When a natural disaster strikes a country with such force it destroys thousands of buildings, it inflicts much more than material damage.

Haiti’s January earthquake took many lives and caused millions of dollars worth of damage.  With hospitals destroyed, schools turned into rubble and churches, town halls and government buildings flattened, the remaining population lost its social network, its community and its semblance of everyday life.

Emergency disaster relief and aid agencies continue to work hard to meet immediate human needs. As the months pass however, longer-term plans to rebuild the devastated country are required.

As is the case in most post-disaster contexts, the amount of intervention from donors and outside advocates must be monitored.  The population must have the most input into how rebuilding their country will function in order to ensure success.

Several Haitian representatives and organizations such as ActionAid and UNICEF claim that ordinary Haitians are not being consulted about the reconstruction strategy and this is not the first time they have been excluded from making decisions about their own country.

According to several sources, younger demographics have long been excluded from the decisions that affect the development of their country. The country has a history of government subject to corruption and an unsuccessful educational system.  Before the earthquake, 50% of children did not attend primary school and there were high rates of malnutrition.  This, Actionaid tells us, is why there was so little social involvement and widespread helplessness among the population.

Ahead of a major donors meeting Wednesday in New York City, Actionaid stated the report that was to be presented to the donors was drafted with little input from local organizations or representatives.

The Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) was drafted by 300 experts in order to help the government come up with a recovery plan which informs donors how much money is needed to rebuild Haiti

Myra de Bruijn, ActionAid Haiti Programme and Policy Manager, said: “This document has been developed mainly by and for Haiti’s international partners rather than local people. It was rushed through for the donor conference and only individual experts participated as opposed to organisations. In general, the humanitarian coordination system has been very problematic for local organisations as documents are mainly in English and meetings are difficult to access.

“The process of drawing up the plan was not transparent and did not involve consultation with ordinary people. ActionAid is concerned about the sustainability of such a long term strategy that is not carried out by and for the Haitian people.”

Wednesday’s conference, entitled “A Haiti Fit for Children” was convened to discuss the importance of including the Haitian people, especially the younger generation, in rebuilding the earth-quake ravaged country.  The younger generation they stressed, should be viewed as resources and consulted as they hold the key to creating sustainable development plans and goals.

UNICEF went so far as to conduct several focus groups with Haitian youths from childhood to early adulthood, they weighed in on their opinions about everything from gender equality to higher education.  As children and adolescents under 15 make up 40% of the population, it makes sense that their opinions should be considered as they will be the generation who will foster the continued development of the country.

Six child-focused charities raised questions surrounding the importance of child protection in the “New Haiti”, preparations for future emergencies and a government more accountable to its people.  Child trafficking had been a concern before the disaster and now, children are more vulnerable than ever.  The organizations stressed the importance of prioritising children’s needs in the plans for a new social safety net.

Celigny Darius, national director of SOS Children’s Villages in Haiti, stressed that “NGOs are under a lot of pressure to guarantee the safety and well-being of children under difficult circumstances in Haiti”

His closing remarks brought home the nature of the underlying problem: “The international community is enthusiastic about helping Haiti after the earthquake. In Haiti, the responsibility must be that of the Haitians, because we are the ones on the ground and in charge of reconstruction. The international community should give expertise to Haitians and has the responsibility and duty to strengthen the Haitian government and civil society. We want aid, but we also want and need help to strengthen institutions. No one has taught us how to achieve this. They give us the fish but they don’t teach us how to fish”.

SPONSOR AN ORPHAN IN HAITI WITH SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES