A report released today by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has found that, five months after a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, the effectiveness of the relief and recovery effort has stalled, and lack of donor coordination remains a stumbling block to the rebuilding efforts.
The Committee, chaired by Senator John Kerry, charges that since the March 2010 donor conference where the Government of Haiti presented its “Action Plan for National Recovery and Development in Haiti”, progress on planning and specific plans to move forward on four priority areas identified, have not yet been issued.
Entitled, “Haiti at a Crossroads”, the Report identifies 10 critical issues for rebuilding Haiti that require urgent attention by the Government and the Obama Administration. These are:
- Lack of a plan and the failure to build political support
- Inadequate leadership and capacity in the Government of Haiti
- Need for empowering the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC)
- Land tenure and re-settlement issues
- Hold elections expeditiously
- Need for donors to speak with one voice and improve coordination
- Coordinate US assistance efforts with the Government of Haiti and other donors
- Rebuild Haiti’s civil service
- Maintain security gains
- Bring the broader Haitian community into the rebuilding process
According to the report, as the sense of immediate crisis has subsided, so has the sense of urgency to undertake bold action–the “re-imagination” of Haiti hoped for months ago–and the commitment to prevent a return to the dysfunctional, unsustainable ways of life past.
See “Haiti at a Crossroads” Report of US Foreign Affairs Committee Here.
One sign of the lack of progress is “emblematic of the stalled rebuilding effort of Presidential Palace which remains conspicuously in ruins, without any signs of scaffolding or reconstruction, ” the report notes.
The critical issues identified must be implemented in the coming weeks with a sense of urgency, the Report urges, if efforts to rebuild the country are not to be derailed.
Conducted by the staffs of foreign relations, the Report is based on extensive interviews with the State Department, USAID, Haitian civil society, NGO, UN officials, Haitian government ministries and site visits.
