Haiti needs a Green New Deal, not another military intervention | Opinions

Earlier this year, my paternal grandmother passed away in northern Haiti, aged 94. Although my father wanted to attend her funeral, he decided not to travel to his home country for fear of being kidnapped or, worse, killed. My father’s alarm is not unwarranted.

During the first months of 2024, more than 2,500 people were killed in the capital, Port-au-Prince, amid an escalating armed conflict between local gangs. At least 300,000 people have fled their homes due to the violence, many of them migrating to southern cities, including Les Cayes and Jacmel, or to northern communes such as Cap-Haitien.

Although moving out of dangerous areas has provided some temporary relief, internally displaced people face difficult living conditions, not least due to inadequate aid provision. Speaking to the Haitian Times, Paul Petit Franc, who moved from Port-au-Prince to Cap-Haitien, noted: “I feel like a stranger in my own country.”

This feeling of estrangement did not happen overnight and speaks to a broader problem in Haitian society. Years of mismanagement, corruption and violence have torn apart the country’s social fabric.

Instead of addressing the crisis in Haiti in all its complexity, the international response has been to propose a $600 million security mission. Even as violence increases in Port-au-Prince, many Haitians doubt that another foreign military intervention will solve the country’s systemic problems.

While the international community seemingly refuses to learn the lessons of the past, many Haitians at home and in the diaspora are reflecting on other possibilities. Haitian writer Edwidge Danticat asked a noteworthy question in the New Yorker: “How can we rekindle that courage and communal determination that inspired us to defeat the greatest armies in the world and then pin to our flag the motto, ‘L’union fait la force ‘ [Unity is strength]?” Danticat is right: what Haiti needs is a new renaissance of unity.

I would expand your missive to ask: what if the intervention in Haiti was not a militarized mission, but a reconstruction project that prioritizes sustainability, economic redistribution and guaranteed social services?

What Haiti really needs is a revitalization plan that not only guarantees employment for many Haitians, but that provides much-needed infrastructure to modernize the country and help heal its social fabric.

This would mean investing in the country in a way that Haitian elites and foreign actors never intended. It would mean introducing a Green New Deal.

This national program may reflect what the United States did to address socioeconomic inequalities during the Great Depression and what Europeans did to rebuild their devastated countries after World War II. There is no reason why the same vision cannot be applied to Haiti.

An environmentally focused development program would redistribute resources in a way that prioritizes social issues, rather than thinking only in terms of security for security’s sake.

A Haitian Green New Deal would focus on creating sustainable jobs by launching renewable energy projects, constructing energy-efficient buildings that can withstand hurricanes and earthquakes, developing a national recycling center to reduce waste in landfills, taking steps to climate-proof the country’s coastline, and expanding clean water infrastructure.

To address private sector failures in service delivery, the plan would adopt a people-centered approach that would establish a social housing program, a national rail system, universal health care, and direct agricultural subsidies to Haitian farmers to modernize practices.

To address socioeconomic inequalities, the plan would seek to develop not only Port-au-Prince, but also peripheral cities such as Cap-Haitien, Jacmel, Gonaives and Porto-da-Paz, as well as rural areas.

Financial provisions would also have to be made to rebuild state institutions, expand existing structures, and hire adequate Haitian personnel to manage climate-oriented programs.

The Green New Deal would be shaped and built by Haitians with Haitian needs in mind. Not only would it provide jobs, but it would also improve the quality of life, stabilize the country, stimulate the economy, reduce people’s dependence on gangs, and provide a sense of security.

To implement the Green New Deal, three main issues would have to be addressed.

Firstly, Haiti’s external debt, which currently amounts to $2.35 billion or almost 12% of its gross domestic product (GDP), must be forgiven. The country’s struggle to pay off debt and stabilize its economy has a long history, dating back to when colonial France forced its former colony to pay 100 years of compensation for declaring independence in 1791. Eliminating the burden of this debt on the Haitian economy is a key issue. step to help stabilize it.

Second, securing funding for the Green New Deal must begin with Caribbean countries and the United States reshaping how they view and politically engage with Haiti. Instead of viewing their neighbor as a charity case or pariah state, these countries should embrace the Green New Deal as a sustainable solution to the Haitian crisis that can bring regional stability and challenge the hostility demonstrated by some states, such as the Republic Dominican Republic, where Haitian refugees face mistreatment. It makes much more sense to finance a long-term plan that can guarantee economic prosperity and security than a short-term military intervention that could worsen the situation.

Third, corruption must be fought at national and international level. Haitians have repeatedly demonstrated their rejection of the corrupt elites who have embezzled billions of dollars from the state coffers. To prevent further theft of public funds, anti-corruption laws must be established and enforced. Regional actors and international institutions must support anti-corruption efforts by refusing to engage with corrupt members of the political elite.

Many Haitians living at home and abroad have felt the weight of violence in their personal lives. Whether they had to flee their homes or were unable to give a proper farewell to a deceased loved one (as was the case with my father), they do not believe that the crisis is inevitable or ordered.

As Jacky Lumarque wrote in the Financial Times: “Haiti is a very complex society. Those who look to us for solutions need humility, nuance, and historical depth to find appropriate answers.” It is essential to give hope and highlight the humanity of Haitians. A Green New Deal can deliver both. It is a plan that does not make empty promises and values ​​the lives of Haitians.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.