Aid workers’ stereotypes and prejudices about residents of displacement camps in post-earthquake Haiti stem from an acute disconnect between NGOs and the people they are there to work with. These misperceptions have perpetuated deliberate decisions to deny water and sanitation services to desperate survivors.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti is seen by the local people as having a geopolitical agenda which harms the interests of the citizens, writes Deepa Panchang. Various civil society groups continue to call for withdrawal of the mission.