Haiti aid

In the United States aid groups have been complaining that for the time being they are not receiving guarantees of government money for new projects due to the fact that more than half of the annual US disaster fund is currently flowing to Haiti. USAID officials admitted that there will be a problem, if Congress doesn't grant supplementary cash for the 2010 budget, which covers both unexpected calamities and the consequences of former catastrophes.

The situation is different in Germany, says spokeswoman Sabine Brickenkamp from the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in Berlin: "The Funds given by the ministry are taken from a strategic reserve especially earmarked to react in emergency situations like the earthquake in Haiti," she told Deutsche Welle.

The German government has made 15 million euros ($20 million) available for Haiti, says Brickenkamp: "The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development is providing five million euros in food aid as well as five million euros for emergency accommodation. The Foreign Office is donating a further five million euros in humanitarian aid. The money will be given to relief agencies to supply the Haiti earthquake victims with urgently needed food, medicines, emergency accommodation and clean drinking water."

Germany should do more

MSF Germany, the national branch of Doctors Without Borders, works without government money in Haiti, but criticizes that Berlin isn't doing enough when emergencies like the earthquake there occur, said MSF General Director Frank Dörner in an interview with Deutsche Welle: "In general we think that not enough government money is available in Germany for all necessary crisis interventions around the world."

As opposed to the German government, MSF had to reshuffle its resources in order to boost its aid capacities in Haiti, says Dörner: "We had to reprioritise some of our activities. We postponed the positioning of certain people, specifically with regard to French-speaking people. On the other hand this was not so exceptional, because in case of big emergencies happening, we are used to working this way."

And he continues: "A lot of people have come saying we're interested in working with you, not only for Haiti, but also for other places. And also we got extra money, so it is possible to increase capacity for Haiti."

International needs assessment coming up

Spokeswoman Angela Krug from the German governmental aid organisation German Development Service says there was a huge outpouring of generosity."The willingness of Germans to donate money for the victims in Haiti is overwhelming," she told Deutsche Welle. "These are additional funds for Haiti, that are not taken away from somewhere else. The same is valid for the German government. We will surely widen our engagement in Haiti but not at the expense of other countries."

But critics fear that overall people will donate less, in other words that the help for Haiti will be lacking elsewhere.

It also remains to be seen what the impact of efforts for Haiti will be in the long run. Sabine Brickenkamp from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development admits that not everything is clear yet:

"From next week on an international needs assessment will take place in Haiti. The results of this mission will provide us with more information on the specific needs and the precise figures about the amount of financial resources needed for the reconstruction of Haiti .With the outcome of this mission, Germany and the other donors will be able to discuss their contribution to the reconstruction process and the financial resources needed," she said.

Author: Patrick Vanhulle
Editor: Rob Mudge