Governance

This week marked six months since the earthquake.  According to President Preval, it also marked the week that the emergency phase ended and reconstruction began.  Yet at the same time residents of the Corrail Cesselesse camp were struggling with the consequences of a rain storm that destroyed up to 300 tents and caused 1,700 to seek emergency shelter.  With the rainy season underway, the situation is precarious for the displaced.  Security, especially for women and children, is still a major concern.  Is this an emergency operation, a reconstruction effort, or both?

The Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP) has recently launched a Haiti Portal.  The portal will include evaluations of the Haiti response and other online resources.  In addition, it will provide participants an opportunity to discuss what is going well and what needs to be improved.  Haiti is still teetering between emergency response and reconstruction.  There are many issues that require further attention and action, first so we can improve efforts underway in Haiti and second to do a better job the next time a major urban disaster occurs.  Below is a summary of just a few of these issues. 

Below is a recent report by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) on the state of the Haitian justice system.  Prior to the earthquake, Haiti was making slow but much needed progress on improving access to justice.  The Haitian government is not starting from scratch but now has the added challenge of rebuilding courts, prisons, and police stations while continuing reform efforts.  Promoting a society that understands and values human rights and government that can monitor and enforce them is essential for Haiti's long term development.  

As we get closer to May, the rains will become more frequent and intense.  Even brief rainfall to date gives an indication of how vulnerable the displaced in Port au Prince are to flooding and mud-slides. Some, such as the displaced at the Petionville Golf Club are being relocated to the hastily prepared Corail-Cesselesse site 15 km north of Port au Prince. Six other sites require urgent evacuation before the rainy season.  Other sites can be made safer with engineering interventions.  Disturbingly, hundreds sheltering at the National Stadium were reported to have been forcibly removed.  Close coordination and rapid action are urgently needed to protect the displaced from the upcoming rains. 

The Haiti Donors' Conference is taking place today, which you can view by clicking here.  In the meantime, the International Crisis Group (ICG) has released a report and recommednations for stabilizing and reconstructing Haiti.  The report makes clear that stability demands a difficult balancing act between meeting immediate humanitarian needs, which will only become more pronounced during the rainy season, and  laying the groundwork for long term recovery.  An accountable government, an informed civil society, and an engaged Diaspora are key.  The executive summary/recommendations are copied below and the complete report is attached.

"Mesi" to Nicholas Kristof for his article below in defense of the Haitian people.  Development "experts" and religious "leaders" alike have put forth their own theories, ranging from fatalism to God's will, to explain Haiti's poverty.  Friends of Haiti know that Haitians are a strong, proud people who did not deserve what has happened to them.  As Kristof writes, " ...the implication of belated seismic revenge on Haitian children seems defamatory of God."  Haitians have made it through natural and man-made disasters before this.  While Haiti won't be the same, it will recover - the ultimate rebuttal to those who say it cannot.  

The Center for American Progress recently released an interesting and cautiously optimistic report (attached) on security in Haiti.  For Haiti watchers, the background will no doubt be familiar but there is still much of interest.  Below is an analysis of the  recommendations.  The historical and political cards have long been stacked against Haiti but there is now more evidence and more reasons to expect security will hold and improve. With a lot of work, a bit of luck, and the support of its friends, Haiti will continue to make progress….piti piti.  

Trenton Daniel of the Miami Herald describes below the speech given by Bill Clinton at the second annual Haiti Diaspora Unity Congress. During the speech, he encouraged the Diaspora to stay engaged and announced a number of new initiatives.  For example, he noted that the Soros Economic Development Fund has created a Haiti Invest project, through which an initial 25 million dollars will be spent on  promoting investment in agricuture, energy, housing, and tourism.  Clinton is an asset to Haiti, but as one participant emphasized, the Haitian Diaspora must now step up.