WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – International donors and the Haitian government need to create a partnership for the long haul as they rebuild Haiti after a devastating earthquake, the head of the World Bank Robert Zoellick said yesterday. Addressing the sensitive issue of how to ensure that aid is not lost to corruption or mismanagement, Zoellick said in an interview it was important that donor money flow through the Haitian government budget and that proper measures are put in place to prevent the aid from being squandered.
“This time we have a chance to do things differently but it requires a partnership for the long haul,” Zoellick told Reuters on the eve of a Haiti donor conference in New York.
“This will require a commitment on both sides — for the Haitian authorities but also for the donors. On the side of the international agencies we need to cooperate, not complicate.” The conference will seek to raise about $3.8 billion for Haiti to cover the next two years of rebuilding a country devastated by the Jan. 12 quake that killed more than 300,000 people and turned buildings in the capital Port-au-Prince into rubble.
The World Bank is seeking to provide about $500 million to Haiti over the next 14 months.
Donors, such as the United States, have raised concerns in recent weeks over government corruption in Haiti, which has stymied past aid efforts, prompting an angry reaction from Haitian President Rene Preval, who has insisted it should have the ultimate say in the reconstruction of the country.
Zoellick said it was vital that Haitians lead the rebuilding effort, even if it meant confronting tough political decisions, and that donors should work to strengthen the government’s capacity to lead. “There is a way things can fit together to combine capable Haitian ownership with effective donor partnership,” he added.
The World Bank, working with the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations, will supervise a multi-donor trust fund for Haiti through which rebuilding funds will flow to the Haitian government.
Such a fund would ensure that donors do not burden the government with different demands, taking its attention away from reconstruction.
Zoellick said the trust fund could be used to track the aid and ensure the money is being used effectively and not wasted through corruption.
The global development lender has experience with managing donor funds in places such as Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Aceh province in Indonesia hit by a 2004 tsunami.
Zoellick said such experiences had shown it would be better for donors to cooperate and pool their resources to rebuild countries rather than to work individually.
