Haitian Led Reconstruction and Development

Grassroots International had been hearing from our partners in Haiti, both the peasant movements as well as the urban-based coalitions, that they were extremely disheartened by their exclusion from the development of plans for Haiti’s relief and reconstruction. Since the week after the earthquake, our partners have shared with us several thoughtful and powerful statements that outline the key principles and strategies necessary for a more just renewal of Haiti – from their perspective. Grassroots International has been sharing their statements as widely as possible – working to insert and amplify their voices within the larger policy debates.

We shared these statements with the Ad-hoc Haiti Advocacy Coalition for their consideration when doing advocacy and educational briefings with policy makers in Washington D.C. When the advocacy group heard that there would be only one representative each from the Haitian Diaspora and Haitian civil society at the international donor meeting in NYC on 3/31/2010, we compiled as many of the statements from partners in Haiti as we could muster and produced them under a single cover page that highlights their common messages. This compilation is being hand delivered to the UN Missions of various ally countries, and is being posted widely on internet.

The materials are available at the link below. Please forward widely and help Haitian voices be heard widely.