Handling Post-Katrina Aid Often a Tricky Diplomatic Task

10 Aug 2007 // Foreign countries and organizations came forward with more than 400 offers of assistance in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, ranging from cash to forensic experts to 3.5 tons of sardines.

The federal government was berated for lacking a system in 2005 to efficiently process such donations, and specifically for not acting on more than $800 million pledged by the international community.

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the federal government was criticized for not asking for foreign assistance. Applying the lessons learned from 9/11, it accepted offers of post-Katrina aid. But there were complications — including delicate political and diplomatic considerations — in accepting some of the donations, says one State Department official who requested anonymity.

Shortly after Katrina hit, the Federal Emergency Management Agency asked the State Department to assist with the international offers. “That quickly grew into a very complicated, complex endeavor,” the State official said. The immediate considerations were “will this offer help,” and “how long would it take to get those things to the states,” the official said.

In many instances, the U.S. could not accept food that did not meet FDA standards. Some countries publicly pledged money, then never came through with it.

Half the money pledges came from the government of Kuwait, which promised $400 million from proceeds of oil sales. But the Kuwaiti parliament continues to work on approving the offer, the State Department official said.

As offers came in, the State Department encouraged foreign governments to donate directly to non-governmental organizations, such as the Red Cross, because the offers could be put to use faster. The U.S. government accepted direct offers as well, such as mental health experts from Argentina to manage refugee camps, five tons of water and other supplies from Israel, and 10 tons of canned pineapple from Thailand, according to State Department documents obtained by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

But other offers were rejected, such as 1.1 tons of jam and 45 tons of macaroni from Egypt, 300,000 tea bags from Sri Lanka and 3.5 tons of canned sardines from Peru.

The political considerations were complex. “We had countries like Sri Lanka who wanted to make a small contribution, basically as a gesture of thanks to the U.S.,” for its help in the 2004 tsunami relief, the official said. “We felt that it was important to recognize their gesture in a way that would not make them feel like we devalued the sentiment behind it.” The State Department suggested Sri Lanka make a contribution to the Red Cross, which it did.

In some instances, a country’s offer would have been useful immediately, but it would take much longer to get to its destination in the U.S., at which point it would no longer be necessary, the State Department official said. In other instances, countries sent materials without U.S. approval, which left the government little choice but to accept relief materials, such as certain foods, that did not meet U.S. standards.

In total, the U.S. government accepted $126 million in donations from foreign countries, according to the State Department. Of the $126 million, $66 million went to FEMA, which then awarded a grant for case management services. $60 million went to the Department of Education for building reconstruction and other educational services in Louisiana and Mississippi, according to the State Department. The department does not have an exact breakdown of what was donated to non-governmental organizations, but officials estimate about $220 million.

FEMA and State have since remedied the foreign assistance issue with an International Assistance System Concept of Operations, which establishes policies for managing international assistance. The plan sets a standard operating procedure for requesting international assistance and creates guidelines for reviewing offers and determining how the U.S. will accept or decline. It also addresses transportation logistics for receiving and distributing the donations.

“A major, major problem for us and an embarrassment, as far as I’m concerned, [was] not having a system in place to handle donations from our friends in other countries,” FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison said during a July 31 House oversight hearing. “We had a lot of friends around this world who offered a lot of things. Some of them we could not use, and we should have let them know right up front what our needs were and what we could use.”

The State Department official agreed. “If we have a situation like Katrina, in which we are asking for help from the international community in the future, it will be a much more streamlined process,” he said.