Search

Begin New Search Topic Development Political Geography Haiti

1. Haiti’s Failed Quest for Stability and Development after the 2010 Earthquake: Why Did It Go Wrong?

Author:
Koldo Echebarria
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Haiti is once more experiencing a severe crisis of instability and political unrest. The devastating 2010 earthquake catastrophe was seen as a chance to break with the past and steer the nation in a new direction. Although some progress was made, it was only short-lived, insufficient to establish a growth path, uneven across sectors, and, as we have since learned, politically unsustainable. The analysis identifies several reasons the effort was insufficient to bring stability and growth: (i) objectives spanned reconstruction and development while resources were limited; (ii) the approach taken to build up security was unsustainable, leaving an underfunded and institutionally weak police force; (iii) divisive and confrontational politics was recognized as the critical challenge but it was not dealt with as such; (iv) coordination between Haitian authorities and international actors suffered from a deep sense of mistrust, never achieving a shared and clear action plan; (v) state-building efforts failed and institutions deteriorated further; and, (vi) the project-by-project approach followed by international donors dispersed effort, limited adaptation to a complex reality and increased transaction costs. Policy recommendations follow the analysis, arguing for a more focused strategy from the international community with a long-term programmatic approach. Until a reasonable level of stability is reached, security and social protection should take precedence. A final reflection will be offered on how lessons learned in Haiti can be useful in other fragile contexts.
Topic:
Development, Natural Disasters, Earthquake, Instability, and Aid Effectiveness
Political Geography:
Caribbean and Haiti

2. Pivoting from Crisis to Development: Preparing for the Next Wave of UN Peace Operations Transitions

Author:
Daniel Forti and Lesley Connolly
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
UN peace operations are going through an accelerated period of reconfiguration and drawdown. Between June 2017 and March 2018, long-standing peacekeeping missions in Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia closed, while the mission in Haiti was reconfigured into a transitional peacekeeping mission. Looking ahead, the Security Council has mandated the closure of the peacekeeping mission in Darfur and the initial drawdown of the peacebuilding mission in Guinea-Bissau, and its attention is starting to shift to other missions. With these upcoming transitions in mind, this issue brief explores experiences and lessons from recent UN transitions in Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, and Liberia. Each of these transitions has been the subject of a detailed IPI policy report published as part of IPI’s project on “Planning for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations Transitions.” Drawing on this research, this issue brief recommends how to manage politics and recalibrate policies to better shape future transitions. Its recommendations include to: Adopt shared and long-term political strategies, particularly in Security Council mandates and benchmarks, as well as through regular sharing of assessments from the field. Ensure integration in field-level planning strategies well before the Security Council sets transition timelines, with senior leadership from the mission shaping the vision, driving planning, and providing concrete recommendations for the future UN presence in the country. Strategically engage the host society to align peacebuilding priorities and to communicate the core message that the mission is leaving but the UN is remaining in the country. Engage early to secure adequate financing, capitalizing on debates surrounding the transition while it is still on the Security Council’s agenda. Institutionalize dedicated transition support capacity within the UN system, including policy and programmatic guidance, operational support, planning expertise, and surge capacities. Sustain long-term peacebuilding through partnerships, ensuring that residual peacebuilding challenges are mainstreamed into national development plans and international and regional development frameworks.
Topic:
Development, United Nations, Peacekeeping, Crisis Management, and Transition
Political Geography:
Africa, Haiti, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire

3. On US and Haiti Relations: The Ties that Bind

Author:
Pamela A. White
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:
Haiti is the last country I will serve as a United States diplomat abroad and it was one of the first places I served early in my career. My perspec­tives on US and Haitian relations have ripened over decades of observation and years of first-hand experience. The question I have been asked most is: “Why does the US Government care about Haiti? There are only about 11 million Haitians, the majority are poor, and they don’t even speak English.” And then the same people answer their own question: “Oh, I know, the United States doesn’t want 40,000 boat people landing on its shores—better to keep them in Haiti!”
Topic:
Development, Diplomacy, Bilateral Relations, and Governance
Political Geography:
Haiti and United States of America

4. Govern LIke Us: U.S. Expectations of Poor Countries

Author:
M. A. Thomas
Publication Date:
05-2015
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Columbia University Press
Abstract:
In the poorest countries, such as Afghanistan, Haiti, and Mali, the United States has struggled to work with governments whose corruption and lack of capacity are increasingly seen to be the cause of instability and poverty. The development and security communities call for "good governance" to improve the rule of law, democratic accountability, and the delivery of public goods and services. The United States and other rich liberal democracies insist that this is the only legitimate model of governance. Yet poor governments cannot afford to govern according to these ideals and instead are compelled to rely more heavily on older, cheaper strategies of holding power, such as patronage and repression. The unwillingness to admit that poor governments do and must govern differently has cost the United States and others inestimable blood and coin. Informed by years of fieldwork and drawing on practitioner work and academic scholarship in politics, economics, law, and history, this book explains the origins of poor governments in the formation of the modern state system and describes the way they govern. It argues that, surprisingly, the effort to stigmatize and criminalize the governance of the poor is both fruitless and destabilizing. The United States must pursue a more effective foreign policy to engage poor governments and acknowledge how they govern.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Corruption, Development, Poverty, Fragile/Failed State, and Governance
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Haiti, and Mali
Publication Identifier:
9780231171205
Publication Identifier Type:
ISBN

5. Climate Change Resilience: The case of Haiti

Author:
Marc J. Cohen and Bhawan Singh
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Haiti's climate has changed over the past four decades. Annual mean temperatures have risen, and the rainy season now begins up to three months later than usual. Projections of future climate change indicate that annual mean temperatures will continue to rise over the course of the 21st century. Rainfall variability is also expected to increase, meaning more extreme droughts in the dry season and more intense rainfall in the wet season. Sea-level rise and increased storm surges are also expected. The coastal plains are increasingly subject to the influx of saltwater, and as ocean surges lead to saltier soils, farmers can no longer cultivate them. These factors will exacerbate current serious problems of flooding and erosion in coastal areas that lie in the direct path of tropical storms and hurricanes. In the absence of significant adaptation efforts, these dynamics will in turn have severe impacts on water resources, land, agriculture, and forests. Annual population growth of 1.5 per cent means over 11 million mouths to feed by 2020 and additional pressure on agricultural resources.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Poverty, Natural Disasters, and Infrastructure
Political Geography:
Caribbean and Haiti

6. Water and Sanitation in the Time of Cholera: Sustaining Progress on Water, Sanitation, and Health in Haiti

Author:
Katherine E. Bliss and Matt Fisher
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:
In October 2010, just nine months after an earthquake devastated the capital city of Port-au-Prince and displaced an estimated 1.5 million people, Haiti's Ministry of Public Health and Population reported a cholera outbreak in two of the country's most impoverished regions. It was the first time cholera—a diarrheal disease associated with the consumption of food and water contaminated by feces infected with the bacterium vibrio cholerae—had been identified in the country in at least 100 years. Within a month of the initial report, cholera had spread not only to all regions of Haiti but also to the neighboring Dominican Republic. This report considers opportunities for the United States to enhance its support for improving Haiti's water supply and sanitation services and contributing to the elimination of the transmission of cholera and the reduction of diarrheal disease in the country.
Topic:
Development, Humanitarian Aid, Infectious Diseases, and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:
United States, Caribbean, and Haiti

7. Balancing Foreign Direct Investments: Disaster Risks and Development in Haiti

Author:
Laurent Lamothe
Publication Date:
04-2013
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:
This World Leaders Forum program features an address by Laurent Lamothe, Prime Minister of the Republic of Haiti, titled Balancing Foreign Direct Investments: Disaster Risks and Development in Haiti, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Natural Disasters, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
Caribbean and Haiti

8. Planting Now (2nd Edition): Revitalizing agriculture for reconstruction and development in Haiti

Author:
Tonny Joseph
Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010 exacerbated the country's grinding poverty and serious development problems, while at the same time worsening Haitian living conditions. The tremor killed over 250,000 people and injured 300, 000. It crippled the economy, causing losses estimated at almost 120 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Nevertheless, economic growth is expected to rise between 7 and 9 percent in 2012, largely owing to reconstruction efforts. The population in internally displaced persons camps has decreased from 1.5 million to around 390,000 (according to the June 2012 report of the International Organization for Migration), and the country's hurricane preparedness capacity has increased.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Gender Issues, Government, Food, and Fragile/Failed State
Political Geography:
Caribbean and Haiti

9. Putting the pieces together: Haiti's path to a working state

Author:
Blanca Antonini
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
The earthquake of 2010 brutally exposed the vulnerabilities of Haiti's people, as well as confronting an already weakly governed country with massive humanitarian and logistical dilemmas. While progress has been made towards reconstruction, the underlying fragility of the country remains. Even as certain donors reconsider their aid to the country, Haiti continues to suffer from economic dependence, environmental risk, an institutional vacuum, a heavily fragmented political landscape, and a continuing cycle of poverty and violence.
Topic:
Corruption, Development, Humanitarian Aid, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Caribbean and Haiti

10. Haiti Progress Report 2010

Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Even before the earthquake struck on 12 January 2010, Haiti was the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere, ranked by the United Nations Development Programme as one of the world's 50 poorest countries (2009). In short, life was already a struggle for most families. Then the earthquake hit, and lives were turned upside down. It was the most powerful earthquake in Haiti for 200 years.
Topic:
Development, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
United Nations, Caribbean, and Haiti