A Haitian development practitioner described communities growing suspicious of local organizations after funding cuts. Many communities assume NGOs hoard funds for their own benefit. Another practitioner echoes: "I have found it harder to reassure partners about the reliability of future collaborations involving Global North donors. The trust that once existed is being replaced by caution and scepticism."
Date: 9/25
Region: Latin America & Caribbean
Country: Haiti
Topic: Governance & Rights, Peacebuilding & Stabilization
Policy Lens: Moral Leadership
Entry Type: Field Observation
Additional Context: This information was collected by Peace Direct in an online consultation with 410 participants in September 2025 and validated during in-person and online workshops in October 2025 and January 2026. Information was anonymized in the report for security reasons.
Devex Researcher Note: The erosion of trust between organizations and communities has been well documented elsewhere. The International Council for Voluntary Agencies, or ICVA, noted in a March 2025 report that difficulties in communication, driven by poor infrastructure and limited literacy, made it difficult to explain the situation and reasons for paused programming to recipients, undermining the credibility of organizations. A lack of staff following the U.S. aid cuts meant that the ability to engage in meaningful community outreach or dialogue was constrained. One respondent to ICVA echoes the experience of the Haitian practitioner, reporting that the community believed that the NGO was stealing money, as they could not understand that the funding could be taken back by the donor.
Source: Peace Direct