Aid organizations Cashing In Haiti, the republic of NGOs

Foreign NGOs Outsourcing Weakens Haitian Economy and its Sustainable Development

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Immediately following Haiti's 2010 earthquake several billion dollars flowed into the country from the international community, primarily from non-government organizations (NGOs). Yet Haiti has little to show for it. So the question on everyone's mind is how has the money been spent?

ProPublica (PP) and National Public Radio (NPR) dug up the facts, and issued a report that condemns the Red Cross. In the report they claim the aid organization amassed half a billion dollars in donations but built only six homes in five years.

PP and NPR got a hold of the Red Cross's budget for a Campeche housing project. They discovered an ex-pat project manager received a jaw-dropping $140,000 USD, while a Haitian senior engineer only earned $42,000 USD.

The Red Cross isn't alone in paying astoundingly high wages to ex-pats. Many foreign NGOs do the same. The Center for Global Development cites that an NGO administrative assistant can make as much as $200,000 yearly.

The NGOs, instead of hiring locally, outsource labor when they should be hiring within the community. Statistics show the unemployment rate for Haitians stands at 40.6%. NGOs are not doing what they should be doing, creating jobs to stimulate the economy.

NGOs hiring foreign contractors is many times more costly. Expenses such as travel, hotel, auto, meals, and cost-of-living allowances jack up project costs. The only way to create authentic, sustainable development in Haiti is by forming partnerships between NGOs and local businesses.

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