Rebuilding Haiti:
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Material Information

Title:
Rebuilding Haiti: a new approach to international cooperation
Series Title:
UNCTAD Policy Briefs
Creator:
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Disaster Risk Reduction Program, Florida International University (DRR/FIU) ( summary contributor )
Publisher:
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Publication Date:
Copyright Date:
2010
Language:
English

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Poverty -- Haiti ( lcshac )
Haiti Earthquake, Haiti, 2010 ( lcshac )
Natural disasters -- Economic aspects ( lcshac )
Genre:
non-fiction ( marcgt )
Spatial Coverage:
North and Central America -- Haiti

Notes

Summary:
This publication calls for a new approach to rebuilding Haiti following the devastating magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck the country in 2010. The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) contends that a new development approach, one different from that promoted throughout the 1980s and 1990s, needs to integrated into the rebuilding process. UNCTAD invites national and international stakeholders to look at not only the devastating impact of the earthquake on Haiti, but also at the fact that the earthquake occurred after thirty years of slow economic growth and development. From this standpoint, UNCTAD argues that the earthquake should be used as an opportunity to correct the mistakes of the past and to implement a comprehensive development strategy that will promote sustainable economic growth. UNCTAD argues that the development strategy promoted in Haiti during the 1980s and 1990s was damaging to the country’s economy. This development strategy, according to UNCTAD, consisted of opening the Haitian market to ferocious foreign competition, which destroyed Haiti’s national production and undermined the Haitian state. As a result of these failed development policies, UNCTAD advocates for a new development approach that aims at rebuilding the capacity of the Haitian state. The UN agency argues that the Haitian state should be the leader of the post-earthquake development process and that the new development strategy should take into consideration the capacities and the weaknesses of local communities. By the same token, UNCTAD asserts that the Haiti rebuilding process should involve a new approach to international cooperation, one which entails investments in the productive sectors of the country, mobilization of domestic resources, and increased agricultural production. This new approach to international cooperation, UNCTAD points out, should be all-encompassing. A piecemeal approach will not redirect Haiti towards a path of development considering the magnitude, breadth, and the integrated nature of the various problems the country has historically faced. UNCTAD calls on the Haitian government and the international development community to build this new development strategy around some of the country’s unique realities. These include particular trade preferences Haiti has as a least developed country (LDC); the fact that 20% of the country’s GDP emanates from remittances; that Haiti is a member of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME); and that it has a historical relationship of cooperation with countries in the region like Brazil, Cuba, and Venezuela. ( English )
Subject:
General Disaster Risk Management ( English )
Citation/Reference:
(2010). Rebuilding Haiti: a new approach to international cooperation. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
Rights Management:
Refer to main document/publisher for use rights.
Resource Identifier:
FI13042514

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Aggregations:
Disaster Risk Reduction