“This is Oxfam’s final internal investigation report from 2011 into allegations of sexual misconduct and other unacceptable behaviour during Oxfam’s humanitarian response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. We are making this exceptional publication because we want to be as transparent as possible about the decisions we made during this particular investigation and in recognition of […]
Tag Archives: aid
Haiti: The Aid-Industrial Complex
…most of the money has either not yet been spent or has not been efficiently used to rebuild the country… Ilio Durandis, “Haiti’s Aid-Industrial Complex,” Caribbean Journal (5 December 2001) Image: Airmen airdrop relief supplies to Haitians: A Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., C-17 Globemaster III airdrops approximately 14,000 bottles of water and 14,500 Meals, […]
Afghanistan: Aid
The Russians have gone skilfully about the job. Without waiting for specific Afghan requests for aid, they planked down some offers. The Afghans promptly chose just the flashy and low-cost projects the Russians wanted them to: street paving in dusty Kabul, gleaming petroleum tanks, grain silos, bakeries. Most Afghans were impressed by these tangible achievements. […]
Haiti: Rebuilding
Haiti can’t be reconstructed by well-meaning outsiders. Robert B. Zoellick, “How to Rebuild Haiti,” Worldbank.org (February 1, 2010) The process is characterized by a near-total exclusion of Haitian social actors and a weak and non-coordinated participation by representatives of the Haitian state. Mouvements sociaux haïtiens quoted in Beverly Bell and Tory Field, “The Business of Disaster: […]
Haiti: Rebuilding
Recent statistics indicate that there are some 3,000 NGOs in this country of 9 million people or roughly one NGO per 3,000 people, the highest per-capita concentration in the world. Jemima Pierre, Tanya Golash-Boza, and Kevin Alexander Gray, “How to Help Haiti,” The Nation (March 5, 2010) Via Dr. Jemima Pierre It is imperative that […]
Haiti: History
Amid evocations of a desperate people and festering landscape, the media and the “humanitarian” community continue to ignore the history of the island. Without reference to the foreign occupation, intervention, and exploitation that define the Haitian political experience, we cannot appreciate the sinister politics of Clinton and Bush’s promise of “compassion.” Colin Dayan, “Civilizing Haiti,” […]