Focus on Haiti: The Road to Recovery – A Six Month Review

Posted on 07/27/10

On Tuesday, July 27, 2010, Paul Farmer, Partners In Health co-founder and UN Deputy Special Envoy to Haiti, and Loune Viaud, Director of Operations and Strategic Planning of Zanmi Lasante (ZL), the Haitian sister organization of Partners In Health (PIH), testified at a Capitol Hill hearing hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus, "Focus on Haiti: The Road to Recovery - A Six Month Review.”

In his testimony, Paul discussed how foreign governments and NGOs must accompany Haiti’s government throughout the rebuilding process. “This shift will not be a panacea for Haiti but could be coupled with a powerful and complementary focus on another movement of capital, this time from public to private and from wealthy to poor: a focus on job creation and on strengthening the hand of those trying to farm (and reforest) the land and also on young people, especially young women, living in poverty,” he stated in his prepared testimony. “We need a greater sense of urgency. And the most urgent task of all is the creation of jobs that will confer dignity to those in greatest need.”

Read Paul Farmer's full prepared testimony

Throughout her testimony Loune highlighted the strides made in Haiti since January 12, while also stressing the immense challenges still facing her country. Haitians affected by the earthquake desperately need “healthcare, employment, decentralization, protection of children, women, adolescent girls, the elderly and the most vulnerable members of the population.” Loune noted that these challenges cannot be fixed with foreign donations. “Rather than charity, Haiti needs partners… Haiti needs jobs. Jobs will stabilize other parts of the country, empower the communities, and save lives.”

“We need Haitians to lead the reconstruction efforts. We need our partners to take a rights-based approach in the construction of a new Haiti,” said Loune in her testimony. “This means supporting the capacity and the leadership of both the Haitian government and Haitian communities; it means deferring to the experiences of Haitians and guaranteeing our participation in the rebuilding of our country; it means unconditionally respecting all of our human rights—including the right to food, the right to decent housing and sanitation, the right to health, the right to potable water, the right to education and the right to security.”

Read Loune Viaud's full testimony

Congresspersons Barbara Lee and Donald Payne oversaw Tuesday’s hearing. Testimony was also given by Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development; Marie St. Fleur, Former Massachusetts State Representative; Camille Chalmers, Director, Plateforme Haitienne de Plaidoyer pour un Developpement Alternatif / Haitian Platform to Advocate for Alternative Development, Haiti; and Ira Kurzban, Chair, Board of Directors, Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.

2 weeks ago, Paul Farmer and Loune Viaud, key leaders in the International Haiti Reconstruction Effort and Clinton's right hand man in the process, gave testimony at a Capital Hill hearing. This is the summary, taken from the home page of Partners in Health, an East Coast agency, deeply involved in the effort.

Richard