Haiti Recovery - Haiti Observer Blog

The 7.0M earthquake that hit the capital of Haiti in January 2010 killed thousands of people and left millions of other people homeless. It resulted in massive destruction of infrastructure in the country which led the United States Government to pledge to help Haiti rebuild itself. Five years later, the project has been faced with some drawbacks some of which include a lack of transparency in how the funds are being used.

Recently, the US Congress passed a law that would shed light and show how these funds were being used in reconstructing Haiti. This move was pushed by Bill Nelson, a US senator, who was concerned about the lack of transparency in projects sponsored by the US government and the slow disbursement of aid in Haiti. Known as "The Assessing Progress in Haiti Act of 2014" requires a report to be submitted to the Congress by the US Secretary of State. The report should be a status report on the recovery as well as the development projects that are funded by the US government on or before 31st of December 2014 and subsequently annually until 21st December 2017.

Read more →  

On Thursday July 10, 2014, the Bill Text Versions 113 Congress (2013-14) S.1104 has been passed by unanimous consent in the Senate and sent to the House next for consideration, before it gets approved by the U.S President. The Bill was introduced on June 6, 2013 by Bill Nelson, a Senior Senator of Democratic Party from Florida.

It was introduced to measure the progress of recovery and development efforts in Haiti following the earthquake of January 12, 2010, and for other purposes. The other purposes include: review of U.S policy towards sustainable rebuilding and development, helping the affected country, its government and citizens economically and politically, maintaining law and order, essential supplies and building necessary infrastructure with immediate and long term perspectives through a process of cooperation, coordination and control.

Read more →