The billions of dollars of international aid being sent to Haiti has already been characterized as one of the most global and ambitious aid efforts ever undertaken. The U.S., which gives more aid to Haiti than any other nation, already contributed billions of dollars to the impoverished nation, which remains dependent on foreign aid for its livelihood. Most of that aid never sees the light of day, as Haiti is corrupt and has no effective management system in place to oversee that process.
Over the next few weeks, that aid will flow in Haiti to help in immediate relief efforts. But as the event begins to fade from the headlines in the months and years that follow, is there a way to ensure that the worldwide financial assistance that Haiti is now getting is sustainable and used in a way that supports Haiti's long-term growth and development? What are the obstacles to overcome? Submit your comments >
Todd Watkins, Rebuilding Microenterprises
Frank J. Pazzaglia, Learning to Work With—Not Against—the Environment
William C. Brehm, Look to History—Not to Solutions
Bruce Moon, For Haiti, There is No “Normal”
Joel Sutherland, Another Long American Commitment
Iveta Silova, RIP: A Eulogy for International Development in Haiti
Anuradha Sachdev, An Education of Accountability
Nandini Deo, An Ugly history of “Aid”
Clay Naito, To Rebuild, Follow a U.S. Model
Mike Russell, Let’s First Get Our Priorities Straight
Hubert Dagbo, First Ensure That Haiti Can Fend For Itself
Ann Girdano, Haitian People Must Turn to Themselves
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Rebuilding Microenterprises
Todd Watkins, Arthur F. Searing Professor of Economics, is the director of Lehigh’s entrepreneurship program and its microfinance program. He is co-editor of the just-published book, “Moving Beyond Storytelling: Emerging Research in Microfinance.”
Even before the tragic earthquake, Haiti faced overwhelming economic challenges. Three of four Haitians already lived on less than $2/day, an extreme poverty rate five times worse than right next door in the Dominican Republic and 12-fold their neighbors to the west in Jamaica. Half or more of working age Haitians were already unemployed, making gangs attractive options and riots and violence commonplace. All this despite billions and billions and billions of foreign aid; aid that utterly failed to help. And now this.
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Learning to Work With—Not Against—the Environment
Frank J. Pazzaglia is a professor of geology and chair of Lehigh’s department of earth and environmental science. He is also the director of the Lehigh University Field Camp, a selective program that offers earth scientists an opportunity at intensive field training and discovery in the Rocky Mountains.
The recent humanitarian crisis in Haiti directly followed from a M 7.0 earthquake that struck close to the largest and most densely populated city in the impoverished nation. Billions of dollars will correctly be funneled to Haiti to support relief efforts and reduce immediate human suffering. Billions more will follow to rebuild the cities and infrastructure.
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Look to History—Not to Solutions
Willam C. Brehm '08 is a comparative and international education graduate student in Lehigh’s College of Education. As an undergrad at Lehigh, he majored in international relations.
Contrary to the mainstream media's belief, the United States' (US) involvement in Haiti did not begin in 2010. It even began before the 1806 US trade embargo on the small island nation. But it was this embargo, lasting for 75 years, that helped impoverish a people off the shores of the US for over 200 years.
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For Haiti, There is No “Normal”
Bruce Moon is a professor of international relations. His research interests involve the international influences on economic development, especially the role of trade, aid, and foreign investment. He also studies cross-national variations in living standards with an emphasis on the basic needs of the poor and the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.
Emergency relief required to get things back to normal in Haiti should not be confused with long-term efforts to achieve sustainable development and alleviate poverty. That said, there is no sharp distinction between the temporary needs created by a natural or man-made disaster and the long-term challenges of development.
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Another Long American Commitment
Joel Sutherland is the managing director of Lehigh’s Center for Value Chain Research and is the past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.
When the news first broke about the devastating earthquake in Haiti I was asked by several people what I thought was the biggest priority in getting aid to the people quickly. Without hesitation I said “they need to focus on logistics”. This brought about a response regarding the need for food, water, and medical supplies. My response was “without logistics it won’t be possible to get the food, water, and medical supplies to those that need it, when they need it, and in the condition they need it”.
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RIP: A Eulogy for International Development in Haiti
Iveta Silova, the Frank Hook Assistant Professor Comparative and International Education, studies social inequalities in public policy and is co-editor of the book, “How NGOs React: Globalization and Education Reform in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia."
Although Haiti has received billions in foreign aid, it has been rightfully named "a veritable graveyard of development projects." (Farmer, 2008) Some critics blame Haiti's corrupt government for development failure. However, the story is much more complex. Bilateral and multilateral organizations, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), charitable organizations, and other institutions have all failed to some extent.
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An Education of Accountability
Anuradha Sachdev is a graduate student with the College of Education and an assistant director of early childhood education at Northampton Community College.
Haiti has received considerable attention from the international community as a result of its recent natural disaster with aid workers and agencies flocking to Port Au Prince to lend a hand of support. Foreign governments have promised substantial financial aid to rebuild the country. The challenge now lies in creating a strategic plan and structure of delivery that would maximize long term sustainability for Haiti’s people.
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Nandini Deo is an assistant professor of political science. Her research interests include comparative politics, contemporary political thought, and women in the developing world.
The billions of dollars of international aid being sent to Haiti have already been characterized as one of the most global and ambitious aid efforts ever undertaken. The U.S. has given more aid to Haiti than any other nation has, providing more than $3 billion to the Haitian government in just the past 10 years alone. Unfortunately, much of the foreign aid sent to Haiti rarely sees the light of day, as the government in Port-au-Prince is corrupt and has no effective management system in place to oversee aid delivery.
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To Rebuild, Follow a U.S. Model
Clay Naito is an associate professor of structural engineering. His research interests involve studying concrete structures that are subjected to extreme events, such as earthquakes and intentional blast demands.
I do agree that the country is in dire need of reconstruction and that a portion of the funds be used for this effort—but just how much and how to effectively use the funds is a much more complicated question.
From a distance, I assume that the critical issue in Haiti is still to feed, house and provide medical coverage for the population affected by the earthquake. How much should be put toward each effort is a decision that should be left to the people in the field, the experts in relief efforts, and members of the Haitian government.
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Let’s First Get Our Priorities Straight
Mike Russell is a former teacher in his second year of Lehigh's Comparative and International Education program. His research is focused on the interplay between social and ecological systems.
Historical legacies, corruption, perverse incentives, institutional failure and a lack of accountability in the development sector are all important topics for consideration when discussing Haiti's long-term prospects. While the world is focused on Haiti there is a temptation to right historical wrongs, impose good governance and reform the institutional structure in a way that produces a well-functioning democracy with double-digit GNP growth.
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First Ensure That Haiti Can Fend For Itself
Hubert Dagbo '12 is an undergraduate finance major in Lehigh’s College of Business and Economics.
As $40 billion dollars of aid in 35 years have gone to Haiti and nothing has improved. When I think about that number, $40 billion dollars, it seems mind boggling that Haiti is still the most impoverished country in the western hemisphere. Most people might say “well $40 billion must not be enough."
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Haitian People Must Turn to Themselves
Ann Girdano '12 is a supply chain major and a global studies minor. She also serves as the vice president of the Global Citizenship program’s student committee and as vice president of cultural programming for the Global Union.
Sad though it may be, neither the United States nor other post-industrialized nations can ensure that the financial assistance Haiti is currently receiving translates into long-term growth and development. The US has contributed billions of dollars in aid over the decades to Haiti, yet before the earthquake struck corruption was still extremely prevalent.
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Descendant of American Counsel Theodor Behrman 1906
Never being able to really get on its own two feet, Haiti has depended on international aid since the U.S. government stepped in and took control of the country circa 1915 to 1934. Was it from guilt, or was it to take advantage of a golden opportunity?
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Bob Downing '62
I have been activly invoved in a Haitian Hospital, Sacre Couer in Milot (near Cape Hattiain. Following the earthquake, thanks to heroic volunteer effort, Sacre Couer has grown to be the largest reference hospital on the Island for orthopedic work.
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Jack Lule, Joseph B. McFadden Distinguished Professor of Journalism
On Jan. 12, there was one U.S. reporter in Haiti. A week later, there were hundreds. Some have already come and gone.
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Dork Sahagian, professor of earth and environmental sciences
While I am not an expert on Haitian history, it seems that we may be providing a poverty-stricken nation with aid a bit after the fact. Was it not the US that helped France enforce an embargo and then heavy taxation ("reparations") against Haiti for almost two centuries, that led to economic desperation and denudation of natural resources upon which their economy depended?
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Robert
My church network has been in partnership with other churches in Port-au-Prince for almost 20 years. We helped purchase a building and land. While we have sent in medical teams to run short-term clinics, much has been done to train intermediate level health care workers from local church who do follow-up and "between visit" care for the patients in the surrounding community.
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Bill Haines
Encourage land reform legislation so the average people can, for the first time, own the land and yard of their own home. Samaritans Purse is consulting on this topic and it merits wide support.
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