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Will the donors' 'business as usual' be enough to save Haiti?

The earthquake represents an opportunity to put Haiti’s people back on the right path

A Reuters article quotes Haitian Finance and Economy Minister Ronald Baudin as expecting a "massive" response from donors to the multibillion-dollar need for reconstruction following the January 12th earthquake. The earthquake is estimated to have caused over 11 billion dollars in damage to a country that had already been suffering for decades from poverty and corruption. But will the donors’ ‘business as usual’ be enough to save Haiti?

Following the January 12th earthquake, many in the West struggled to understand why Haiti continues to suffer from endemic poverty, corruption, and environmental degradation after years of foreign assistance and so-called ‘development.’

ACT Alliance / DanChurchAid believes that the combined response to the catastrophic tragedy of the earthquake represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put Haiti’s people back on the right path toward better lives – but only if it’s done in the right way. If not, Haiti risks staying stuck right where it is: a corrupt and impoverished island nation that, despite being in the backyard of the richest country in the world, is unable to feed, educate, and care for its people.

‘Building back better’

These are the buzz words on donors’ lips these days, ‘building back better.’ They represent an attempt to ensure that Haiti’s reconstruction includes an element of ‘disaster risk reduction', which is about ensuring that Haiti is prepared to cope with the effects of the next natural disaster, and thereby avoid a humanitarian emergency. After all, hurricanes and tornadoes hit Haiti’s northern neighbour, the United States, all the time, and yet only when it happens in poverty-ravaged areas like New Orleans’ south ward does it turn into a humanitarian emergency. Haitians also deserve to live in a country where the resources exist – at the household, local, and national levels – to be prepared for and cope with disaster.

But what do ‘preparedness and response capacity’ and ‘disaster risk reduction’ really mean? ‘Building back better’ may actually be the relatively easy part. Donor support for construction of civil buildings, government structures, schools and hospitals that can withstand the next earthquake or hurricane is important. These projects will also no doubt generate lots of economic opportunity for construction and supply companies, hopefully some of them Haitian. However, perhaps even more important than the physical structures themselves are the social structures that will truly hold them together; the ability to manage, maintain, staff, and continually repair these structures is the capacity that’s been missing in Haiti.

Here’s where donors can make a significant departure from ‘business as usual.’ Instead of letting international institutions like the UN and the World Bank lead the response, let’s put Haitians in the driver’s seat – and support them to do so. DanChurchAid believes that the only lasting recovery and reconstruction possible will be that which is owned and managed by the Haitians themselves. Unfortunately, the weakness of Haitian institutions is such that massive support will be needed to ensure that they are up to the job. But this should not be an excuse to side-step them. Rather, this should be an opportunity for an enormous training and technical assistance task, one that can play a role in encouraging the Haitian diaspora to return to their country and help rebuild its institutions. Haiti’s police force is understaffed, underpaid, and undertrained. The penal system and the judiciary system also need serious help, as does virtually every other public institution in Haiti, from the patchwork systems of health care and education supported by various NGOs and churches. Donors need to ensure that the recovery effort focuses on training and reconstituting Haiti’s human and social capital as much – if not more – than on its physical infrastructure.

Perhaps most importantly, that strange and mythical entity known as ‘civil society’ needs nurturing. DanChuchAid staff’s witnessed a remarkable level of self-help and community based assistance, of poor Haitian earthquake survivors helping other poor Haitian earthquake survivors. This included help from churches, businesses, and community groups, and went largely unreported in the international news media, who tended to focus on the international effort (and its shortcomings) and civil unrest. These small and middle sized groups are key to making a functioning and healthy society run. DanChurchAid urges donors to listen to civil society organisations – directly, not mediated through others’ voices such as the UN, INGOs, or the Haitian government – and focus a significant share of resources in nurturing these groups’ growth.

DanChurchAid’s own support of the HAP and Sphere focal point project in Haiti is also playing a role in empowering Haitian civil society. Also, government actors can play a positive role in engaging with international and local organisations’ assistance efforts, through the promotion of standards of quality and accountability.

‘It’s the economy, stupid.’

Bill Clinton promises to be spending some time on the Haitian recovery. The campaign slogan that swept him to office is equally apt when it comes to Haiti’s prospects for a longer term recovery. The World Bank found that upwards of 25% of Haitians receive remittances, and of these up to 55 percent do not have any other income. These remittances are largely spent on the provision of basic needs: housing, food, clothing and medicine. The reason is simple: there are simply not enough jobs in Haiti.

Currently, the United States sells more to this impoverished island nation than it purchases. Between 1990 and 2009, between 50-60 percent of imports into Haiti originated in the United States. Basic foodstuffs such as rice, wheat and meat products constitute the most significant exports. This is unsurprising given that years of deforestation have left Haiti’s countryside extremely eroded with quickly dwindling topsoil, and few agricultural resources to stimulate production for local consumption much less export.

DanChurchAid urges donors to ensure that the reconstruction effort explicitly focuses on redressing the Haitian trade deficit, encourages local production of food through large and small scale agriculture to reduce dependence on imported food, and promotes the Haitian economy through the use of trade incentives to stimulate job growth.

A Race, not a Marathon

The road to Haiti’s recovery is long. The focus should be on sustainable recovery, not the quick wins that may generate headlines. Let’s face it; a huge part of the reason for the scope and scale of the disaster is that Haiti was a destitute country before January 12, 2010. The next headlines to emerge from Haiti may be about the rise in kidnappings of foreign aid workers, the slow pace of recovery, and the fight over donor funds amongst the UN, the INGOs, and the foreign companies. Or, if donors put their focus on building the government, the civil society, agricultural production, and the economy from within, the next stories could point to the cautious, tentative steps towards a Haiti that is better off than it was before the earthquake. And that will be no small accomplishment.

By Erik Johnson (+45 29700605)
Humanitarian Response Coordinator
DanChurchAid