One year on, where did all that Haiti money go?

The anniversary finds Haiti barely healed from the trauma inflicted 12 months ago, as well as political instability over the holding of a runoff round in the elections to replace Preval.

Broken promises

Most of the 5.3 billion dollars pledged for the first 18 months has been legally committed, but only 1.2 billion has been allocated to specific reconstruction projects and donors are reluctant to disburse funds.

Future cash commitments are drying up as confidence evaporates in an effort that has only managed to clear five percent of the rubble, leaving more than one million survivors subsisting in tent cities that look more and more permanent with every passing day.

Of 2.1 billion dollars pledged in 2010 for reconstruction, less than half has been given. The United States, the biggest single donor, has delayed disbursing most of its 1.17-billion-dollar pledge until 2011, spending only one-tenth of that.

Mutual mistrust

Haitian officials voice fears the country is turning into a republic run by foreign NGOs -- estimates of how many operate here vary between 1,000 and 10,000. Donors prefer to channel money through the non-governmental organizations as they fear they will otherwise just feed into a bottomless pit of government corruption and incompetence.

Transparency International ranked Haiti near the bottom of its world corruption index in 2009. The US Congress made the State Department prove money would not be stolen or misused before allowing American aid pledges to be honored.

NGOs have ended up running key sectors such as schooling and hospitals while the longer-term need to address the Haitian government's infrastructural shortcomings has been neglected.

Ineffective commission

The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), co-chaired by former US president Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, was established in April, giving the international community strong oversight over aid funds.

Tasked with coordinating reconstruction for the first 18 months, its efforts were criticized this week as "lackluster" and it was accused of having failed to "cut through the quagmire of indecision and delay."

"Many Haitian officials still do not have the technical ability to lead projects, and almost no major reconstruction projects have started," a report by humanitarian group Oxfam said.

Tellingly, the IHRC only this week proposed an anti-corruption office to vet potential aid projects. It is unlikely it will become an effective coordinating agency before its mandate expires at the end of October.

Political uncertainty

Deadly riots following disputed elections last month provided a grim reminder of Haiti's violent past. Until a bona fide successor to President Rene Preval is in place, international donors will be reluctant to sign any blank checks towards Haiti's recovery, fearful that political upheaval could return.

Land elites

The quake highlighted glaring land ownership issues. Relocation of survivors into safer, cleaner camps was held up interminably because rich families owned the large tracts of land around Port-au-Prince. Many survivors had no papers to prove ownership of their lots after the quake.

Many observers say a radical shake-up of Haiti's class system is needed. A wealthy elite dominated by a handful of families controls the bulk of the economy and enjoys political hegemony, making substantial progress difficult.

Demographics/The capital

Despite a high infant mortality rate, the 10 million-strong Haitian population is growing by almost two percent each year.

Four in 10 Haitians are under the age of 14, and most of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.

Port-au-Prince's estimated population of three million is expected to double over the next 15 years. Haitians are drawn here to escape poverty but most end up in sprawling slums. Haiti would likely benefit from having several smaller growth poles rather than a single, swollen metropolis.