Investigators from Propublica and NPR have uncovered ARC private documents, showing that the organization could not cope with the Haiti program, including wasting of approximately $500 million of donations.
A sanitation project was considered an organization’s flop, as said in the report. The Red Cross provided camps for quake sufferers with latrines, which did not work properly and were later called a “flood of waste.” The report also noted that the 1.5 million project eventually "lacked a clear vision and strategy, leading to challenges and delays in contracts, procurement, finances."
The Red Cross admitted the Haiti program to be “troubled” because of difficulties of operating in the country. But the report revealed the organization’s projects had failed mainly due to ARC headquarters rulings in Washington, DC.
"In large part [health project failed] because of the centralized decision-making, most if not all of the directly implemented projects in Haiti are behind schedule."
The Red Cross released a statement afterwards, avowing that some of its projects in Haiti “needed improvement,” but stressing that “hundreds of thousands of people” benefited from ARC’s work.
