Think-tank unveils website to keep aid contractors in check

US military to stand down in Haiti around June 1: general
Washington (AFP) April 19, 2010 - The US military will end its disaster relief mission in Haiti around June 1, nearly six months after sending in thousands of troops in the wake of a devastating earthquake that killed an estimated 220,000 people, a senior officer said Monday. Lieutenant General P.K. Keen, the deputy commander of the US Southern Command, said there were currently about 2,200 US troops deployed in Haiti, down from 22,000 in February at the peak of a massive international aid effort in the weeks that followed the January 12 earthquake.

"I expect us to -- on or about 1 June -- to be able to stand down the joint task force," Keen told reporters in Washington. "We will be able to do that because of the capability that's being built up and has built up by civilian organizations, whether it be USAID's increasing capacity, but, more so, the increasing capacity of non-government organizations that are really running much of the humanitarian assistance efforts within the country." About 500 US national guard and reservists will remain in Haiti after that, taking part in disaster relief efforts, he said.

For the moment, the US soldiers deployed in Haiti will focus on moving displaced persons from tent camps to areas that offer greater protection against the onset of the rainy season, he said. "It's a work in progress and there's no mistake that obviously the rainy season and hurricane season is approaching, and living in a tent during a hurricane is not optimal," he said. Keen said the security situation in Haiti "remains calm" despite isolated incidents of violence.

by Staff Writers
Stockholm (AFP) April 19, 2010
Aid agencies can now ensure that companies contracted to carry aid and peacekeepers to disaster zones do not also engage in activities that spark conflict, a leading think-tank said Tuesday.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said its new information web portal, www.ethicalcargo.org, would "prevent arms and drug traffickers from accessing significant humanitarian aid and peacekeeping funds."

In an earlier report, SIPRI showed that "more than 90 percent of the air cargo carriers identified in arms trafficking-related reports had also been used for humanitarian aid and peace-keeping operations between 2004 and 2009."

"In some cases, air cargo companies have delivered both aid and weapons to the same conflict zones," the think-tank said in a statement.

SIPRI said ethicalcargo.org was "dedicated to transforming the way air cargo and maritime companies behave in conflict zones and fragile states."

The portal, funded by Sweden's governmental aid agency SIDA and the country's foreign ministry, includes a database, model codes of conduct and best practices for negotiations with transport suppliers.

It also uses an alerts system to highlight other dangers posed by transport companies, such as frequent crashes.

For example, Bluebird Aviation, a company that according to its website counts United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and US government aid agency USAID as clients, has crashed four times in less than six years.

On two of the occasions, its planes were carrying the narcotic khat to Somalia, SIPRI said.

And when supplies were sent to Indonesia for emergency relief after a tsunami devastated the region in late 2004, some of the air cargo companies and individuals contracted by the United Nations and aid groups were involved in illicit arms transfers to Africa, according to SIPRI.

The think-tank said its new web portal did "not recommend banning companies," but that it hoped to promote awareness and transform company behaviour.

If contracting agencies raise their standards in choosing providers for transport of aid, "the significant sums of money available for such contracts will encourage companies to adopt effective ethical transportation policies in order to increase their market share," SIPRI's Hugh Griffiths said.

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