Disarmement: a Long-Term Process

I've been reading with great interest the efforts of the international community to encourage gang members in the slums of Port au Prince to disarm. To my knowledge, there has never been as concerted an attempt to provide gang members with incentives to disarm. At present, gang members who disarm are provided with cards that entitle them to food and other benefits for a set period of time.

The immediate question that comes to mind is what happens once that period of time elapses. If Haitians in the slums still doesn't have opportunities for studying and working, what is to keep a gang member from re-arming? God knows that there are certainly enough firearms in Haiti. For a variety of reasons, it may well be easier for gang members to attain more advanced weaponry than the Haitian National Police.

Initiatives come and go in Haiti, depending on the whims of the donor community. I hope that this will be a long term process with sustained commitment. The slums of Port au Prince are dangerous indeed, and if there is not something beyond limited social incentives, I fear this program will eventually fail.

This program needs to be linked to other initiatives...and the Haitian government needs to be seen as actively working to improve the lot of the poorest. While Prèval echoed the frustration of the vast majority of Haitians when he informed gangs that they would either live in peace or rest in peace, we should keep in mind that there are more gang members than police and parliamentarians put together. It is not enough to issue an ultimatum.

Taking on the leaders will be hard when so few are investing in the slums, investing in the people who live there. We wish conditions in the countryside were such that people did not need to flock to Haiti's biggest city, but alas, slums have become a permanent feature of the Port-au-Prince landscape. Opportunities need to be available for all, not just gang members, or there will be increased recruitment into the gangs.

Where do we go from here? A civilian conversation corps in port au prince would be an asset. Basic education with a strong vocational component would help. The slums are not going to go away, people need ownership. Despite what the media may lead us to believe, the seeds of civil societies exist and can be nurtured.

We would be interested in hearing your thoughts about the disarmament program and what can be done to ensure this program succeeds. What are your thoughts?