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NGOs Seek Seat at Table

By Nellie Bristol

International relief and development NGOs working in Haiti are seeking a greater say in how rebuilding progresses as they tally up contributions of more than $2 billion for recovery and reconstruction. The push comes even as the groups come under criticism from some quarters for a history of side stepping the government and failing to support sustainable local systems.

Sam Worthington, president and CEO of the NGO alliance group InterAction, said U.S. NGOs had received more than a billion dollars in donations by the end of March, $500 million of which is slated for reconstruction. European Union donations totaled $880 million with an additional $150 million raised in Canada, he said. "We are committed to investing a tremendous amount of financial and human resources in Haiti, and should be recognized by nation-states as a key partner in the reconstruction effort," he added. InterAction received $330,000 from USAID to establish a "coordination cell" to help groups connect with UN system activities.

In a recent interview, Lindsay Coates, InterAction vice president for policy and communication called the amount of money raised by NGOs "astounding." She said the sum changes the relationship the groups have with donors. "We're more of a partner and less of an implementer," she said.

International NGOs are seeking a voting position on the interim commission for the reconstruction of Haiti, an entity of donors and Haitian officials established to oversee recovery efforts, and the Haitian development authority that will eventually replace the commission. "Given both the significant resources NGOs are contributing to the rebuilding effort and their role as the primary implementers of the post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction activities, NGOs should be included as voting members of these institutions," the groups argued in Principles and Recommendations for International NGO Participation in Haiti Recovery, Reconstruction and Development. The statement was developed by NGO alliances representing groups in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Europe, France, Spain and the U.S.

Foreign aid in Haiti historically has been complicated and controversial. Billions of dollars have been donated to the country over several decades with limited results. Erratic and politically motivated donor support, Haitian government corruption, and lack of coordination by development groups are often cited. With an unprecedented amount in foreign funding now pledged for the country's reconstruction, stakeholders are saying they want things done differently. "The old ways in Haiti have never been good enough in the past and they won't be good enough in the future," said Peter Bell, senior research fellow at Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University. "Everyone is going to have to change, including NGOs."

InterAction's Coates said NGOs are committed to working more cooperatively and transparently. "We need to work with the government in a partnership," she said. The groups support the development of a single country plan through which specific projects can be taken on by different donors and NGOs, she said.

NGO critics say the groups have not supported the government enough in the past. While providing most of Haiti's health care and education, NGOs "have been accountable neither to users or funders," Paul Collier, Oxford professor of economics and former UN special advisor on Haiti, wrote on ForeignPolicy.com He also cited lack of quality assurance and coordination.

Long-time Haiti health provider Paul Farmer of Partners in Health, now UN deputy special envoy to Haiti, voiced a similar message. "The fact that there are more NGOs per capita in Haiti than in any other country in this hemisphere is in part a reflection of need, but also in part a reflection of over-reliance on NGOs quite divorced from public health and public education sectors," he told a Senate panel. He added: "The aid machinery currently at work in Haiti keeps too much for overhead for its operations and still relies overmuch on NGOs or contractors who do not observe the ground rules we would need to follow to build Haiti back better.," he said. New rules should include a demand to create local jobs for Haitians, building infrastructure for sustainable economic growth, and reducing Haiti's dependence on aid, he said.

Those working on the ground reject attempts at greater government authority over their work. "We'd lose control over some very successful programs," said Jeremiah Lowney, president of the Haitian Health Foundation (HHF). The group, which started in Haiti in 1982, regularly supports 250,000. It is now providing health, education and food for an additional 50,000 people who fled earthquake-affected areas to the region where his group works. He says the school it runs now offers two shifts a day to accommodate an influx of children displaced by quake-related destruction.

While aid groups resist greater government authority, many say they crave better coordination with the government and with each other and seek out mechanisms to achieve it. "We really need a leader," said Dianne Jean-Francois, Haiti country director of the Catholic Medical Mission Board, which has been working in the country since 1912. "The Ministry of Health needs to take leadership to facilitate all of the players that are on the ground." Coordination of NGOs is being conducted through the U.N. Souad Lakhdim of the Pan American Health Organization is the U.N. contact for health groups. She said about 300 groups are registered with the system and that it helps them coordinate with other NGOs and with the government. But, she said, there are groups that don't register. "They are not aware of the rules and they just come do whatever they want," she said.

The U.S. attempted to improve NGO coordination through the USAID funded InterAction office. "Given the magnitude of the disaster, USAID saw a need for supporting critical humanitarian coordination efforts including NGO coordination activities to supplement the intentional coordination architecture in Haiti," USAID Legislative and Public Affairs special assistant, Anna Gohmann wrote in an email. "USAID support to InterAction for a NGO coordination cell was intended to provide guidance and an advocacy forum to both international and national NGOs and to facilitate access for new agencies not familiar with existing international coordination structures." InterAction worked with the Switzerland-based International Council of Voluntary Agencies in the effort to facilitate contact with groups beyond InterAction's U.S. NGO members.

 Nellie Bristol is a freelance journalist, specializing in health policy.