Earthquake Reconstruction: Another look at progress

January 25, 2012

Wawa and Kristen Chege reflect on the international response to the Haiti earthquake and the need for transparency in reconstruction efforts in the latest Third Way Cafe.

In this chaos of reconstruction, with an influx of aid money and the pressure to spend quickly, international companies have instead found an opportune time to push Haiti down the path of industrialization. Investors have reframed their factories as opportunities for development, and in the process secured significant funding from USAID and international financial institutions.

Read the article here.

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Posted by jesseeppfransen

We Remember Haiti

January 12, 2012

Photo by Ben Depp/MCC

Today marks two years after a devastating earthquake killed more than 300,000 people and displaced more than a million in Haiti. Haitians continue to struggle through the process of recovery with at least half a million people still living in displacement camps and many other survivors struggling to meet their basic needs.

We pray for Haiti’s continued recovery and remember all those who have endured much hardship.

Advocate for Haiti | Haiti Photo Gallery | MCC’s Response

 

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Posted by Theo Sitther

Haiti After the Earthquake

July 15, 2011

18 months after Haiti was devastated by the January 12, 2010 earthquake, many Haitians are still without basic homes or shelter and cholera continues to claim lives. In a recent interview with NPR, Paul Farmer, founding director of Partners in Health and United Nations Deputy Special Envoy in Haiti, speaks about the situation on the ground, looking at the effectiveness of the aid response in Haiti and highlighting the importance of investing in Haitian institutions for sustainable reconstruction.

Click here to listen to the interview.

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Posted by Sarah Birkebak

Haitian Campaign for Trade Justice

May 2, 2011

It's Enough. Stop the death Plan.

A group made up of 19 organizations, grassroots associations and NGOs launched a campaign to say once and for all, “It’s enough!”

The text on this dramatic logo literally means: “It’s enough. Stop the death plan.” In colloquial Creole, plan lanmò, or the death plan, refers to the neoliberal policies that have been applied in Haiti primarily by means of free trade agreements and conditions on external loans.

Haitian popular movements are unanimous in their recognition that the disaster caused by the January 12th, 2010 earthquake is the result of a socio-historical process whose main features are exclusion, injustice, and inequality, exacerbated by the application of neoliberal policies over three decades.

While the situation of displaced victims in Haiti continues to degenerate, private sector and multi-national plans to build free zones and investment infrastructure are flourishing and the Haitian economy continues to bear the brunt of bad public policy.

The campaign seeks to sever Haiti’s adherence to the system of market-driven policies that have resulted in a violation of the majority of the population’s rights, including access to healthcare, education, clean water and safe housing.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Theo Sitther

Protect IDPs in Haiti

April 20, 2011

Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), along with fifty-two of her colleagues in the House of Representatives, has written a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging the U.S. Administration to take immediate steps to address the dire conditions in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Haiti. More than a year after the earthquake, almost a million people are still living in appalling conditions.

The letter raises concern about the following:

  • The lack of access to clean water, adequate shelter and sanitation.
  • Camp residents’ vulnerability to diseases such as cholera, which has killed more than 4,600 people since October.
  • The lack of security and the increase in rape and other forms of gender based violence.
  • The increasing number of IDPs who are forcibly evicted from camps with no other viable options for housing. One in four of all people living in these camps are threatened with forced eviction.

As Haiti faces another rainy season, which is fast approaching, people in these camps are especially vulnerable as conditions continue to deteriorate.

The letter calls on Sec. Clinton to:

  • Work with international partners and the Haitian authority to “ensure a speedy, short-term response to the immediate shelter, water, sanitation and security needs of the IDPs.
  • Strive to develop a transitional and long term solution to these concerns.
  • Ensure accountability and transparency especially from the organizations that receive U.S. government funding to work in these camps.
  • Collaborate and consult with Haitians, especially the ones who are living in these camps. The letter states, “If there is any constant in the criticism that has been directed at relief efforts in Haiti, it is that the international community has failed to adequately consult and coordinate with the Haitians receiving assistance.”
Read the letter to Sec. Clinton.

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Posted by Theo Sitther

MCC’s Perspective on Haiti’s Elections

December 9, 2010

On November 28, 2010 Haiti held its first round of presidential and legislative elections. The elections were primarily funded by the United States, the United Nations, Canada and Brazil. Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), the United Nations and OAS-CARICOM declared that the polling went “well” in spite of reports by election observers and monitors of high numbers of irregularities and fraud. Additionally, twelve of the eighteen candidates denounced the elections as fraudulent and called for annulment.

Polling data, reports published by the National Election Observation Council (CNO) as well as MCC staff and partners’ nationwide observation of ballot tabulations on Sunday, November 28th, indicated that a run-off election would occur between the two front-runners; Mirlande Manigat and Michel Martelly.

However, at 8:40 PM on December 7th, 2010, the CEP announced initial results to be as follows: Mirlande Manigat (RDNP): 31.37%; Jude Celestin (INITE) 22.48%; and Michel Martelly (Repons Peyizan) 21.89%, suggesting that a run-off election will take place in January between Manigat and Celestin, the incumbent party’s candidate. To the surprise and concern of many, INITE candidates were also frontrunners in the vast majority of legislative elections.

This announcement has sparked country-wide protests and demonstrations, including the burning down of INITE party headquarters, as people contest what appear to be fraudulent election results. Many in the streets are chanting, “We voted Martelly and they gave us Celestin” and calling for the elections to be annulled.

As MCC Haiti believes that these election results are in clear opposition to the will of the Haitian people, Mennonite Central Committee calls on the international community, particularly the United States, the UN, Canada and Brazil, to respect the sovereignty and will of the Haitian people by:

  • Assisting in efforts to review irregularities and fraud that may have swayed electoral results
  • Continuing to pressure the CEP and the current Haitian Government to release legitimate and transparent final election results.

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Posted by Theo Sitther

Loving the Peacekeepers

December 2, 2010

Photo by Ben Depp

Alexis Erkert Depp, MCC’s advocacy coordinator in Haiti writes for Thirdway Cafe about violence and UN peacekeeping forces in Haiti.

Here’s an excerpt:

MINUSTAH is perceived as an occupying military force by many of MCC’s Haitian partner organizations. And indeed, insecurity in Haiti is not the result of war, genocide or crimes against humanity as is the case for UN peacekeeping missions elsewhere in the world. In a recent interview, Camille Chalmers, director of MCC partner organization PAPDA (Haitian Platform to Advocate Alternative Development), states that MINUSTAH’s presence in Haiti is illegal and has in fact exacerbated Haiti’s structural crisis.

Read the full article>>

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Posted by Theo Sitther

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