The Failure of Foreign Aid in Haiti by Megan Gruver & Mila Marcheva

History

Haiti is a small country on the island of Hispaniola within the Caribbean Sea. The country is the second most populated country within the Caribbean, with a population of approximately 10.6 million people. Christopher Columbus discovered Haiti in December of 1492 and claimed the country for Spain. This rule continued until 1925 when the French took over the country. This control of Haiti by other larger countries was similar to colonialism seen in South Africa and other colonized countries. This was until 1804 when the Haitian people revolted against the French and won back their country. However, Haiti still struggled to maintain political and economic stability well into the 21^st century. France forced the Haitian government to pay $90 million francs to have the nation formally recognized as independent, a hefty debt that the country is still paying off to this day. This decimated the Haitian economy for years to come. Shortly after the beginning of World War 1, Haiti was heavily in debt to France, Germany, and the United States. President Woodrow Wilson eventually took $500,000 from the Haitian National Bank subsequently giving the United States full control over the Haitian economy. The United States eventually began a 20-year occupation of the island nation, effectively taking full control over the country. This ruling over Haiti by the United States government continued until 1934, when Franklin D. Roosevelt removed U.S. troops from the country. However, the United States continued to have control over the Haitian economy until well into the 1980s. This lack of political and economic control within the country was eventually compounded with a 7.0 earthquake in 2010 and a massive hurricane in 2016, which left Haiti in complete disrepair, of which continues to be seen almost 7 years after the original disaster.

Map of Haiti

Disaster Strikes Haiti

A devastating7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on January 12th, 2010. Anestimated 250,000 people were killed, 300,000 were injured, and more than 1.5million were displaced as a direct result of this massive earthquake. Entire cities were leveled to the ground and the nation was left without basic human necessities including clean water, electricity, basic healthcare, and schools. This caused Haiti to declare a state of emergency, allowing for immediate emergency relief and countries from around the world to donate billions of dollars to help the nation rebuild itself. However, the devastation didn’t end there. In 2016, Haiti was struck yet again by another natural disaster,Hurricane Matthew. It was estimated that at least 800 people were killed and atleast 1 million people were affected overall. This was also coupled with a massive outbreak of cholera brought the country by United Nations peacekeepers in 2010. This furthered the already growing epidemic of widespread hunger, lack of basic necessities, and disease in Haiti stemming originally from the 2010 earthquake.

Video showing Haiti seven years after the 2010 earthquake

Foreign Aid 

Following the destruction in Haiti, countries from around the world raced to get aid to the small island nation. It’s estimated that over $3 billion from the United States was given to contribute to the emergency relief efforts and long term reconstruction projects immediately following the disaster in 2010. The continuous financial support by the United States government has been calculated by Congress to eventually reach $13.4 billion by the year 2020. However, even with this massive influx of foreign aid Haiti is still deemed the most impoverished country within North and South America. How is this possible? A compilation of poor infrastructure, a long history of foreign interference, political repression and instability have all been cited as long-term causes for Haiti’s failure to succeed following the 2010 and 2016 disasters. With an already weak government caused by the interference of other nations at the beginning of Haiti’s independence, this large influx of aid has led aid staff to assume the role of government officials. This effectively takes away the ability for Haiti to govern itself appropriately and prepare itself for future disasters similar the 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew. Rather than allowing local officials to carry out reconstruction projects, aid programs have instead taken the lead. This has been compounded with complaints that American aid donations have been spent on contracts with American companies and that many donations are subjected to other administration charges before reaching the country itself. By allowing American aid to be spent on creating contracts with itself, the United States is yet again taking political and economic control over Haiti. Rather than throwing billions at the problem in hopes that it will go away, Haiti would be much better off being given the tools needed to govern appropriately for themselves and then determine what is needed in their own country.

United Nations supplying food and water to Haitian children

Flaws Within Government Infrastructure

The biggest problem for Haiti is a lack of government infrastructure. Without having the tools to govern effectively, monetary aid does little to solve the real problem. This lack of a successful government stems back to 1950 when the United States supported a powerful dictator named Francois Duvalier. Francois declared himself the president of Haiti for life and remained in power until 1971 when he passed away. His son, Jean-Claude Duvalier, took power shortly after his father’s death. However, Jean-Claude faced a wide spread revolt by the Haitian people and the United States eventually withdrew its support of the government official. The country did not have its first elections until 1990 when Jean-Bertrand Aristide won. However, this legitimate democracy was short lived. Due to the country being run entirely by the economic elite and neighboring powers, such as the United States, he was eventually overrun. Haiti suffered for years to come due to violence and oppression from the wealthy and powerful members of Haitian society. Even when the Haitian people were allowed to vote for government officials, candidates that the wealthy and neighboring powers did not approve of were often forced out of political power. This was seen in 2004 when American troops forced Aristide out of power once he was voted into office once again. The Haitian government has not had a successful infrastructure in all the years it has been an independent nation. In order for the nation to succeed we need to focus on building a successful government before aid can be appropriate allocated to insure the future of Haiti.

Video describing the broken government in Haiti

What Does This Mean for Haiti?

The problem with foreign aid in Haiti is that the country overall is being treated like a charity, rather than an investment. The Haitian government needs to be given the resources to effectively fix their country on their own. They can’t and won’t succeed if Western nations continually try to govern for them. While financial support does alleviate some of the problem, it should not be a permanent relief for the everyday stress and pain that comes with development and changes to a country. A joint report by ProPublica/NPR claimed that over half a billion dollars raised by the American Red Cross was spent on poorly managed and later poorly executed projects. The way to help Haiti is to support their government and make investments in the nation’s future. This can be done through providing opportunity and structure to the Haitian government. By focusing foreign aid efforts on organizing a successful government and educational system, the nation may finally have a chance of succeeding on its own.