Disaster Accountability Project Releases One Year Report On The
Transparency of Relief Organizations Responding to the 2010 Haiti
Earthquake.
Camp La Piste, Port au Prince
Report finds near "Factual-Blackout" in relief/aid
organizations' regular, detailed reporting: aggregates, anecdotes, and
appeals to emotion dominate
Donors are "giving in the dark" and, despite some partnerships, groups cannot coordinate using annual or quarterly reports
No excuse for cholera epidemic and deteriorating conditions on the ground
The Disaster Accountability Project today issued a report entitled "One
Year Followup Report on the Transparency of Relief Organizations
Responding to the 2010 Haiti Earthquake."
The report seeks to determine
(1) Whether 196 organizations that solicited donations for Haiti
disaster relief produced regular, factual reports on their activities;
and, if so (2) How comprehensive, frequent, factual, and publicly
accessible such reports were. (3) Determine how much money has been
raised for Haiti relief, how much of that has been spent, and on what
(i.e., healthcare, food, clean water, etc.).
View report here:
The Disaster Accountability Project has produced its one-year report
surveying the transparency and accountability of aid organizations
collecting funds in the name of Haiti. Thirty eight aid organizations
who were requested to complete a survey did so; 164 declined to do so.
See the full results in the attached pdf.
Here is the press release accompanying the release of the report:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 5, 2011
Contact: Ben Smilowitz, 01-202-556-3023 ben@disasteraccountability.org
*Ben is in Haiti until January 13*
Of the 196 organizations surveyed:
Accountability: Lacking
• Only approximately 20%, or 38 groups, were responsive on time to our
survey, and of those, a number provided incomplete answers.
• 26 groups report raising money specifically for clean water efforts
and 21 groups report raising money for sanitation efforts.
• A total of $1.4 billion was raised by the 38 responding groups and $730 million or 52% was spent.
Transparency: Lacking
• 34 groups self-report as providing factual, public information on their websites. Our investigation found differently.
• We found only 8 of 195 groups were somewhat or more transparent on
their own websites. Most organizations' websites were full of anecdotes,
aggregates, and appeals to emotion.
• Over 1.8 million dollars in interest reportedly raised by just 5 of the survey respondents.
• 10 groups reported that they did not know how much interest they have
raised and the rest (23 groups) did not respond either way, indicating
that this figure is likely higher.
"The fact that nearly half of the donated dollars still sit in the bank
accounts of relief/aid groups does not match the urgency of their own
fundraising and marketing efforts and donors' intentions, nor does it
covey the urgency of the situation on the ground. This may be a
disincentive for future giving by individuals and other governments,"
said Ben Smilowitz, Executive Director, Disaster Accountability Project.
"Without detailed and regular information about activities on the
ground, donors are "giving in the dark" and, despite some partnerships,
groups cannot coordinate using annual or quarterly reports. Limited
coordination is still frustrating relief delivery and effectiveness,"
said Smilowitz.
"There is no excuse for the cholera epidemic and deteriorating
conditions on the ground given the amount of resources donated and
available. With hundreds of millions in the bank and unspent, many
groups continue to solicit additional donations," said Smilowitz.
Policy Implications
Information is critical. After a disaster occurs, relief groups need
large amounts of cash on hand to mobilize appropriate amounts of
personnel and supplies to reach the ground and save lives within a
critical window of opportunity. Hundreds, if not thousands, of
organizations responded. Factual, regular, and honest information about
relief groups' specific activities on the ground is critical for
coordination between organizations and for the public making donations
and deciding which groups should be allocated resources first - and
where the money will be best put to use to save lives.
Observations
• It would an enlightening exercise to attempt to find out specific
factual details about relief services delivered yesterday by the top-20
relief organizations operating in Haiti: how many people were provided
with services, what services, and specifically where they were provided.
If each organization was required to submit a daily or even weekly
situation report with this information, coordination could dramatically
improve and lives would be saved as a result.
• The aggregate figures released for the one-year anniversary may look
impressive, yet they tell the public very little about an organization's
true day-to-day activities on the ground. Often, aggregate
figures/reports include partner or affiliate data and, often times, the
same data is used by multiple organizations to advertise successes.
One-year reports may look impressive, but they are often very
misleading.
The Disaster Accountability Project (DAP) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit
organization dedicated to improving disaster management systems through
policy research and advocacy, promoting transparency and engaging
citizens to become more involved in preparedness and relief, and helping
to ensure that people know what is happening on the ground during a
disaster.
Founded in 2007 in reaction to the bungled response to Hurricane
Katrina, the Disaster Accountability Project has demonstrated that
dedicated and informed oversight can help ensure that government
agencies and nonprofit organizations live up to their life-saving
obligations before, during, and after disasters.
In three years, the Disaster Accountability Project has become the
leading, independent nonprofit providing citizen oversight to the U.S.
disaster management system. In August 2008, the Disaster Accountability
Project received the prestigious Echoing Green Fellowship, awarded to
social entrepreneurs tackling critical, high-impact social issues.
A toll-free hotline (866-9-TIP-DAP) is available as a public service
for disaster survivors, workers and volunteers to report critical gaps
in disaster prevention, response, relief, and recovery services or
planning.
The Disaster Accountability Project's website is http://www.DisasterAccountability.org.
Disaster Accountability Project is a 2008 Echoing Green Fellowship Organization.
For more information: http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellows/ben-smilowitz
