Haiti Roundup: Top U.N. Official Criticizes Charities’ Response

In a e-mail sent to United Nations staff members, a top U.N. officer for humanitarian issues said poor coordination among relief organizations in Haiti has left major needs unmet and weakened confidence in the groups’ ability to deliver aid, the Telegraph reports.

The message from John Holmes, head of the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said relief groups should take a more “aggressive approach” in their Haiti work and that several of the “clusters” assigned by the U.N. to handle specific aid needs have not adequately assessed the problems or developed responses.

The e-mail became public after it was leaked to Foreign Policy magazine. Mr. Holmes later said humanitarian groups in Haiti are “actually doing a very good job” and said the intent of the message was to point up “the kind of trust and leadership support that’s needed rather than saying we’re failing in some way.”

The U.N. issued an appeal Thursday for nearly $1.5-billion to cover needs in Haiti through 2010, its largest appeal ever for disaster relief, the Associated Press reports. The request is nearly triple the U.N.’s first appeal for Haiti aid.

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