Where Is Haiti's Bailout?
After the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, Western leaders announced bold blueprints for building a "New Haiti." This reconstruction, they emphasized, would be "Haitian-led," based firmly on the principle of respect for "Haitian sovereignty" and carried out through "full and continued participation" by Haitians, "consistent with the vision of the Haitian people and government." At the March 31 International Donors Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti at the UN headquarters in NYC, nearly 10 billion dollars were pledged
for Haiti's recovery. Nicholas Sarkozy -- the first French president to
visit Haiti since the latter won its independence from French colonial
rule -- proclaimed during his historic February 2010 trip to Port-au-Prince, "International aid must be massive and be there for the long term."
"Now is the time to step up our investment in Haiti," Clinton reiterated
in April at an Inter-American Development Bank meeting in Washington,
D.C. Yet six months after the earthquake, the plan for a "New Future
for Haiti" (a "Haitian-led" effort which is curiously
being funded under World Bank oversight, through a commission whose 20
voting board members include only seven Haitians) seems remote indeed.
A partial index of the West's "humanitarian efforts" in Haiti so far:
- Amount pledged for Haiti's reconstruction over the following 18 months at the March 31 UN conference: $5,300,000,000
- Percentage of this amount that has been paid: 1.9
- Amount of pledged U.S. bilateral search and rescue assistance to Haiti that was delivered in the wake of the earthquake: $0
- Value of the no-bid contract the U.S. government awarded the private prison group GEO in the month after the earthquake:$260,589
- Ratio of U.S. pledges for Haiti's reconstruction to Venezuelan pledges: 1:2
- Value of aid the French government has promised Haiti through pledged contributions to UN agencies, NGOS and the Red Cross: $180 million
- Quantity of this aid that has been delivered: $0
- Cost of the French secretary of state for overseas development's travel via private jet to a conference on aid for Haiti: $143,000
- Estimated number of Haitians who remain homeless after the earthquake: 1,500,000
- Amount that has been collected for Haiti relief by U.S. charities: $1,300,000,000
- Number of Haitians without even tents or tarps for shelter: 232,130
- Haiti's global ranking in terms of the number of NGOs operating in the nation, measured globally on a per-capita-basis: #1
- Haiti's global NGO-per-capita ranking before the earthquake: #1
- Ratio of Haitian-produced rice to U.S.-imported rice consumed in Haiti in 1985: 22:1
- Ratio of Haitian to US-produced rice consumed in Haiti in
2000, 5 years after an IMF structural adjustment program went into
effect reducing rice import tariffs: 1:2 - Value of USAID's current contract with a subsidiary of the
parent company of American Rice Inc., the corporation that is
considered to have most benefited from the demise of Haitian rice
production: $126,000,000 - Value of total French humanitarian assistance to Haiti since the earthquake: $35,956,408
- Estimated value today of the compensation Haiti paid France for lost French slave trade profits after Haiti, a former French slave colony, won independence: $40,000,000,000
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
After the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, Western leaders announced bold blueprints for building a "New Haiti." This reconstruction, they emphasized, would be "Haitian-led," based firmly on the principle of respect for "Haitian sovereignty" and carried out through "full and continued participation" by Haitians, "consistent with the vision of the Haitian people and government." At the March 31 International Donors Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti at the UN headquarters in NYC, nearly 10 billion dollars were pledged
for Haiti's recovery. Nicholas Sarkozy -- the first French president to
visit Haiti since the latter won its independence from French colonial
rule -- proclaimed during his historic February 2010 trip to Port-au-Prince, "International aid must be massive and be there for the long term."
"Now is the time to step up our investment in Haiti," Clinton reiterated
in April at an Inter-American Development Bank meeting in Washington,
D.C. Yet six months after the earthquake, the plan for a "New Future
for Haiti" (a "Haitian-led" effort which is curiously
being funded under World Bank oversight, through a commission whose 20
voting board members include only seven Haitians) seems remote indeed.
A partial index of the West's "humanitarian efforts" in Haiti so far:
- Amount pledged for Haiti's reconstruction over the following 18 months at the March 31 UN conference: $5,300,000,000
- Percentage of this amount that has been paid: 1.9
- Amount of pledged U.S. bilateral search and rescue assistance to Haiti that was delivered in the wake of the earthquake: $0
- Value of the no-bid contract the U.S. government awarded the private prison group GEO in the month after the earthquake:$260,589
- Ratio of U.S. pledges for Haiti's reconstruction to Venezuelan pledges: 1:2
- Value of aid the French government has promised Haiti through pledged contributions to UN agencies, NGOS and the Red Cross: $180 million
- Quantity of this aid that has been delivered: $0
- Cost of the French secretary of state for overseas development's travel via private jet to a conference on aid for Haiti: $143,000
- Estimated number of Haitians who remain homeless after the earthquake: 1,500,000
- Amount that has been collected for Haiti relief by U.S. charities: $1,300,000,000
- Number of Haitians without even tents or tarps for shelter: 232,130
- Haiti's global ranking in terms of the number of NGOs operating in the nation, measured globally on a per-capita-basis: #1
- Haiti's global NGO-per-capita ranking before the earthquake: #1
- Ratio of Haitian-produced rice to U.S.-imported rice consumed in Haiti in 1985: 22:1
- Ratio of Haitian to US-produced rice consumed in Haiti in
2000, 5 years after an IMF structural adjustment program went into
effect reducing rice import tariffs: 1:2 - Value of USAID's current contract with a subsidiary of the
parent company of American Rice Inc., the corporation that is
considered to have most benefited from the demise of Haitian rice
production: $126,000,000 - Value of total French humanitarian assistance to Haiti since the earthquake: $35,956,408
- Estimated value today of the compensation Haiti paid France for lost French slave trade profits after Haiti, a former French slave colony, won independence: $40,000,000,000
After the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, Western leaders announced bold blueprints for building a "New Haiti." This reconstruction, they emphasized, would be "Haitian-led," based firmly on the principle of respect for "Haitian sovereignty" and carried out through "full and continued participation" by Haitians, "consistent with the vision of the Haitian people and government." At the March 31 International Donors Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti at the UN headquarters in NYC, nearly 10 billion dollars were pledged
for Haiti's recovery. Nicholas Sarkozy -- the first French president to
visit Haiti since the latter won its independence from French colonial
rule -- proclaimed during his historic February 2010 trip to Port-au-Prince, "International aid must be massive and be there for the long term."
"Now is the time to step up our investment in Haiti," Clinton reiterated
in April at an Inter-American Development Bank meeting in Washington,
D.C. Yet six months after the earthquake, the plan for a "New Future
for Haiti" (a "Haitian-led" effort which is curiously
being funded under World Bank oversight, through a commission whose 20
voting board members include only seven Haitians) seems remote indeed.
A partial index of the West's "humanitarian efforts" in Haiti so far:
- Amount pledged for Haiti's reconstruction over the following 18 months at the March 31 UN conference: $5,300,000,000
- Percentage of this amount that has been paid: 1.9
- Amount of pledged U.S. bilateral search and rescue assistance to Haiti that was delivered in the wake of the earthquake: $0
- Value of the no-bid contract the U.S. government awarded the private prison group GEO in the month after the earthquake:$260,589
- Ratio of U.S. pledges for Haiti's reconstruction to Venezuelan pledges: 1:2
- Value of aid the French government has promised Haiti through pledged contributions to UN agencies, NGOS and the Red Cross: $180 million
- Quantity of this aid that has been delivered: $0
- Cost of the French secretary of state for overseas development's travel via private jet to a conference on aid for Haiti: $143,000
- Estimated number of Haitians who remain homeless after the earthquake: 1,500,000
- Amount that has been collected for Haiti relief by U.S. charities: $1,300,000,000
- Number of Haitians without even tents or tarps for shelter: 232,130
- Haiti's global ranking in terms of the number of NGOs operating in the nation, measured globally on a per-capita-basis: #1
- Haiti's global NGO-per-capita ranking before the earthquake: #1
- Ratio of Haitian-produced rice to U.S.-imported rice consumed in Haiti in 1985: 22:1
- Ratio of Haitian to US-produced rice consumed in Haiti in
2000, 5 years after an IMF structural adjustment program went into
effect reducing rice import tariffs: 1:2 - Value of USAID's current contract with a subsidiary of the
parent company of American Rice Inc., the corporation that is
considered to have most benefited from the demise of Haitian rice
production: $126,000,000 - Value of total French humanitarian assistance to Haiti since the earthquake: $35,956,408
- Estimated value today of the compensation Haiti paid France for lost French slave trade profits after Haiti, a former French slave colony, won independence: $40,000,000,000