Reconstruction work in Haiti hampered by corruption

A group of Haitian journalism students recently investigated the so-called Cash for Work programmes in Port-au-Prince and found that some workers pay a high price for their salary

Together with the IMS-supported Haiti Grassroots Watch (HGW) investigative journalism students from the State University ofHaiti carried out a two-month research programme to investigate rumors of corruption and other unhealthy practices in the reconstruction work of Haiti.

Cash for Work programmes carry risks

Cash for Work (CFW) programmes are commonly used by many international NGO’s to give local people work and assure that money is circulating, thereby supporting the reconstruction of local communities.

After Haiti’s devastating earthquake in January 2010, the Haitian government and international NGO’s have used the programmes to clean out ravines, sweep streets, and remove rubble in Port-au-Prince and other cities across the country.

Although Cash for Work programmes can play an important role after a catastrophe, they also carry elements of risk with them as the students found.

Corruption and sexual exploitation

Typically those who take part in a CFW programme work for two or four weeks, six days a week for about 5 USD a day, with team bosses or foremen receiving about twice that amount.

According to the students’ findings, many residents say they would like to land a contract despite the insufficient salary. But they also claim: “To get a job, you need a personal connection to a foreman.”

– “Here, the foremen rule all. They give their friends work, and what’s really bad is that a lot of their family members work in the programme at the same time as the people who are really supposed to benefit don’t get jobs,” claimed Jean Bernard Chaperon, a local resident.

Thirty percent of beneficiaries contacted by the journalists said that they have paid for, or been asked to pay for, getting or keeping a job.

The investigation also found that some women have traded their bodies for jobs. Many say they have “friends” who have “negotiated,” but none of them admit to being victims themselves.

– “I don’t want to accuse anyone in particular, but a lot of women sell what they have to get work”, said Claire Desrosiers Maryse

Armelle Desrosiers, a woman working as part of a CFW team, denounced the abuses that her co-workers have suffered in order to get a tiny salary.

– “The foremen have the habit of buying the consciences of the women, and demanding that they have sex with them in order to get a job,” she said.

Haiti Grassroots Watch is supported by International Media Support. Read the full findings of the investigation at Haiti Grassroots Watch which was updated with a response from CHF International, the NGO who is running the investigated Cash for Work programme.