By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
www.innercitypress.com/usocha1haiti012010.html
UNITED NATIONS, January 20 -- How aid to Haiti is being accounted for appears unclear. The UN has asked for $562 million; US President Barack Obama has announced $100 million in American aid. Inner City Press has asked both the UN and US whether Obama's $100 million will be part of the UN's $562 million flash appeal, and has received three different answers, none consistent with the UN web site.
Inner City Press asked Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative Alejandro Wolff, who said on camera at the Security Council stakeout that "the one hundred million dollars that have been announced is bilateral contributions to the Haitian Government. We will also be contributing a significant amount to the Flash Appeal, which should be announced shortly." Video here, from Minute 4:24.
Later, to its credit, the US Mission to the UN called Inner City Press and said this was not correct, that in fact $70 million of the $100 million announced by President Obama would be part of the UN flash appeal. For this proposition, the US Mission helpfully sent a link to the UN web site.
The difficulty is that the UN's "List of all commitments / contributions and pledges as of 20 January, 2010," numerous US pledges and expenditures are listed and counted, some of which are explicitly labeled "bilateral," and $36 million of which are USFEMA search and rescue. Click here for the UN link, here for copy saved by Inner City Press as it appeared on the afternoon of January 20, 2010.
Listed by the UN for the United States --
United States of America USAID 50,000 0
United States of America USAID Administrative costs 70,930 0
To provide three Dominican Public Hospitals
near the Haiti border crossing at Jiman with
medications and supplies
United States of America USAID 1,000,000 0
United States of America USAID Logistics and relief supplies 1,350,000 0
United States of America USDOD Logistics and relief items 1,500,000 0
United States of America WHO Basic health services 5,000,000 0
United States of America IOM to be allocated to specific projects 7,000,000 0
United States of America USAID Logistics and relief supplies 7,893,641 0
United States of America WFP to be allocated to specific projects 10,000,000 0
United States of America USDHHS Health (USAID/OFDA) 13,000,000 0
United States of America USFEMA Search and rescue (USAID/OFDA) 36,000,000 0
United States of America WFP Food aid 48,000,000 0
The listings for China, by contrast, includes $4.4 million for "humanitarian aid, including medicines, tents, food, emergency lights, clothing and water," but puts no value for China's search and rescue effort -- ''50-member rescue team; three
sniffer dogs" -- which came by air from China less than three hours after the earthquake. Similar flights and food from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Greece, Iran, Israel, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, the UAE, South Africa, "Taiwan (Province of China)" and Canada are also given zero value as of January 20.
Canada's "Disaster Emergency Response Team deployed to Haiti; C-17 aircraft full of medical aid and a pair of search and rescue helicopters" is, as of January 20, valued at zero by the UN. So are 60 Cuban doctors. For France Morocco and South Korea, on the other hand, every listed item is given a dollar value.
On January 20, Inner City Press asked top UN humanitarian John Holmes about this. Before the press conference monitor cut the questions off, Holmes said that "we depend on member states to give us [information]...they will decide, they don't give to us." Video here, from Minute 23:31.
To a skeptic it appears that both the UN and the Obama Administration want to make it appear that unlike previously, the US is now working through the UN. But the American funds listed on the UN web site, to which the US Mission to the UN referred Inner City Press, are nearly entirely bilateral, or even simply US expenditures on, apparently, its own administrative costs ($70,930).
Back on January 15, Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon if there would be an independent watchdog -- to audit and report on how aid is spent, and if donors following through on their loud pledges.
Mr. Ban replied that "there needs to be some transparency as well as accountability on how this money should be effectively and properly used. That we will discuss later."
That "later," it would seem, has arrived. The time is now.
And see, www.innercitypress.com/usocha1haiti012010.html
