FOCAL POINT

Note from the Guest Editor — Haiti Needs Jobs To Be Sustainable
Carlo Dade
Haiti is Canada’s second largest aid recipient. Despite the economic downturn, Canada has not cut its pledge to Haiti of $555 million over five years in direct bilateral aid, roughly $110 million per year. Put another way, Ottawa sends to Haiti each year about one-half of Saskatchewan’s equalization payment. Canada has no hard interests, historic link or debt to Haiti and only negligible trade, which makes this sum an amazing contribution and foreign policy commitment. While the Canadian media has all but ignored Canada’s role in Haiti in favour of Afghanistan, the international community is preparing for an international donors conference in April to be in Washington, D.C. In advance of that conference, one must ask, has Canada’s aid made a difference? The answer is, yes. Indeed, Canadian aid dollars have mattered in Haiti, from feeding over 300,000 school children each day to building infrastructure and providing emergency relief after hurricanes and flooding. In addition, Canada is providing over $65 million to support the operation of the Haitian government and parliament, including funds to assist the government in preparing and implementing development plans as well as to work with international donors.
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Haiti’s Economic Prospects ‘Hopeful’
Carlo Dade interviews Paul Collier
FOCAL’s Executive Director Carlo Dade interviewed Oxford University economist Paul Collier about his report, Haiti: From Natural Catastrophe to Economic Security, commissioned by United Nations Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon about how to re-start the Haitian economy. Download Collier's report.
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Paul Collier’s Report on Economic Security in Haiti
Robert Maguire
Haiti is not hopeless or doomed to failure. Oxford University economics professor Paul Collier makes this essential and oft-overlooked point in discussions on Haiti in his report on how to establish economic security in Haiti for the United Nations Secretary-General. It is a much-needed change in discourse that, until recently, included the discussion of ‘trusteeship.’ Collier does not ignore Haiti’s dire circumstances nor does he dismiss the challenges it will confront in 2009. Yet, he concludes that Haiti has “fundamentals that favour economic development,” including political leadership that is “good by the standards of most post-conflict situations.” This new kind of Haitian political leadership with “integrity, experience and ability, and a deep concern with the maintenance of social peace,” as Collier describes it, is an important change in a country known more for leaders who serve themselves, than the nation. Time is of the essence, says Collier, pointing out the need for rapid action culminating in a donors meeting in April and the implementation of two or three-year strategies agreed upon by all key actors including the government of Haiti, beginning in May. Implementation, however, will depend on how his ideas revolving around jobs, basic services, food security and environmental sustainability, are received from within Haiti.
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Le Rapport de Paul Collier sur la sécurité économique en Haïti
Robert Maguire
Haïti n’est ni dans une situation désespérée ni voué à l’échec. Tel est en gros l’argument que défend Paul Collier dans son rapport au Secrétaire général des Nations Unis sur la manière de rétablir la sécurité économique en Haïti, un argument souvent évincé des discussions concernant le pays mais qui s’écarte heureusement des analyses qui, jusqu’à une date récente, prônaient même la ‘tutelle’ de l’ONU. Collier, qui est professeur d’économie à l’Université d’Oxford n’ignore ni les conditions terribles en Haïti ni les chocs que le pays devra affronter en 2009. Cependant, il soutient que Haïti a des « fondamentaux favorables au développement économique », y compris des dirigeants politiques qui sont « bons d’après les critères d’évaluation des pays sortant des conflits ». Ces nouveaux dirigeants politiques haïtiens, « intègres, expérimentés et capables », qui se soucient beaucoup du maintien de la paix sociale comme la décrit Collier, représentent une importante évolution dans un pays connu pour des leaders qui se préoccupent d’eux-mêmes plutôt que du bien de la nation. Mais, la vitesse s’impose, dit Collier, face à l’impératif d’une action rapide à l’approche d’une réunion des donateurs en avril et à la mise en œuvre, dès mai, des stratégies prévues pour deux ou trois ans et convenues entre tous les principaux acteurs dont le gouvernement d’Haïti. La mise en œuvre dépendra de la réception que les Haïtiens réservent à ses idées concernant la création d’emplois, les services de base, la sécurité alimentaire et la durabilité de l’environnement.
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Ignoring rural Haiti is a recipe for failure
Yasmine Shamsie
Haitians encountered an extraordinary amount of adversity in 2008. The worldwide price hikes in basic commodities and fuel caused severe hardship. Food prices alone increased by almost 80 per cent between August 2007 and March 2008 and caused a wave of political demonstrations across the country. Then, just as protests waned, the country was hit by three hurricanes and one tropical storm, all in the space of a month, leaving more than 800 people dead, tens of thousands homeless and about US$1 billion in damages. The Haitian government, the UN mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and international donors responded quickly to the humanitarian emergency, which has allowed the country to regain its footing, but just barely. Although political stability has been restored and humanitarian efforts are underway, there is a heightened sense of urgency in the air.
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On court à l’échec si le monde rural en Haïti est ignoré
Yasmine Shamsie
En 2008, les Haïtiens ont connu une suite d’événements calamiteux aggravés par la flambée mondiale des prix des denrées de base et du pétrole. À eux seuls, les prix des produits alimentaires ont augmenté de presque 80 pour cent, entre août 2007 et mars 2008, ce qui a provoqué dans tout le pays une vague de manifestations politiques. Mais, juste au moment où ces manifestations ont commencé à diminuer, trois ouragans et une tempête tropicale ont frappé le pays dans l’espace d’un mois : bilan plus de 800 morts; des dizaines de milliers de sans-abri et des dommages matériels estimés à près d’un milliard de dollars. Le gouvernement d’Haïti, la MINUSTAH, la mission onusienne en Haïti, et les donateurs internationaux ont vite réagi à l’urgence humanitaire et permis au pays de reprendre pied, mais à peine. Bien que la stabilité politique ait été rétablie et que les efforts humanitaires soient déployés, il règne au pays un vrai climat d’urgence. Aussi le gouvernement haïtien et les donateurs internationaux estiment-ils que, même si la situation semble encore délicate, le moment est aussi propice à la mise en œuvre d’un plan de relance et de développement économiques afin d’améliorer rapidement la vie quotidienne des Haïtiens.
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Reforming the Haitian National Police
Timothy Donais
Five years after Aristide, Haiti finds itself at a crossroads between stabilization and consolidation. Nowhere is this more evident than in the security sector. The reform of the Haitian National Police (HNP) remains very much a work in progress, even as the wave of violence and instability that followed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s controversial departure has largely subsided. The HNP itself —the cornerstone of Haiti’s security architecture since the abolition of the country’s armed forces— is no longer a scourge, if still not yet trusted. It is once again capable of basic policing even if it remains outmatched by Haiti’s serious criminals.
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Haitians Building Democratic Culture
Nicholas Galletti and Lauren Ravon
The 2006 transfer of power in Haiti from the transitional government to an elected government under President René Préval opened a rare window of opportunity for finally addressing the ills that have plagued this poverty-stricken country for decades. The election did not turn Haiti into a fully functioning democracy, but it did provide the basis upon which one could be built.
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