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“The aftermath of the 

earthquake should be an 

opportunity to address 

imbalances that have put Haiti 

in deep poverty, dependence 

and underdevelopment.”

April 8, 2010 

Haiti: Towards and Beyond the 

Donors’ Conference

Summary

•	 Haiti’s January 12 earthquake left up to 300,000 people dead, an equal number injured, and 

more than a million displaced; overall damage and loss are valued at $7.9 billion, or about 120 

percent of Haiti’s 2009 gross domestic product.

•	 The immediate international response focused on rescue, the provision of humanitarian relief 

and security, and cleanup.

•	 The March 31 Donors’ Conference in New York yielded both a Haitian-led recovery and development plan supported by international donors and a mechanism for coordinating donor 

allocated resources.

•	 Donors pledged more than $5 billion over the next 18 months. 

•	 Activities initiated over the next 18 months must support longer-term strategies to revitalize 

all of Haiti, including long neglected rural areas.

•	 Haiti’s decentralized recovery and development must address its debilitating inequality and 

poverty while strengthening the capacity of the government.

The Immediate Aftermath of the Earthquake

The earthquake of January 12, 2010 left up to 300,000 people dead, an equal number injured, and 

more than 1.3 million displaced. Overall damage and losses have been estimated at $7.9 billion, 

or 120 percent of Haiti’s 2009 gross domestic product. The international response was quick 

and decisive, reflecting a commitment to the moral and humanitarian imperative posed by the 

catastrophe. 

For the United States, the response also reflected Haiti’s strategic importance. U.S. troops were 

rapidly deployed to restore and manage airport operations and communications, to provide 

humanitarian relief and to ensure security. They also oversaw the evacuation of U.S. citizens and 

severely injured Haitians. At peak deployment, there were more than 20,000 U.S. military personnel 

either in Haiti or off its coast. That rapid deployment addressed a potential security gap caused by 

the severe losses suffered by the United Nations Stabilization Mission to Haiti (MINUSTAH) and the 

Haitian government, including the Haitian National Police (HNP). 

Stories of perseverance and successful coping amidst tragedy paralleled Haiti’s great devastation and loss. Its already weak government was decimated further when nearly 17 percent of civil 

servants perished in the earthquake. The Presidential Palace, parliament building and all but one 

Robert Maguire

E-mail: remaguire@verizon.net

Phone: 202.884.9585

peaceBrieF17
© USIP 2010 • All rights reserved.

government ministry were destroyed. Survivors regained their bearing as the government slowly 

reasserted itself both in Haiti and internationally. The people of Haiti demonstrated remarkable 

resilience in the face of unspeakable disaster. They worked together to clear rubble and rescue 

survivors; found solace in fellowship and prayer; built temporary communities from the rubble of 

old ones; fled quake-affected zones in large numbers to rejoin family and friends throughout the 

country; persevered amidst uncertainty. 

Defying widely held post-quake fears, Haiti remained relatively peaceful after the earthquake.

Transitioning Towards Recovery and Development

There remains an immediate and compelling need to provide adequate and safe shelter, sanitation 

and health care to the hundreds of thousands of people displaced on January 12th. The advent 

of rainy season with the hurricane season to follow has underscored the urgency to meet these 

needs. Concurrent with the ongoing humanitarian focus has been the transition toward recovery 

and development. Of particular concern is to ensure in U.N. Special Envoy Bill Clinton’s phrase that 

Haiti is “built back better,” with a strengthened Haitian government as the lead entity. In addition 

to the necessity of rebuilding, Haiti faces an important political challenge. Parliamentary elections 

scheduled for the end of February had to be postponed. The terms of incumbents end in May. 

Additionally, the five-year term of President Rene Preval ends in early 2011 with a presidential election due in late 2010. Haitian leaders will have to determine when and how to hold these elections, 

or risk sparking political unrest. 

After the quake, the U.N. moved to augment MINUSTAH’s strength by adding 3,500 soldiers and 

police. With the U.N. Mission and Haitian National Police regaining their ability to provide security 

and oversee public safety, most U.S. military personnel have departed with the remainder shifting 

to more specialized roles such as engineering services, logistical support, and port management.

The March 31 Donors’ Conference Pledges Billions in Aid 

Before January 12, 2010, Haiti was making progress toward political stability and economic 

growth. Even then, however, a major challenge remained to improve the social and economic conditions of Haiti’s poor, comprising some 80 percent of the population. Post-quake strategies must 

take into consideration not just rebuilding the damaged infrastructure, but ensuring greater inclusion, less inequality and sustainable growth. A Post-Disaster Needs Assessment identified needs 

and recommended priorities in advance of the International Donors’ Conference held on March 

31 at the United Nations. At the New York conference, delegates from more than 50 countries and 

international organizations endorsed the Haitian government’s action plan for national recovery 

and development, pledging $5.3 billion in support over the next 18 months. The comprehensive 

plan sets forth parameters not just for rebuilding zones devastated by the earthquake, but also for 

rejuvenating all of Haiti through decentralized investment and national social recovery. Investing 

in agriculture and rehabilitating Haiti’s environment are key tenets of the recovery strategy. 

Improving governmental capacity and effectiveness is also a key element of the internationally 

endorsed plan. A literal aspect of Haiti’s ability to ‘build back better’ will be enabling the government 

to enforce the stricter and more costly building codes required to mitigate against future natural 

disasters. This will not be achieved unless there are functional and transparent public mechanisms 

for enforcing these laws. Although strengthening government also includes rebuilding the requisite 

physical infrastructure in the capital city, including the prospective restoration of the iconic National 

Palace, it also includes enacting provisions for the effective decentralization of the government’s 

ability to engage the population and deliver services to citizens throughout the country. 

Haiti: Towards and Beyond the Donors’ Conference

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© USIP 2010 • All rights reserved.

To manage and direct the recovery and development process over the next 18 months, a joint 

Haitian and international Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, headed by Haitian Prime Minister 

Jean-Max Bellerive and U.N. Special Envoy to Haiti Bill Clinton, has been established. A multidonor 

trust fund managed by the World Bank has also been created, as a means of coordinating the 

allocation of donor resources to activities determined by the commission in accordance with the 

recovery plan. The subsequent creation of a Haiti Development Authority to continue the work of 

the commission has been proposed. 

Prioritizing Youth and Rural Development for Economic 

Recovery

The underlying tenets of the Action Plan for National Recovery and Development are the necessity to address demographic and resource allocation imbalances and to develop mechanisms to 

promote rule of law and enable the Haitian government to fulfill its obligations to all Haitians. The 

important focus on developing Haiti’s rural economy and society has achieved added impetus 

by the fact that since January 12th some 700,000 people have left Port-au-Prince for cities, towns 

and villages throughout the country. Within weeks of the earthquake, the Haitian government 

pointed out the necessity of taking steps to reinforce rural economies and the capacity of the 

already impoverished countryside to accommodate this significant influx. It proposed investing in 

200 towns and villages in rural Haiti, creating “welcome centers” to cluster relief, education, health, 

investment and decentralized government services, in agronomy for example. Without urgent attention to these cities, towns and villages, those displaced by the earthquake will eventually return 

to Port-au-Prince, bringing others with them, to replicate the precarious conditions that resulted in 

such death, displacement and devastation on January 12th. 

The Haitian government’s action plan calls for the creation of jobs using labor intensive projects. 

The Haitian constitution provides a framework for mobilizing people not just to create these jobs, 

but also to achieve the country’s decentralized development. Discussions had begun among Haitians in 2007 to create a youth service corps that would undertake public works and environmental rehabilitation. The envisaged corps would also serve as a means to provide this large segment 

of Haiti’s population with opportunities for skill training and a cash-paying job and the dignity that 

accompanies it, as well as to form the foundation for natural disaster mitigation and response. In 

the aftermath of the earthquake, these discussions have accelerated, with national civic service 

viewed as a viable means for implementing recovery and development strategies. 

Rebuilding Haiti’s economy also requires ensuring that more resources are available to the 

country’s small and medium enterprises, particularly those in what has been called the informal 

economy. Microcredit finance is one means of financing grassroots capitalists, including small 

farmers. Another strategy is the adaptation of the conditional cash transfer approach that has been 

used successfully in such countries as Brazil and Mexico to alleviate poverty while investing in the 

country’s future human resources. Modest monthly cash transfers to the poorest families are conditioned upon attendance of their children at school and their receipt of regular health check-ups. 

In addition to small and medium enterprises, Haiti’s large enterprises have a key role to play 

in reconstruction, particularly through the creation or expansion of wage employment both in 

urban-based enterprises and in agribusiness ventures. Long-term economic sustainability will 

require not only the active engagement of all components of Haiti’s business sector, but also an 

approach toward investing and remuneration that enables workers to begin climbing a socioeconomic ladder. By promoting socially responsible approaches, investors, the Haitian government 

and donors can help to achieve this goal.

Haiti: Towards and Beyond the Donors’ Conference

page 3 • PB 17 • April 8, 2010
© USIP 2010 • All rights reserved.

United States 

Institute of Peace

1200 17th Street NW

Washington, DC 20036

202.457.1700

www.usip.org

About This Brief

This report is based on a February 

25 panel presentation sponsored 

by USIP’s Haiti Working Group to 

discuss “Haiti: Six Weeks Later.” 

The panel consisted of Reverend 

Tom Streit, director of the Haiti 

Program and research assistant 

professor of Biological Sciences, 

University of Notre Dame; Mary 

Beth Sheridan, diplomatic 

correspondent, The Washington 

Post; Tim Sullivan, manager of 

the Center for Defense Studies, 

American Enterprise Institute; and 

Dr. Robert Maguire, chairman of 

USIP’s Haiti Working Group and 

former Jennings Randolph Senior 

Fellow and associate professor, 

Trinity Washington University. Robert Perito, director of USIP’s Haiti 

Program, served as moderator.

USIP provides the analysis, training and 

tools that prevent and end conflicts, 

promotes stability and professionalizes 

the field of peacebuilding.

For media inquiries, contact the office 

of Public Affairs and Communications, 

202.429.4725

Recommendations

•	 The Action Plan for National Recovery and Development of Haiti endorsed at the March 

31st Donors’ Conference calls for Haitians to be in the lead. A Haitian-led development plan 

is necessary to overcome the country’s history of poverty, inequality and dependence.

•	 Haiti’s governmental institutions and capacity must be strengthened. Donor funding 

must support public institutions, rather than being channeled almost exclusively through 

nongovernmental organizations.

•	 Political stability during recovery and development will be best achieved if the Haitian 

government is able to transition from being absent in the lives of most Haitians to being a 

visible and active partner in the delivery of services based on transparency, accountability, 

the rule of law, and broad-based inclusion.

•	 To sustain a de-concentration of the population, schools, heath care facilities, economic 

opportunities, and infrastructure must be improved throughout the countryside.

•	 A civic service corps should be created as an integral element of the country’s recovery and 

development strategy.

•	 Rebuilding the economy will require opportunities for small, medium and large-scale entrepreneurs to have access to cash. For those traditionally excluded from access, expanded 

microcredit and implementation of a conditional cash transfer program are essential. 

•	 Rebuilding Haiti’s economy must focus on sustainable, grassroots efforts to give Haitians 

the skills and means to participate to their fullest extent in rebuilding their economy.

Haiti: Towards and Beyond the Donors’ Conference

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