Security sector reform in Haiti since 2004: limits and prospects for public order and stability

Abstract

ABSTRACTSecurity sector reform (SSR) has been at the core of the international intervention in Haiti since the mid-1990s. Following the deployment of MINUSTAH in 2004, the scope of SSR varied, with more or less consideration for non-state actors, and influenced public order and violence in the country. Under President René Préval (2006–2009), efforts were made to address the role of non-state actors in the production of public order and security provision at the local level, with positive impact on the level of public order in Port-au-Prince. After the 2010 earthquake and the election of Michel Martelly, however, this approach was mostly abandoned. International donors refocused their assistance in the security sector on the development of the national police. By 2014, despite continued international presence, Haiti registered the highest level of homicides since 2007. This article contends that state-centric SSR is unlikely to improve security and stability in this context since it ignores parts of the Haitian security sector.