Six weeks after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, what are the top priorities for donors and for Haiti? What role will the United States play in the coming weeks, months, and perhaps years?

Six weeks after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, the international community is starting to shift their focus from immediate emergency relief to longer, more sustainable development.  What are the top priorities for donors and for Haiti? What role will the United States play in the coming weeks, months, and perhaps years?

Speakers

  • Rev. Tom Streit
    Director of Haiti Program and Research Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame
  • Mary Beth Sheridan
    Diplomatic Correspondent, The Washington Post
  • Tim Sullivan
    Manager of Center for Defense Studies, American Enterprise Institute
  • Robert Maguire
    Chair of Haiti Working Group and former Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow, U.S. Institute of Peace
    Associate Professor, Trinity Washington University
  • Robert Perito, Moderator
    Director of Haiti Program, U.S. Institute of Peace

Event Summary

Related Publications

Keith Mines on the Collapse of Haiti’s Governance

Keith Mines on the Collapse of Haiti’s Governance

Monday, March 18, 2024

By: Keith Mines

With the governing structure now collapsing, Haitian gangs “have the country in a stranglehold,” says USIP’s Keith Mines, and that the best path to re-establish stability is “to form a new transitional government that would be more inclusive, that would have better connections to the Haitian people.”

Type: Podcast

Global Policy

How to Avert a Gang Takeover of Haiti

How to Avert a Gang Takeover of Haiti

Thursday, March 7, 2024

By: Nicolás Devia-Valbuena;  Keith Mines;  Kirk Randolph

Policymakers across the Western Hemisphere were shocked this weekend by news of a concerted effort by a coalition of gangs to attack Haiti’s key infrastructure, block the capital’s airport and prevent Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning from a trip abroad. After all, the analysis went, Henry’s position seemed cemented as the deadline of February 7 — when he was supposed to hand over power to an elected government — passed with no real challenges to his rule. Now, absent an inclusive transitional arrangement that can effectively govern, the possibility of total collapse and anarchy in Haiti is ever more real.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

Keith Mines on Haiti’s Security and Governance Crises

Keith Mines on Haiti’s Security and Governance Crises

Monday, February 5, 2024

By: Keith Mines

Haiti’s slow decline has led the country to the brink of collapse. And while the international community has offered to help, “there’s just a lot of pieces … that haven’t come together yet,” says USIP’s Keith Mines, adding: “It probably will take a stronger lead by the United States” to restore security and governance.

Type: Podcast

Global Policy

Wanted: A Reset of Haiti Policy

Wanted: A Reset of Haiti Policy

Thursday, January 25, 2024

By: Georges Fauriol

Haiti’s governance vacuum triggered by President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination in July 2021 shows few encouraging signs. Violence, notably around Port-au-Prince, has not only grown in lethality, but politically has become the central issue shaping domestic and international discussions. The imminent expiration of acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s term in office on February 7 means Haiti’s political crisis is on course to become more intransigent.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & GovernanceGlobal Policy

View All Publications