AFRICANGLOBE – The Red Cross has been called to account for its operation in Haiti, after reports emerged claiming that the charity had built just six houses in the impoverished country since the January 2010 earthquake, despite raising almost half a billion dollars in donations.
The Red Cross was among the many organisations to take part in the relief effort following the devastating 7.0 magnitude quake that killed over 220,000 people and displaced thousands more.
Now, a damning report by the investigative journalism website ProPublica and US radio network NPR has accused the charity of wasting money through poor management and leaving Haitian families homeless and struggling to survive.
ProPublica and NPR’s investigation has sparked a backlash that has called the charity’s transparency and effectiveness into question, with emails from worried top officers and accounts of frustrated insiders indicating that the charity has broken promises, squandered donations, and made dubious claims of success.
While the Red Cross has built only six permanent homes in Haiti, the charity says it has provided homes to more than 130,000 people.
And despite Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern’s ambitious plans to “develop brand-new communities,” not one has ever been built.
