{"id":106855,"date":"2018-02-26T12:00:52","date_gmt":"2018-02-26T12:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=106855"},"modified":"2018-02-25T05:37:35","modified_gmt":"2018-02-25T05:37:35","slug":"ngo-crimes-go-far-beyond-oxfam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/02\/ngo-crimes-go-far-beyond-oxfam\/","title":{"rendered":"NGO Crimes Go Far Beyond Oxfam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Figures for earthquake relief range from $10bn to $13.4bn. Some of us who visited Haiti have seen little or no sign of that money, write activists.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A poster in seen in the window of an Oxfam bookshop in Glasgow. Photograph: Andy Buchanan\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

13 Feb 2018 – <\/em>In 2008 some of us had written to Barbara Stocking, then Oxfam chief executive, objecting to a report that it sponsored, Rule of Rapists in Haiti<\/a>, which labelled Haitians as rapists while hiding rapes by occupying UN forces. The year before, 114 soldiers had been sent home for raping women and girls, some as young as 11. No one was prosecuted. We wrote: \u201cNGOs like Oxfam have known about rapes by UN forces, as well as by aid and charity workers, for decades. It\u2019s the pressure of victims, women and [children] in the most impoverished communities, who had the courage to speak out that finally won \u2026 public acknowledgement.\u201d There was no reply.<\/p>\n

The latest revelations of sexual abuse by major charities (Report<\/a>, 13 February), are but one facet of NGO corruption. The people of Haiti were the first to free themselves from slavery, but the colonial \u201cmasters\u201d they defeated \u2013 France, Britain and the US \u2013 have continued to plunder and exploit, including through imported NGOs. Haiti has more NGOs per square mile than any other country and it remains the poorest in the western hemisphere. Corruption begins and ends with neo-colonial powers.<\/p>\n

While celebrated for \u201cdoing good\u201d, NGO professionals do well for themselves. They move between NGOs, academia and political appointments, enjoying a culture of impunity while they exercise power over the poorest. The Lancet described NGOs in Haiti as \u201cpolluted by unsavoury characteristics seen in many big corporations\u201d and \u201cobsessed with raising money\u201d.<\/p>\n

Figures for earthquake relief range from $10bn to $13.4bn. Some of us who visited Haiti have seen little or no sign of that money. The public was outraged when they discovered the Red Cross intended to build a luxury hotel and conference centre in Haiti with some unspent donations. Big NGOs are far from non-governmental. For example, Oxfam<\/a> receives millions from the UK government. USAID is another major funder. Unsurprisingly, NGO politics follow the cash.<\/p>\n

In 2004 the US (backed by Canada and France) overthrew Haiti\u2019s democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He headed a popular movement to chart an independent course that would move Haitians \u201cfrom destitution to poverty\u201d. His government supported small farmers, raised the minimum wage (the lowest in the western hemisphere), built schools and hospitals. (UNIFA, his medical university will be celebrating the graduation of its first class of doctors in March). The coup against him had NGO support. Charities<\/a> thrive on the poor, not on ending poverty.<\/p>\n

Cristel Amiss<\/strong>
\nBlack Women\u2019s Rape Action Project<\/em>
\nAndaiye<\/strong>
\nRed Thread, Guyana<\/em>
\nMargaret Busby<\/strong>
\n(Publisher & author)<\/em>
\nSara Callawa<\/strong>y
\nWomen of Colour Global Women\u2019s Strike<\/em>
\nLuke Daniels<\/strong>
\nCaribbean Labour Solidarity<\/em>
\nJocelyn Dow<\/strong>
\nRed Thread, Guyana<\/em>
\nSelma James<\/strong>
\nGlobal Women\u2019s Strike<\/em>
\nPierre Labossiere<\/strong>
\nHaiti Action Committee<\/em>
\nEmma Lewis<\/strong>
\nCaribbean Labour Solidarity<\/em>
\nDr Altheia Le Cointe<\/strong>
\nTrinidad & Tobago<\/em>
\nEddie Le Cointe<\/strong>
\nDominica<\/em>
\nNina Lopez<\/strong>
\nLegal Action for Women<\/em>
\nIan Macdonald QC<\/strong>
\nRose Okello<\/strong>
\nAll African Women\u2019s Group<\/em>
\nMargaret Prescod<\/strong>
\nWomen of Colour Global Women\u2019s Strike<\/em>
\nLawrence Renee<\/strong>
\nPayday Men\u2019s Network<\/em>
\nSidney Ross-Risden<\/strong>
\nHaiti Support Working Group<\/em>
\nBecky Titah<\/strong>
\nAll African Women\u2019s Group<\/em>
\nSam Karl Weinstein<\/strong>
\nRefusing to Kill network
\n<\/em>Nichola Marcus
\n<\/strong>Red Thread, Guyana<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Go to Original \u2013 theguardian.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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