October 25, 2010
The Daily Telegraph quotes John Simon on the Cholera outbreak in Haiti and US foreign aid assistance.
From the article:
John Simon, a former senior US diplomat now working at the Centre for Global Development in Washington, said the delay "has potentially impeded the steps that could have been taken to help Haiti come back from something like cholera."
The US gave £636 million to fund emergency relief work after January's earthquake. But the further £725 million, to be spent on subsequent "recovery and reconstruction", was promised by Mrs Clinton.
However it took another four months of bureaucratic debate before the measure was approved by the US Congress and signed by Barack Obama, the US President, at the end of July.
A further three months have passed, with funds still held up in Washington while Mrs Clinton's officials negotiate with members of congressional committees over how the money could be spent.
Mr Simon said: "Cholera is a known challenge in refugee situations like Haiti's. The people on the ground foresaw this. Reconstruction funding should begin while the initial relief effort is still in full swing."