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A Natural Disaster Hits Haiti Again

Scenario:

An earthquake of 5.5 magnitude hits the city of Port au Prince, Haiti. How should Canada, as one of “the friends of Haiti” redirect and structure its aid to provide the most effective and appropriate assistance?

JUSTIFICATION

This scenario will consider aspects of global governance, bilateral relations, and international development by scrutinizing humanitarian assistance towards one of Canada’s largest aid recipients. This scenario is likely to be important domestically, considering the large diaspora group of Haitians living in Quebec.

By removing humanitarian assistance from traditional foreign policy objectives and by conceptualizing it as a feminist initiative, Canadian aid will be less of a space for partisan competition over defining the national interest and instead highlight the moral leadership which Canada seeks to embody. In this way Canada could assume a leadership position in effective development aid. However, this leadership is likely to be met with disapproval from the United States (US), as it signals a departure from their conception of development as security. Nonetheless, this scenario will construe the conceptualization of development aid as separate from partisan politics and private interest as crucial to its success. Furthermore, the legacy of US (and to a lesser degree, Canadian) intervention in Haiti and the negative effects which it has had on the local population, will significantly affect the way in which Canadian aid is received initially, however, we hope that more nuanced and participatory policies will mitigate this.

Natural disasters intensify pre-existing problems in government and civil society . Considering the current and past tensions in Haitian society, this means that the on the ground situation is likely to be quite difficult. Accordingly, a range of experts in development aid, development politics, agricultural development, health and infrastructure, are needed. Of course, these experts must be informed on the local culture and specific needs of Haiti, therefore, academics involved in Haitian studies, as well as local state officials, community leaders, and everyday citizens are also just as necessary. Furthermore, post-disaster reconstruction is experienced differently by men and women, with women exposed to particularly vulnerable situations, meaning women are particularly important in this scenario.

As previously mentioned, past humanitarian engagements with Haiti have failed to improve and have even exacerbated human rights violations in the country. Therefore, Canada owes it to the people of Haiti to right the wrongs which we have inflicted in the past. As Minister Chrystia Freeland said in her speech this August, democracy rests at the heart of the international system and she stressed the commitment to helping the global south join the middle class. The best way to help Haiti achieve these goals is a radical departure from the status quo economic policies and police reform applied in the past.

BACKGROUND

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

In the present global climate, aid and politics are inextricably linked. These policy recommendations aim to disentangle foreign aid from the exploitative forces of external states who attempt to utilize the administration of aid for the accomplishment of their own national interests. Further, they attempt to build a policy of foreign aid that will build the independence of Haiti, rather than increasing its dependence on powerful foreign actors, and by extension reduce the time period wherein Haiti will be dependent on foreign actors.

The Policy recommendations are centred about the following tenets: maintaining constant communication, respect, and nuance with local actors; promoting good governance; rebuilding health and infrastructure, and reducing poverty.

general recommendations

Conceptualize our aid constituents as Haitians first, and donors second. This will encourage local participation and remove the top-heavy pattern to which aid has become prone

Bear in mind that any truly beneficial aid needs to be conceptualized as a long term commitment and participatory process with locals. Therefore, while short term projects are welcomed, these must be in tandem with long term goals and commitments.

Avoid a strict adherence to results based management as this can distort perceptions of projects as statistical results can obfuscate and manipulate the true nature of field work.

Involve Haitian diaspora groups and academics with expertise in Haitian economics, sociology, history, etc.

Train personnel who will be working in Haiti in basic Kreyol before arrival. This is imperative if we are to meaningfully engage the local population of Haiti, and not only the elite French (and English) speaking class.

Remove any “national interest” considerations – example: No “tied aid”

Involve grassroots and community groups (of every region, gender, and class) in every aspect of Governmental initiatives on the ground, including:

Preliminary discussions

Executing the project

Establishing project prioritization

Follow-through and maintenance of the project

Conceptualizing the finished result and general workability

Final evaluation of the project to determine its effectiveness [4]

Constructing and organizing the project plan

Establish an easily accessible and meaningful feedback mechanism for local women to voice concerns with the process at any time.

Mainstream participatory models are unhelpful in addressing inequalities because of the domination of the process by elite Haitian actors. Furthermore, a past study conducted in Haiti found that NGOs and donors reported local actors to have participated in more steps of the development project than Haitians reported to have.[5]

Good governance recommendations

Channel 50% of all economic assistance provided by Canada through the Haitian Government, provided that it can prove that this money has been invested in social and governmental initiatives, or that it has been redistributed to regional governments.

After the 2010 earthquake less than 1% of US funds went to the government.[6] Former Haitian minister of social affairs has stated that because of the fact that most international assistance is dispersed through NGOs, that the state’s ability to govern is grossly undermined. This is further exacerbated by the fact that few NGOs report to have a “constructive relationship” with the Haitian government.[7]

Canadian actors will share all information gathered throughout their work with the Haitian government. This will strengthen the ability of the government to provide assistance to its people in the future and help to foster a cooperative environment among actors in Haiti.

Assist the Haitian government with projects like National Reconciliation, Truth Telling, and localized Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration.

Health & infrastrcuture recommendations

Assist the government with legislating a building code to ensure sound infrastructure is implemented in the future. This could be done in partnership with local engineers and construction groups.

poverty reduction recommendations

Strengthen the Haitian agricultural sector. A large portion of the Haitian peasantry is engaged in some way or another in agricultural production. Therefore, assistance to this sector would be one of the most far reaching, direct ways to alleviate absolute poverty.[8]

Contribute directly to Haitian “sòls” (organically organized, no-interest lending systems among, friends, neighbours, family members, and coworkers, popular in the Caribbean), to ensure that women can still afford the largest expenses (school tuition, rent, groceries, and water) for their families.[9]

Invest in Haiti’s productive base, specifically the restoration of its environment and improved domestic agricultural production. This will benefit hundreds of thousands of rural Haitians as well as strengthen the domestic market so that Haitians are not forced to rely on food aid and pricey imports.[10]

STRATEGY

Partner with Haitian NGOs in Tandem with the Haitian Government

Partnering with Haitian NGOs in Tandem with the Haitian Government is imperative to ensuring that rebuilding efforts in Haiti are successful. Partnering with both Haitian NGOs and the Government will put Canada in a position to facilitate sustainable communications and partnership between Haitian civil society and the Haitian government, which in turn builds the foundation for an accountable, democratic Haiti.

Further, partnering with Haitian NGOs, particularly those with the connections to Haiti’s peasant community and Haitian women, mitigates the risk of the social stratification of aid, wherein money given to Haitian elites and Haitian civil society stays with the Haitian elites, rather than making its way to peasant communities. Moreover, partnering with NGOs will provide Canada, an external actor, with local insights and cultural nuances to temper and inform its administration of aid, and receive immediate feedback from the Haitian population on the effectiveness of Canadian aid.

While direct external-government to local NGO cooperation is uncommon, there is evidence to suggest that Canada may be well suited to this type of bilateral cooperation[11], and further, that cooperation between an external-government, local NGOs, and the Haitian government may be an extremely sustainable and effective means for rebuilding Haitian infrastructure in the wake of a disaster[12], and promoting and building democratic processes throughout the disaster reconstruction process[13].

NGOs must have direct connections to the peasant population in Haiti (i.e. peasant community representatives). Furthermore, these connections must result in meaningful participation of the peasant community, as laid out under the general policy recommendations.
NGOs must be committed to working with the Haitian government from preliminary discussions on various rebuilding projects through to the evaluation of those projects following their completion
NGOs must be committed to working with the Canadian government and receiving Canadian funding on a long-term, rather than project-by-project, basis.
NGOs must have 40% female employees

Criteria for NGO Partnership

Examples of Haitian NGOs that Meet Partnership Criteria

CONCLUSION

In her June 2017 address to the Canadian Parliament, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland presented a vision for Canada’s foreign policy. That vision includes helping “the people of the world’s fastest-growing countries [to] join the global middle class,” providing “refuge to the persecuted and downtrodden, to the extent we are able,” and finally, launching “Canada’s first feminist international assistance policy.”

This scenario has presented a framework for transforming how Canada provides foreign aid. In this model for foreign aid, informed citizens of countries receiving Canadian aid can work in tandem with Canada and their own governments to create strategies that maximize the effectiveness of foreign aid. In partnering with local Haitians, the Canadian Government could gain unprecedented perspectives from those with “boots-on-the-ground” that would provide culturally, and socially informed insights on how to best administer aid.

Further, in engaging with Haitian NGOs and the Haitian government simultaneously, Canadian aid workers and officials could help to facilitate connections, and productive relationships between elite Haitian society, and peasant populations. This in turn could lead to the foundations of a stable democratic system in Haiti.

There are a number of actors state and nonstate alike that have stakes in Haiti. These stakeholders, like Canada, have a history of mishandling their administration of aid to Haiti, and in some cases, creating conditions that marred Haiti’s rebuilding efforts. Canada has the opportunity, then, to model a new way of supporting the Haitian people, and to help facilitate change in pre-existing aid relationships in Haiti.

Transforming the way Canada does foreign aid is imperative to meeting the government’s vision for a Canada that supports states fighting to join the middle class, protects and upholds the downtrodden, and empowers women through its international assistance policy. This scenario has presented a starting point to make that vision a reality.