PRESS RELEASE: May 2, 2016
CONTACT: Claire Gilbert, Grassroots International, (617) 524-1400
More than 60 Haitian and US Organizations Demand USDA Peanut Plan Be Cancelled
Over 60 US and Haitian organizations have joined a letter calling for an immediate cancellation of recent plans announced by the United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, to ship 500 metric tons of peanuts to Haiti under its “Stocks for Food” program. Read More
In March 2015, HAWG hosted Haiti for Whom to discuss current issues in Haiti, such as aid accountability, food insecurity, and economic growth, among others.
Last July, in a stirring and rare demonstration of bipartisanship, the U.S. House and the Senate passed a bill dedicated to increasing transparency and accountability around the billions of dollars of U.S. government funds allocated to assistance to Haiti since the January 2010 earthquake. On August 8, President Obama signed the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act and the clock began ticking down for the State Department to produce the first of several comprehensive reports detailing the government’s assistance efforts, as mandated by the new law. Read More
Number of people killed in the earthquake in 2010: over 217,300
Minimum number of Haitians killed by the U.N.–caused cholera epidemic: 8,774
Number of years it took after the introduction of cholera for the international community to hold a donor conference to raise funds for the cholera response: 4
Amount pledged for cholera eradication: $50 million
Amount needed: $2.2 billion
Read more: http://cepr.net/blogs/haiti-relief-and-reconstruction-watch/haiti-by-the-numbers-five-years-later?highlight=WyJoYWl0aSIsImhhaXRpJ3MiLCInaGFpdGkiXQ== Read More
More than four-and-a-half years after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the U.S. Congress passed legislation on Friday demanding greater accountability and transparency in U.S. relief and reconstruction efforts. “[W]e need to provide more accountability of our efforts to rebuild Haiti as we work to produce sustainable local capacity and strengthen democratic institutions,” said Rep. Read More
One of the better tools to achieve accountability and transparency, the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act will, among other requirements:
The following is a June 12, 2014, open letter from organizational leaders calling on Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator Robert Menendez and Ranking Member Senator Bob Corker to support swift passage of the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act.
Dear Chairman Menendez and Ranking Member Corker,
We, the undersigned heads of development, faith-based, human rights and social justice organizations, remain steadfast in our commitment to see a just recovery in Haiti after the deadly 2010 earthquake. Read More
Officially open for business since October 2012, Caracol Industrial Park (PIC) is expected to become Haiti’s largest private employer and foreign investor. US$ 424 million in development aid from donors including the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the United States government have been committed to the Park and ten PIC support projects. Read More
As of March 31, 2013, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) had obligated $293 million (45 percent) and disbursed $204 million (31 percent) of $651 million in funding for Haiti from the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010 (the Act). The Department of State (State) submitted four of five periodic reports to Congress, as required by the Act. Read More