The role of the Haitian Diaspora in assisting development.

International Crisis Group – “Most Haitians abroad live in the U.S. and Canada. Their remittances to family in Haiti reached an estimated $1.65 billion in 2006 and now account for 35 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). This direct subsidy to family incomes should not lessen the state’s willingness to develop sustainable financing for basic public services. Instead, its impact should be maximized through better access to credit and finance, and greater remittances literacy. Savings and other resources should also be leveraged through incentives programs, hometown associations (HTAs), professional organizations and diaspora investment funds. The Haitian government should facilitate greater coordination and partnerships to redirect some funds to local, departmental and national development initiatives.”
While this is true it is important to note one flaw in this proposed use of Diaspora family support. Haitian family members have a profound mistrust of government and its agencies. There is an underlying suspicion here that funds will be channeled into corporate, bureaucratic systems and not reach the target recipients, mainly the families of the Diaspora members. These funds will need to be directed into programs that facilitate grassroots development in areas where the Diaspora have family members. This is not as easy as it may seem. This money cannot be used to remove or replace the authority or responsibility of the Haitian state to provide programs, government policies, and infrastructure services. This is implied in the above quoted statement but a critical look at who makes up the membership of the International Crisis Group and its board should precipitate caution. However it could be used in Canada to supplement a reformed CIDA and NGO programs in areas directly affecting the lives of the Diaspora members and their families in Haiti.
A further note of caution on the cited report is the overall focus on a short timetable for the reforms. There is a suspicious emphasis on the need to have reforms in place by the end of President Preval’s term in 2011. It holds the danger of repeating the same mistakes of the past. The task is not to build Haiti in our image but to help Haiti build itself in its own image. This is the major blind spot of the International Crisis Group. It also makes recommendations and criticisms but at no time acknowledges the source of Haiti’s problems which are rooted in the interference of outside interests. In an excellent interview by Steve Paikin with Ariel Dorfman, a former advisor to President Allende of Chile in 1973, discussing not only the coup in Chile but also mistakes he feels the socialist revolution there made. The main one he believes was that the attempt to completely reverse the country’s direction was too fast and that they had succeeded first to scare the opposition and financial elite who were better armed. The main problem in Chile, as with similar situations, was the ability of the elite to control virtually all of the resources. The resources must be negotiated back firmly but non-violently. In the context of Haiti one can make a similar argument. Rapid transitions consistently prove disastrous and steps must be taken to allow decentralized control of resources from a tiny percentage of the population in a democratic and ‘organic’ manner. This cannot happen by 2011 and the notion that the international community will not continue to offer security against the return to political violence after causing it and allowing it to fester for the last three years is gravely disappointing.

International Crisis Group - http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm

TVO interview with Ariel Dorfman September 17th 2007 http://tinyurl.com/2e827z