Con­cern at reports that Haitians are being “excluded” from deci­sions on country’s future

Local sup­port for recon­struc­tion plans vital to long-term recov­ery, says Progressio

More than 26 Hait­ian NGOs rep­re­sent­ing thou­sands of ordi­nary Hait­ian peo­ple have con­demned recent inter­na­tional talks about the future of their earth­quake shat­tered nation, say­ing they have been “totally excluded” from the dis­cus­sions – and that their calls for a “new model of devel­op­ment” in Haiti are being ignored, Pro­gres­sio warns today.

The Hait­ian organ­i­sa­tions – many of whom have been assisted in the after­math of the 12 Jan­u­ary quake by the Dominican-led “Help Haiti” NGO coali­tion of which Pro­gres­sio is part – issued a joint state­ment yes­ter­day after high-ranking offi­cials from a range of inter­na­tional organ­i­sa­tions met to dis­cuss ini­tial plans for Haiti’s recon­struc­tion in the Domini­can cap­i­tal, Santo Domingo.

In the state­ment, the Hait­ian groups – includ­ing many well known Hait­ian human rights and devel­op­ment organ­i­sa­tions – say: “The ongo­ing process [which will result in a recon­struc­tion plan for Haiti] has been char­ac­terised by an almost total exclu­sion of Hait­ian social actors them­selves and scant and dis­or­gan­ised par­tic­i­pa­tion of rep­re­sen­ta­tives from the Hait­ian state.”

They con­tinue: “The path set out for Haiti’s reconstruction…cannot respond to the expec­ta­tions of the Hait­ian peo­ple as it has not been con­ceived to stim­u­late devel­op­ment, but sim­ply for ‘restora­tion’, even though the Hait­ian con­text demands a com­plete rethink of the devel­op­ment model.”

The high-level meet­ing, which took place over two days in Santo Domingo, included a num­ber of rep­re­sen­ta­tives of Haiti’s gov­ern­ment, donor nations, mul­ti­lat­eral lenders, UN agen­cies and aid groups, ahead of a sched­uled March 31 donors’ con­fer­ence in New York. The pri­mary aim was to dis­cuss the ini­tial find­ings of the so-called Post Dis­as­ter Needs Assess­ment (PDNA), which will pave the way for longer-term reconstruction.

At the meet­ing, donors pledged an ini­tial sum of $3.8bn over 18 months to finance Haiti’s recov­ery. But, Hait­ian groups say the funds are being allo­cated with lit­tle regard for the needs and desires of the Hait­ian peo­ple themselves.

“It’s regret­table that the [Post Dis­as­ter Needs Assess­ment], pro­duced by a group of 300 tech­nocrats, was pre­sented to donors, with­out hav­ing first engaged in a wide con­sul­ta­tion process with Hait­ian social actors”, the state­ment says.

Instead of a return to ‘busi­ness as usual’ fol­low­ing the quake, the Hait­ian groups say they want to see “a new project for the Hait­ian nation, which includes seri­ous strate­gies to over­come exclu­sion, polit­i­cal and eco­nomic dependence.”

This includes find­ing new ways to ensure polit­i­cal power and pub­lic ser­vices are “decen­tralised” from the cap­i­tal, Port au Prince, as well as improved edu­ca­tion and healthcare.

Tim Aldred, Progressio’s Advo­cacy Man­ager said: “The involve­ment of Hait­ian civil soci­ety in these vital dis­cus­sions has to be more than just lip ser­vice. These groups – who know the needs and pri­or­i­ties of the Hait­ian peo­ple bet­ter than any­one – clearly feel they are not being consulted.”

Tim con­tin­ues: “Efforts must be made to include their views and voices in the deci­sions which affect the future of Haiti. Con­sul­ta­tion, whilst some­times time con­sum­ing and chal­leng­ing, is essen­tial to ensure that these impor­tant deci­sions sur­vive the test of time and are ulti­mately sup­ported by Haitians them­selves. After all, it is their country.”

Pro­gres­sio has been work­ing along­side many of the Hait­ian groups who have signed the joint state­ment, as part of the “Help Haiti” coalition.

The fol­low­ing Hait­ian organ­i­sa­tions have signed the state­ment: PAPDA, JURISHA, ENFOFANM, AAR, Fon­da­tion TOYA, AFASDA, Gam­mit Tim­oun, GIDH Group ente­van­syon, MPP, CROSE, KSIL, KONAREPA, PADAD, MOREPLA, SOFA, Mou­ve­ment sco­laire Foi et Joie, Media Alter­na­tive, Comis­sion Epis­co­pale Nationale Jus­tice et Paix, CHANDEL, ICPJLDH, REBA, TKL, Cel­lule Réflex­ions et d’Actions Sj, Con­fédéra­tion des Haï­tiens pour la Réc­on­cil­i­a­tion, VEDEK and CODHA.