Some Facts on Haiti

[bcholmes]

- Two million people need food. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon promised that by the end of January, the World Food Program and related organizations would feed at least half of those. In fact, the number fed was 600,000. "It has been slower than anyone hoped or expected," UN humanitarian aid co-ordinator John Holmes said.

- Ban was also pushing a cash-for-work program. Jobs are to be created clearing the rubble at $4 to $5 a day. He appealed for $41-million for this program. By end January, $4.3-million had been donated.

- A "donor" conference for Haiti last April, 2009, after hurricane season, saw $402-million pledged. Actual disbursements were $61-million, about 15 per cent of funds promised. This is quite typical of many such pledges, not just to Haiti. Typically as well, we rarely hear of these broken promises.

— "Some facts Stephen Harper should have on Haiti", The Globe and Mail (includes many more points)