Even before the devastating earthquake levelled Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, Haiti was out of balance. Years of unregulated population growth in the capital provide evidence of decay and neglect in the country's rural hinterland.
For decades, the urban poor literally built on top of each other alongside steep hills, in flood-prone ravines and in the mud flats that soon came to serve as Port-au-Prince's public toilet. They came seeking opportunity, but real employment was a mirage.
By Jan. 11, the capital was a disaster waiting to happen. The vast majority of the estimated 230,000 people killed were vulnerable city dwellers. Virtually all of them were crowded on to marginal land, living in precarious substandard homes, facing extremely marginal job prospects.
Demographic imbalances in the capital reflect a fundamental unequal status quo in the country as a whole. Before the disaster, roughly 70 per cent of total national income was held by just 20 per cent of the population. Generations of terrible governance maintained this wealth disparity.
Meanwhile, international donors turned a blind eye to Haiti's stark inequalities. They bypassed democratically elected governments and channelled funds through foreign non-governmental organizations that supported projects designed by foreigners. This was the price they paid to preserve stability.
Today, as relief aid gives way to reconstruction, foreign and domestic authorities have an unprecedented opportunity to set things right. The donors conference scheduled for March 31 offers a platform for the Haitian government, the United Nations, bilateral donors, business and civil society to rebalance the country for good.
Here are a few strategies they would do well to consider:
First, encourage real and meaningful decentralization. Since the earthquake, more than one million Haitians have fled Port-au-Prince to seek safer ground in the towns and villages from which they originally migrated. But if conditions in the countryside are not improved, and quickly, these people will drift back to the capital and rebuild as before.
The Haitian government has already laid out an innovative strategy to help provide opportunities to newly arriving migrants. With outside help, it intends to provide support by way of 200 “welcome centres” in newly established communities. These centres will issue short-term relief, and bundle health, education, job-creation and investment services to help the rural economy take off.
Second, the Haitian government could establish a national civic service corps. Building on the symbolism of the magnitude-7 earthquake, a 700,000-strong corps would harness underused labour in urban and rural settings alike. Haitian youth could be put to work rebuilding Haiti's infrastructure brick by brick. They could also support badly needed environmental rehabilitation – including the planting of seven million trees – and serve as a natural-disaster-response mechanism.
This is not a new idea. Provisions exist in the Haitian Constitution for a national civic service corps and local authorities have been discussing the idea since at least 2007. It also parallels U.S. New Deal programs such as the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps, as well as schemes in other countries, such as Brazil and China.
Third, outsiders would do well to support the reconstitution of Haitian state institutions. Instead of replacing or bypassing public entities, donors should focus on restoring them so that they are a real and visible force in the lives of Haitian citizens. Civil servants will need to be recruited and trained and physical facilities rebuilt from scratch.
Now is the time to offer an outstretched hand to the Haitian government. Since 2006, the administration of President René Préval had earned international praise and recognition for its improved handling of domestic affairs. A private donors conference in April, 2009, hinted at enhanced investor confidence. Although corruption and narcotics trafficking remain a concern, these gains should not be forgotten.
Fourth, one of the most important ways outsiders can assist Haiti is to get cash into the hands of the poor. The key to the recovery is not charity, but capital for the country's grassroots entrepreneurs. This could be accomplished through, for example, small loans to farmers: A 10-per-cent increase in man-hour labour on farms would create 40,000 jobs.
Other strategies to stimulate capitalism from the bottom up include conditional cash-transfer programs. Drawing on the positive experiences of Brazil and Mexico, cash support can be tied to the attendance of school-aged children in schools and at health clinics. Ensuring that women administer these funds is central. But these kinds of activities will succeed only if educational and health systems are extended to rural areas and upgraded.
Finally, the donor community should aim to support leaders who embrace greater inclusion and enact socially responsible investment strategies. As signalled by economist Paul Collier, the creation of jobs in the manufacturing sector is key to Haiti's future. But if the country is really to be “built back better,” industrial growth must be accompanied by free universal education and decentralized business strategies.
Just as important, any investment in factories and assembly plants should be decentralized outside Port-au-Prince. There are at least a dozen coastal cities where, even with rudimentary inputs, port and transportation infrastructure can be expanded. A decentralized growth strategy could assist in promoting “balanced” economic growth.
The rebalancing of Haiti must be accompanied by respect and empathy for the Haitian people. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted how in Haiti, “talent is universal; opportunity is not.” To be successful, the country's renaissance must improve the conditions enabling growth and the environment for providing opportunities for all. The dynamic diaspora that includes New York, Montreal and Paris offers evidence of what can be achieved when opportunities are twinned with talent.
Robert Muggah is research director of the Small Arms Survey and a principal of the SecDev Group. Robert Maguire is a professor of international affairs at Trinity Washington University and chair of the Haiti Working Group at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
