implementing distribution campaigns. Note that UNICEF’s 400,000 LLINs are expected 20 June. MENTOR’s 30,000 LLINs are expected in the first week of May. Again it was confirmed that zones of high transmission (Petit Goave, Grand Goave, Leogane) should be priority for LLINs not already allocated for a specific camp.
• A meeting is planned in the upcoming week for Pauline from the Hygiene Sub-Cluster and Dr. Pierre-Louis to meet to confirm a package of IEC/BCC materials that can be used by all partners. This meeting is open to all partners interested in attending however the date is not yet confirmed.
Announcements:
• The National Pest Management Association of the USA was invited by the Ministry of Environment to assess this situation in Haiti. They are interested in assisting where they can and will be in-country in the first week of May.
• MENTOR provided information on Vestergaard products, including the ZeroFly, Insecticide treated plastic sheeting, for those interested.
• The PNCP was at a regional conference for DR and Haiti last week and discussed several plans and strategies:
o May 2010-2012 move towards harmonizing national strategies
o Chloroquine studies to take place
o Evaluate the effectiveness of non-microscopic confirmation (including RDT)
o Continued discussion on the role of primaquine in the treatment of malaria
o G6PD deficiency studies to take place
o Apply policies related to the studies above
o Improve electronic surveillance
o Epidemiological and Entomological study of LLINs
• Next VBD meeting will be held in two weeks time on 7 May 2010.
• National Sentinel Sites still be reporting on suspected cases only, and not confirmed cases.
• CDC/MSPP Quality Assurance study completed data collection. Results in a couple of weeks.
• MENTOR, and previous employees/volunteers recommended by PNCP, are implementing a larval surveillance exercise and are identifying productive containers for aedes larvae.
• WASH reporting format will include larviciding of latrines and small bodies of water as well as environmental management.
• it was confirmed that zones of high transmission (Petit Goave, Grand Goave, Leogane) should be priority for LLINs not already allocated for a specific camp.
• PNCP was at a regional conference for DR and Haiti last week and discussed several plans and strategies:
o May 2010-2012 move towards harmonizing national strategies
o Chloroquine studies to take place
o Evaluate the effectiveness of non-microscopic confirmation (including RDT)
o Continued discussion on the role of primaquine in the treatment of malaria
o G6PD deficiency studies to take place
o Apply policies related to the studies above
o Improve electronic surveillance
o Epidemiological and Entomological study of LLINs
Vector Borne Disease Group Minutes - 23 AVril 2010
Case Management and Epidemic Surveillance:
• Surveillance: there was a reported outbreak of malaria in Grand Goave. The MSPP and Cubans responded with fogging, larviciding and entomological investigation. There may also be increased cases in Petit Goave. Note: surveillance meetings are open for attendance and held at LNSP Mondays and Thursdays at 9:30am.
• NGOs delivering health services that would like to report on increased cases should report to:
• The National Sentinel Sites appear to still be reporting on suspected cases only, and not confirmed cases. Could Aaron from the CDC see if this can be changed?
• Diagnostics: a 1-week training will be organized by LNSP to assist NGOs in developing their microscopic capacity. MENTOR will try to recruit technicians from NGOs to attend and the LNSP will train the technicians at the National Lab. If an NGO has not hired a technician, the LNSP has names of individuals that could be hired by NGOs.
• CDC/MSPP Quality Assurance study completed in terms of data collection
Vector control:
• There is still no confirmation from PAHO on whether or not there is BTi available or whether or not it will be made available for larviciding large bodies of water. The Cubans appear to be using BTi, but its origin was unknown by the group.
• MENTOR and previous employees/volunteers recommended by PNCP are implementing a larval surveillance exercise and are identifying productive containers for aedes larvae.
• It was recommended that Dr. Pierre-Louis of the DPSPE and WASH cluster partners should be in contact regarding fly control.
• Noted that the reporting format for WASH cluster partners will include larviciding of latrines and small bodies of water as well as environmental management.
Prevention:
• LLIN sub-working group met and drafted some guidelines soon to be made available for NGOs to utilize when implementing distribution campaigns. Note that UNICEF’s 400,000 LLINs are expected 20 June. MENTOR’s 30,000 LLINs are expected in the first week of May. Again it was confirmed that zones of high transmission (Petit Goave, Grand Goave, Leogane) should be priority for LLINs not already allocated for a specific camp.
• A meeting is planned in the upcoming week for Pauline from the Hygiene Sub-Cluster and Dr. Pierre-Louis to meet to confirm a package of IEC/BCC materials that can be used by all partners. This meeting is open to all partners interested in attending however the date is not yet confirmed.
Announcements:
• The National Pest Management Association of the USA was invited by the Ministry of Environment to assess this situation in Haiti. They are interested in assisting where they can and will be in-country in the first week of May.
• MENTOR provided information on Vestergaard products, including the ZeroFly, Insecticide treated plastic sheeting, for those interested.
• The PNCP was at a regional conference for DR and Haiti last week and discussed several plans and strategies:
o May 2010-2012 move towards harmonizing national strategies
o Chloroquine studies to take place
o Evaluate the effectiveness of non-microscopic confirmation (including RDT)
o Continued discussion on the role of primaquine in the treatment of malaria
o G6PD deficiency studies to take place
o Apply policies related to the studies above
o Improve electronic surveillance
o Epidemiological and Entomological study of LLINs
• Next VBD meeting will be held in two weeks time on 7 May 2010.
4-22-2010 UN launches website to track Haiti aid use
The site, a joint project between the UN Development Programme and the Haitian government, will promote efficient spending while "ensuring transparency and accountability of the use of their funds," a UN statement said.
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/article.php?news_id=22757
"The system tracks the money from pledge to impact," the statement added.
UN Resident Coordinator Nigel Fisher said the project would serve two key constituencies.
"We believe it addresses all the concerns of the international community as to how the funds will be spent, by whom and for what," he said.
"It also provides a portal through which the people of Haiti can monitor use of the funds and hold their elected representatives accountable for how those funds are spent."
This is money pledged by the individual nations. It does not apparently yet include money to non-profits, and by private corporations.
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/article.php?news_id=22757
"The system tracks the money from pledge to impact," the statement added.
UN Resident Coordinator Nigel Fisher said the project would serve two key constituencies.
"We believe it addresses all the concerns of the international community as to how the funds will be spent, by whom and for what," he said.
"It also provides a portal through which the people of Haiti can monitor use of the funds and hold their elected representatives accountable for how those funds are spent."
This is money pledged by the individual nations. It does not apparently yet include money to non-profits, and by private corporations.
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