More than 6 months after Haiti's devastating earthquake, how much of the international aid that was promised has actually been delivered?
By: Josée Valcourt | Posted: August 7, 2010 at 6:30 AM
More than six months after a 7.2 earthquake struck Haiti's Port-au-Prince capital, the Caribbean nation has been slow to recover. Some 60 international organizations and countries including the United States rushed to aid the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, pledging $5.6 billion in March for reconstruction projects this year and next. Of that amount, a mere $506 million in aid has been disbursed to the Haitian government, major nonprofit organizations, and private contractors. The bulk of the funds, however, has been stalled for reasons such as national and international red tape, disorganization and disputes among donors, and land-right policies in Haiti affecting the relocation of 1.5 million displaced earthquake survivors living in tarp and tent camps. President René Préval's reluctance earlier this year to push for November elections - an act meant to signal that the country is taking steps toward stability - also aroused mistrust among donors wary of how their money would be spent.
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