Abstract
BackgroundThe island nation of Haiti poses an ongoing challenge to the international development community. Political instability and lack of basic public services, combined with weak technical and financial capacity, collectively undermine both philanthropy and international investment. Haiti’s tragic vulnerability to natural disasters (earthquakes and hurricanes) and the public health crises that ensue have only compounded its level of destitution. These complex, interconnected circumstances doom single-threaded solutions.MethodsThe problems call instead for integrative responses, answers that cut across sectors and address multiple problems simultaneously. This proposal for critical services development in the Haitian commune of Léogâne seeks to reduce much of its poverty, malnourishment, pollution, health problems, flooding, deforestation, topsoil erosion and loss of biodiversity.ResultsThe territory’s long degraded ecosystem services, once regenerated through reforestation and riverbank stabilization, will boost agricultural production. More significantly, they will help provision targeted new energy, water and waste management systems designed together with synergistic exchanges in mind.ConclusionsAcross these sectors shared resource and energy flows will improve efficiencies, lower costs and reduce environmental impacts.
Highlights
The island nation of Haiti poses an ongoing challenge to the international development community
Haiti was already the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, with an unemployment rate as high as 70%, (Adelman 2011) when its capital was devastated by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on January 12th of 2010
The tragedy was compounded by non-existent building codes and shoddy construction: somewhere between 230,000 to 316,000 Haitians lost their lives beneath collapsing structures, with hundreds of thousands more injured (O’Connor 2012)
Summary
The island nation of Haiti poses an ongoing challenge to the international development community. Political instability and lack of basic public services, combined with weak technical and financial capacity, collectively undermine both philanthropy and international investment. Haiti’s tragic vulnerability to natural disasters (earthquakes and hurricanes) and the public health crises that ensue have only compounded its level of destitution. These complex, interconnected circumstances doom single-threaded solutions. Set against decades of political volatility and economic stagnation, Haiti’s marginal investments in critical infrastructural services have left its people struggling today with growing population pressures and increased needs in a context of dwindling resources. The government worked with international organizations to clear rubble and restore necessary services, while trying to rebuild internal capacity with limited funds. As of May, 2013, the epidemic had claimed more than 8,000 lives (Cholera in Haiti)
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