Country ... Haiti
Funding the Earthquake Recovery

An observation by Peter Burgess ... What does the outcome of the UN pledging conference mean for Sustainable Reconstruction

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Peter Burgess
Haiti ... What does the outcome of the UN pledging conference mean for Sustainable Reconstruction
Peter Burgess
Sat, Apr 3, 2010 at 11:42 PM
To: Peter Burgess
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Dear Colleagues

I understand that the outcome of the pledging conference at the UN in New York last Wednesday is being regarded as exceptionally good. However I would be very interested to hear your commentary on this ... the amount of money being pledged is impressive, and while I would agree that this is a positive outcome ... there are a lot of questions left!

As I think you already know, I was associated with the Namibia post independence UN pledging conference in New York back in 1991 that was also very 'successful' but the subsequent story was complicated. First ... no money was actually moved for a full three months ... and then all the projects that were funded were on the donors' agenda rather than to benefit Namibia. I had a role in preparing the plans that were submitted for funding ... and then later on I had the role of 'aid coordinator' for Namibia in their Ministry of Planning reporting directly to the Minister in charge.

My impression is that the use of the pledged resources needs to be watched very carefully and the flow of money to benefit Haiti has to be subject to some effective independent oversight that is totally transparent. The use of the World Bank in this role is not going to satisfy this criterion unless they have changed a lot since I was involved more frequently with their activities some time back. My impression is that the words have changed but the actions are the same! My guess is that the first wave of money will go to contractors who already have the 'inside track'. They will not achieve anything like what they should with the money available, and then there will be pull back by the donors and the situation will be 'money gone ... no more money ... and a whole lot left to do'.

My work with a 'supplementary people focus development plan' still seems to be a worthwhile endeavor ... and then an ongoing effort with accountability and transparency based on the Community Analytics (CA) methodology. Increasingly both of these initiatives are being done in collaboration with Haitians in Haiti and in the diaspora.

Do you have any thoughts on this? What should be the next steps? What is the best way forward?

Peter Burgess ____________ Peter Burgess Tr-Ac-Net Inc ... The Transparency and Accountability Network Community Analytics (CA) Integrated Malaria Management (IMM) Microfinance Focus Magazine in New York website: www.tr-ac-net.org tel: 917 432 1191 or 212 772 6918 or 212 744 6469 email: peterbnyc@gmail.com skype: peterburgessnyc Books: Search Peter Burgess at www.lulu.com