Three years after the most devastating natural disaster in Haitian history, the earthquake that killed over 300,000 people on January 12th, 2010, Haitians are still struggling to rebuild a semblance of normalcy in their daily lives. Despite the $6.34 billion in humanitarian and recovery funding from the international community that supposedly has already been disbursed in Haiti, reconstruction efforts still appear painfully slow in the eyes of many Haitians. President of the Catholic NGO Caritas Haiti, Pierre André Dumas, called upon all sectors of the country to unite in this time of disillusionment with shortcomings of reconstruction efforts:
"The momentum that followed the earthquake has faded. Much of the promises have not been kept. There is a sense of disappointment among the people: a large part of the population still lives in tents ... We need greater political will, national dialogue and love for this country. We must put aside individual interests."
Back in October I was lucky enough to see Sonia Pierre, a longtime activist for Dominicans of Haitian descent, speak at what would be one of her last public events before her death the following month. Like the people she spent her life defending, Sonia was born on a batey to Haitian parents who migrated to the Dominican Republic in search of better jobs. Bateys are Dominican sugar plantations where Haitian migrant workers and their offspring face appalling working conditions and live in poverty, marginalized from the rest of Dominican society.
"As Haitians prepare for the first anniversary of the earthquake, close to one million people are reportedly still displaced. Less than 5 percent of the rubble has been cleared, only 15 percent of the temporary housing that is needed has been built and relatively few permanent water and sanitation facilities have been constructed," concludes Oxfam in a hard-hitting report on the world’s response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti.
On October 6, nearly 10 months after the devastating earthquake tore through Haiti, Refugees International (RI) released the report “Haiti: Still Trapped in the Emergency Phase” detailing the continuing crisis. “Action is urgently needed to protect the basic human rights of people displaced by the earthquake,” RI reported. “Living in squalid, overcrowded and spontaneous camps for a prolonged period has led to aggravated levels of violence and appalling standards of living.”
It has now been six months since Haiti’s devastating earthquake. In
this time, international governments, aid organizations and concerned
individuals have donated vast amounts of money and countless hours to
the relief effort. But, there are still real concerns about recovery
efforts. Last week, TransAfrica
Forum hosted a congressional briefing,“Haiti Six Months Later:
Reports from the Ground,” to share the
devastating news: “what has emerged in the six month period since the
quake is a confusing mix of good intentions gone awry.”
by Salvador Sarmiento, RFK Center for Justice and Human Rightson April 28, 2010
Take a look at a quality analysis by Salvador Sarmiento of the Robert F.
Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights of the road to travel
between an apparently successful donors conference and the actual
delivery of well-targeted aid, published on the Center for International
Policy’s Americas Program blog.
We charitably termed the Obama Administration’s first year of Latin
America policy a “false start.” After the year was kicked off with a
promising beginning with a rousing speech at the Summit of the
Americas, a promise to close Guantanamo, the lifting of the ban on
travel to Cuba for Cuban Americans, and some principled words on human
rights to Colombian President Uribe, we had some hope for a new, less
ideological, more people-centered approach to the region. As the year
progressed, those hopes were dashed. But now we dare to hope again.
The Haitian earthquake that occurred on January 12th has left the poorest nation in our hemisphere in an even worse position. However, the international community has made a remarkable humanitarian effort to contribute to the relief of the Haitian people. Even nations that are typically at odds have joined together to help.
As we give from our own pockets and encourage our government to fund relief and reconstruction in earthquake-devastated Haiti, we can’t let skepticism about the past success of aid efforts dissuade us from responding. But at the same time, we can’t ignore real concerns. Groups involved in human rights and health related work in Haiti issued a call for Haiti relief and reconstruction efforts to respect the following principles:
Our Campaigns 
