One Year Later: How Has The UN Helped Haiti?

To commemorate the one year anniversary in Haiti since the devastating earthquake struck and killed over 200,000 people, the UN Secretary-General organized a wreath laying ceremony today and called on the international community to continue financial and structural support for its citizens. This is one of a dozen calls issued by Ban Ki-moon this past year, but many critics of the UN operation say he and his staff are not doing enough. 

Has the UN failed to keep many of the promises made a year ago? For one, the UN monitored election on November 28, 2010 was a chaotic nightmare, causing Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP)  to announce there was no winner and that there would be a thorough investigation to explore why many voting centers did not open for hours and why many voters could not find their polling stations. The current President Rene Preval’s term will expire on February 7, so a decision has to be swiftly made. With no known future leadership, thousands of Haitians are angered by what they see as corruption within the government and a lack of interest in their choice for an effective leader to bring Haiti out of social and economic turmoil.

The UN has also been tasked as the main humanitarian monitoring group through its Organization for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA.) But the UN has been highly criticized for not doing enough to rebuild and reconstruct and to provide efficient aid and medicines to combat the rampant spread of cholera which has plagued the region for several months now. Many critics have accused the over 17,000 NGO’s (Non Governmental Organizations) of trying to profit from the lucrative business of poverty. Over 80 percent of the country’s standard services are provided by the private sector through the aid of NGO’s as the “middleman.” A large portion of funds get funneled in through these groups, who often work on a vertical agenda and rarely cross-fertilize their needs and services with other NGO’s operating in the country. This means aid work to support the needs of Haitians is duplicated, and many other needs are neglected. 

Edmond Mulet, head of the MINUSTAH (the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) has repeatedly stated that the UN has received more than half of the initial 1.5 billion pledged to Haiti in 2010 and that these funds have been “made effective”, so far. The appeal for funds was officially launched by the Secretary-General; the UN Special Envoy for Haiti, Bill Clinton; the Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes; and Ambassador Leo Mérorès of Haiti and over 1.1 billion has been received meeting some 72 percent of supposed costs. But just where has all this money gone? 

Many of the 280,000 houses which collapsed during the earthquake have not been rebuilt. Only 20 percent of the the rubble on the streets of Port Au Prince has been eliminated. Many civilians, over one million, are still forced to live in makeshift housing as they wait for a leader and a decision about their future welfare.

Some local Haitian farmers are saying that cheap food items, like rice, provided by the US and other western governments are eliminating the country’s ability for agricultural re-growth, independence and development. 

The cholera epidemic also remains a rampant problem and many Haitians blame Nepalese UN peacekeepers for bringing the disease into their country. A Swedish diplomat, Claes Hammar, who recently visited the country, said the accusation was “100 percent true. Unfortunately that is the case. It has proved that the cholera came from Nepal. Tests were made and the source was traced to Nepal.” 

The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also reported the strain found in Haiti as “most similar” to strains found in South Asia. The UN However, has cleared all Nepalese officials from blame. Over 3,500 Haitians have perished in recent months as a result of cholera.

Additionally, temporary US visa status expires on January 18 for Haitians with ties and family in America to get out of the country. It is likely many of these Haitians will not be able to meet the deadline.

And some 4000 escaped prisoners are still running loose across the country. These are the most dangerous criminals, ready to enhance lawlessness into an already corrupt and dysfunctional Haitian way of life.