UN revamps Haiti aid system

[HeresyLives]

The United Nations is revamping its aid mission in Haiti after two weeks of chaotic stampedes to reach disorganized food convoys.

The new system, which starts this weekend, will set up 16 fixed aid sites across Port-au-Prince, each of which aims to give rice to 10,000 people a day – about 1.1 million people a week in a metropolitan area of about 4 million.

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Haitians on the receiving end of aid have been arguing for weeks that they current system doesn’t work: Those who get in line fastest, or can most readily wrest supplies away, are most likely to get the rice, oil or water bring distributed. In some cases, one large bag would be given to multiple strangers expected to divide it among themselves.

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On Friday evening, dozens of people swarmed an aid truck parked in a walled-off elementary school compound in an otherwise quiet neighbourhood. People emptied the truck of its cooking-oil cargo and the incident almost turned violent when police intervened and pinned one man to the ground.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/haiti/un-revamps-haiti-aid-system/article1450521/