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Contributions from
the Column
Facts and trends
Water: Multi-stakeholder dialogue does not take off
World Bank: Wolfowitz to succeed Wolfensohn
Donors delay aid for Sudan
Afghanistan: Still torn apart
EU parliament opposed to sugar reform
Indicators for more effective aid
Honour killings – an underestimated crime
Supachai Panitchpakdi to head UNCTAD?
IDA 14: More money for the poorest countries
Somalia: Government is looking for a residence
Haiti: Hopelessness
04/2005
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Hopelessness in Haiti
One year after the fall of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti is still waiting for the aid money pledged for reconstruction and development. According to Juan Gabriele Valdés, the chief of the UN mission in Haiti, almost a tenth of the 1.4 billion dollars promised at a donor conference last summer has come in. Prime Minister Gérard Latortue recently criticised the EU, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank for not having disbursed the funds pledged.
The interim government is also meeting with criticism. International reconstruction helpers complain that there is no national strategy, no planning and no coordination of the ministries. According to Amnesty International (AI), the country is at risk of lapsing into chaos and anarchy. The police and illegal armed groups are killing in the street, states AI. Former soldiers and supporters of Aristide control wide parts of the country. “The interim government and the UN mission have failed to disarm these groups,” says Jérôme Cholet, AI expert on Haiti. Presidential and parliamentary elections have been set for 13 November but it is unclear how a democracy is meant to come about under such conditions. As long as opinions cannot be expressed and political conflicts are solved with armed force, any election campaign worthy of the term will remain impossible, concludes Cholet. (orb)
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