Setting the Stage for Long-Term Recovery in Haiti

Abstract

This paper describes the first seven months of long-term recovery activities following the 12 January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. We describe the activities of a broad range of governmental and nongovernmental (NGO) actors, and we identify the organizations and institutions likely to drive the long-term recovery process. Much of the funding from recovery will come via up to $5.3 billion in international donations, which will be directed and monitored by the newly constituted Interim Haitian Reconstruction Commission (IHRC), but much of the work of recovery will be carried out by local and international NGOs. Finally, an important goal of the recovery process will be to improve governance and increase the capacity of the Haitian national government, and this may prove to be the most challenging task of all.