NGOs and the Business of Poverty in Haiti
Originally posted on: NACLA.org Posted on: April 5th, 2010 Original link: https://nacla.org/node/6501 NGO's and the Business of Poverty NACLA.org April 5 2010 By: Kevin Edmonds Haiti has the most privatized social-service sector in the Americas, with some 80% of the country’s basic services provided by the private sector through non-governmental organizations (NGOs). No other country in the world has more NGOs per capita. Edmond Mulet, head of the UN mission in Haiti, conservatively estimates that there were more than 10,000 before the January 12 earthquake. Many Haitians ironically refer to their country as a “republic of NGOs.” The Haitian government, regularly accused of corruption by the U.S. State Department, has been marginalized in post-earthquake recovery and rebuilding efforts. Less than one cent of each dollar of U.S. earthquake relief is going to the Haitian government. As reported by the Associated Press, NGOs w