Perhaps one of the most ignored countries in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti found itself back in the spotlight for yet another disaster. While this disaster – a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, the strongest to hit Haiti in over 200 years – was brought on by nature and not the political drama that normally brings Haiti into the headlines, it is also bringing back into focus the neglected position that Haiti all too often holds when it comes to politics and development and the policies that may have contributed to the growing disaster.
For example, the Director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, Brian Concannon, points out that aid policies that encouraged Haitians off their farms and into the cities where there is little safe housing may have added to the high death toll emerging from Port-au-Prince. Political instability created by foreign governments that seek to advance their own needs rather than the needs of ordinary Haitians has contributed to the lack of safe housing, public services, and development, especially in rural areas.
These points demonstrate that disasters do not happen in singular events even when it may look like it. As the poorly maintained levies in New Orleans and government denial of aid in typhoon ravaged Burma showed, the size of a catastrophe can be magnified by years of bad or indifferent policies. To be sure, we cannot stop hurricanes or earthquakes, we can minimize their casualty rates. In the case of Haiti, the lack of good governance, selfish policies, and desperate poverty are all part of this disaster. That point should not be lost as recovery efforts continue.
As I write this, I’m watching live coverage of aid crews from around the world arriving in Haiti. Their main concern is the disaster in front of them, as it should be. But as time passes these other lessons should be kept in mind as Haiti rebuilds. Most of the stories I have read this morning talk about the seeming cruelty that Haiti should have to face this just when it appeared that it had finally turned a corner and was on the right path.
But it is important to remember that out of great disaster can come rebirth and opportunity. The successive cyclones that led to massive floods in Mozambique in early 2000 led to the international community taking a renewed interest in the country that was still struggling to move on from a 17-year long civil war and found itself listed as one of the poorest in the world. Ten years later, Mozambique may still be poor but has rebounded in a way that few expected, and has been able to build a stronger infrastructure than it had before. There is no reason why Haiti cannot follow in this example, but it does require a frank evaluation of all the factors that led to the haunting pictures we are now watching on network TV. And that means giving real, sustained attention to the human rights, governance, and quality of life of the people in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country well beyond the recovery effort.
Links of interest:
To find family members in Haiti: The ICRC has set up a website to help reunite separated family members. The website can be accessed here.
To donate: Obviously many aid organizations are mobilizing to help out in Haiti. InterAction has put together a page of member organizations (available here) with their information if you are interested in donating to the relief efforts.
Other coverage on the FPB network:
Annie White from the Global Engagement Blog on putting the Haitian Earthquake into perspective
Cassandra Clifford from the Children Blog on the effect the earthquake is having on children in Haiti
Joel Davis from the US Role in the World Blog on the US response
Melissa Lockhart from the Cuba Blog on what Cuba’s possible role in the relief effort may be
