Haiti

Two of Haiti's most common proverbs are: "Together we are strong" and "Behind the mountains, more mountains." Both come to mind in Grassroots International's work with our Haitian partners. Indicators point to dire poverty: 10 percent of Haitian children die before their fifth birthday, and 81 percent of the rural population lives in absolute poverty.

Haitian grassroots organizations like our partner the Platform of Haitian Human Rights Organizations (POHDH) face one mountain after another in their struggle for basic human rights and life with dignity. Civil and political rights exist on paper but human rights violations abound, impunity reigns and the justice system is often ineffectual or corrupt.

These challenges spur on Haitian farmers to organize powerful coalitions like the National Congress of Papaye Peasant Movement (MPNKP). Such organizing strengthens communities and grassroots leadership and helps farmers find new ways to feed their families.

Many saw promise in President Aristide, but violence, distrust and foreign interventions undermined a national agenda that might have met the needs of Haiti's poor. With the election of Rene Preval, an agronomist, as president, many among Haiti’s majority rural population hope that they might not plow their fields alone, but rather backed by supportive public policies. Strong social movements—such as the ones Grassroots supports—seek to hold Haitian decision-makers accountable to their commitments.

The stringent structural adjustment plan forced on Haiti by international financial institutions has resulted in economic collapse across many sectors. Agriculture has been particularly hard-hit. To balance the budget, government services have been reduced (in a country with only 4500 government employees for a population of 8,000,000) and services privatized with no public benefit to show for it.

The International community’s helping hand? Food aid and free trade zones for textile assembly plants. Neither can honestly be called a development strategy. The coup de grace is that the government is still pressed to pay tens of millions of dollars in debt payments to foreign creditors. Our partner PAPDA (the Haitian Platform to Advocate Alternative Development) plays a leadership role in building national and international support for debt cancellation.

In the face of these challenges, Haitians have demonstrated impressive creativity and a frequently-tested will to survive.

We are honored to walk with our partners as they join together to struggle for a new Haiti resting on a foundation of respect for basic human rights.