New Report on U.S. Aid to Haiti Finds “Troubling” Lack of Transparency, Effectiveness

“Haitians, U.S. taxpayers unable to verify how U.S. aid funds are being used on the ground”

For Immediate Release: April 3, 2013 Contact: Dan Beeton, 202-239-1460

Natural disasters1 in 2012

In 2012, 310 natural disasters were recorded in the EM-DAT database. They claimed 9,930 lives, affected over 106 million others and caused economic damages of US$138 billion.

There were no mega-disasters in 2012 in terms of human impact.

The largest disaster of 2012 in terms of mortality was Typhoon Bopha in the Philippines that resulted in 1,901 deaths. It was the strongest tropical cyclone on record to hit the southern Philippine island of Mindanao and affected over 6 million persons.

The plan was drafted by the Solomon Islands Government and humanitarian partners and was presented to donors on 7 March. SB$24 million of funding requirements remain unmet. A further SB$30.8 million has been identified for reconstruction activities. While emergency shelter and WASH needs are being met, the costly medium and longer term reconstruction of homes and rehabilitation of water systems will require additional funding.

An estimated $9 billion of public and private funding has been spent on disaster recovery in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. Of that, $2.25 billion in public funding has been disbursed by the United States alone. But despite the large amount of public money involved, it is nearly impossible to track how it has been spent and what has been achieved. The transparency and accountability of US spending in Haiti needs to be improved. Here we suggest three steps to do so: Require prime contractors to report subcontracting data Adopt the International Aid Transparency Initiative

In early 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made Haiti a foreign policy priority and committed to working to change the way we partnered with Haiti. For more than three and a half years, the U.S. Government (USG) has worked closely to be a good partner to the government and people of Haiti. After the devastating earthquake of 2010, the U.S. worked to support the Government of Haiti (GOH) and meet the most immediate life-saving and life-sustaining needs on the ground. For some time the U.S.

Ayudando a Guatemala luego del sismo

La mañana del 7 de noviembre, un sismo de magnitud 7,2 afectó la costa pacífica de Guatemala, al sur de la frontera con México. El movimiento intenso afectó a más de 3 millones de personas, causó 44 muertes y dañó o destruyó más de 17.000 viviendas y edificio públicos, incluyendo iglesias, clínicas y escuelas.

El sismo también interrumpió los servicios públicos y causó deslaves que bloquearon las rutas de transportación.

A thought-provoking new report notes that “disasters with very large impacts happen very rarely... This means that a much greater proportion of the risk is associated with rare events.” Early warning and disaster readiness are therefore critical.

Liz Hummer
Online Content Manager

Mercy Corps is providing emergency food for families affected by the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck Guatemala last week. After days of continued tremors, teams are also rapidly assessing damages and further needs in the hardest hit departments of San Marcos and Quetzaltenango along the western coast of the country.

HAITI

Increase in cholera cases

Detected by the Alert and Response System in the North, Northeast and Center Departments, around 200 new cases within the past two days, distributed in different villages.

The increase on cholera cases had been also identified in the South, Southeast, Nippes, Artibonite and West Departments after the Hurricane Sandy

Floods 8-9 November