At last, more critical voices are beginning to be heard from NGO's and activists, even as the emergency program that was so screwed up when it was needed most has been restructured. The questions I and a few others were raising about this disaster in the disaster have been finally acknowledged by shifts in procedure, in practice, but not with any admissions of culpability.
A recent visit by black personalities including Jesse Jackson, Harry Belafonte, and Danny Glover produced a scathing report endorsed by Haitian NGO's arguing that the security emphasis was misplaced. That emphasis was part of initiative brought to Haiti by Secretary of State Clinton who recommended that the government impose an emergency decree allowing the imposition of curfews and martial law, which she said the US military would be willing to implement.
During her visit, the airport was shut down to all relief flights for 3 hours. Of course, officials cited fears of looting.
They know that the people's patience is not open ended especially when stomachs rumble and children cry. Even the dogs are reportedly starving.
John Kerry's Senate committee held hearings on what to do on February 28. They heard from a prominent Haitian public health official, a consultant for the Pentagon contracting Rand Corporation, and Dr. Paul Farmer who has been in and out of Haiti for 30 years and created the universally respected Partners in Health organization. He is now a deputy UN envoy there.
All of these witnesses made important points about how the aid effort will take a long time--years--cost billions, and must not be run by the US military or even the volunteer-driven NGO's of which Haiti has an abundance. The UN must become the central player--it actually has a team of disaster relief specialists, including air traffic controllers.
Farmer was very strong in urging more resources and support for Haiti's government. He challenged the conventional "wisdom" which says the government is corrupt, noting how it has been under-resourced and unsupported. He called for hiring Haitians at decent wages to provide services and rebuild with locals instead of outsourcing or relying on foreign contractors.
These jobs will bring much needed economic security. He also said bluntly, no doubt based on years of experience in the field, that the international NGO's also need to be supervised and held to a code of conduct with higher ethical and professional standards and be accountable to a coordinated plan. Those that won't play by the rules should not be allowed to stay, he added, drawing on his experience in Africa.
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