Then-Haitian President René Préval embraces United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative
(left). Presidential candidates Michel Martelly and Mirlande Manigat (foreground) meet in Haiti’s capital in February 2011 (right).
can actually see, let alone benefit
from. Of $2.25 billion in earthquake
humanitarian response funding, only
$19.6 million (0.9 percent) went to the
Haitian government.
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TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/GETTY; THONY BELIZAIRE/AFP/GET TY
The new government must quickly
gain the confidence of international
donors. Certainly, the international
community will be watching Haiti’s executive and parliamentary
branches to see if they can work together to nominate and confirm a
new prime minister. The composition of the new ministerial cabinet
will also send important signals regarding the government’s approach to
implementing the plan endorsed at
the March 2010 Donors’ Conference.
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The new president’s policies aimed at
supporting and strengthening public
safety and security will also be of interest to donors.
Court Investors
Unemployment rates among Haitians—in Port-au-Prince and the countryside—are among the highest in the re-
gion. While NGO-led humanitarian
interventions and temporary “cash-
for-work” programs have combined
with more than $1 billion in remit-
tances from Haitians living over-
seas to help many stay afloat, these
efforts are not sustainable. To create
more permanent opportunities, pub-
lic- and private-sector investment and
jobs are necessary.
