Over a year after the earthquake disaster in Haiti, the nation and it’s people are still waiting for promises made by other nations to help rebuild the country. Victims of the disaster still live in slum like situation without proper electricity, clean water, food, and other necessities of life. Billion of dollars was pledged but not satisfied. NGOs that received millions of dollars in donations, are doing little to end suffering and establish a livable Haiti.
With millions raised, NGOs with presence in the country have their staffs living exorbitant lives; while the Haitian people live in terrible conditions. NGO staffs are known to frequent the best hotels in the nation, they enjoy rooms with air conditioning, good food, and have access to clean water however, the people they are chosen to serve are destitute and can barely survive.
What happened to all the money raised by the NGOs? They have spent nearly 1/3 of the money raised so, what happened to the remaining? Or Is the remaining 2/3 spent on administrative costs? Rather than work to establish a livable Haiti, there are instead allegations of sexual abuse on children by some peacekeepers from Uruguay; some have even gone as far as bringing cholera to the nation through lack of proper hygiene.
It is high time nations satisfied their promises and pledges to the poor nation of Haiti; the NGOs should live up to their purpose of establishment and perform humanitarian duties as laid down in their charters. The UN on the other hand should live up to expectations and motivate member states to make do on their pledges. An empty pledge without action, will do nothing but make a dire situation worse and destroy credibility of the United Nations.
Peacekeepers should maintain order and carry out their duties according to their mandates, development activities should resume in Haiti without delay. Victims of the earthquake need homes and not shelters or camps, clean water should be made available to the people of Haiti and efforts should be made to provide some sort of electricity.
This may be the last opportunity to rebuild the nation; the international community must not let the opportunity go by without a meaningful change.
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Categories: Disaster, earthquake Disaster, Economic Dilemma, Humanitarian, Politics
Gettysburg Institute Post 
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