April 18, 2011

In the lead up to Haiti’s November elections, USIP teamed with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to mobilize the local civil society network, Initiative Committees, to help prevent election-related violence in their communities. Potential for violence was high amid an already tense environment and slow and arduous efforts to rebuild after Haiti’s devastating earthquake in January 2010.

Initiative Committees (ICs) are community action groups formed by civil society organizations and community representatives of a communal section in Haiti. Created in 2001 through a long-term civic education and community organizing initiatives conducted by NDI with USAID support, ICs work to identify local priorities and organize their communities to respond to local needs.

Starting in September 2010, Maria Jessop and Anthony Wanis–St. John from USIP’s Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding in collaboration with USIP’s Haiti Program trained 25 Initiative Committee members in Cap Haitien, Haiti. Participants represented ICs from 14 different communities in four northern departments in Haiti: North,Northeast, Arbonite, and Central Plateau.The participants were selected based on previous exposure to conflict mitigation efforts in their community and previous NDI activities. As such, a higher proportion of participants in the conflict-prone Central Plateau Department participated in this workshop. This event gave IC members unique opportunity to learn conflict mitigation skills to complement the skills acquired through NDI’s previous Civic Forum program. The workshop focused on effective planning and facilitation of community-level dialogues for the purpose of preventing electoral violence.Based on the strong positive feedback from participants and NDI’s Haiti team, Jessop and Wanis–St. John returned to Haiti in February to conduct another workshop for 30 IC members from Haiti’s southern departments in Les Cayes. This one focused on preventing electoral violence in the lead up to the March 20 run-off elections. Participants were drawn from 15 different communities in Haiti’s five southern departments.  

Following the workshop, Jessop stopped in Port-au-Prince to meet with participants from the first program to learn about their activities since the training workshop in Cap Haitien. The IC members had organized multi-sectoral dialogues in their communities with the goal of preventing elections-related violence. They had passed on knowledge, skills, and resources gained in the training to fellow IC members. Most significantly, they reported that their communities had experienced little to no electoral-related violence. They felt that their activities had significantly contributed to reducing violence in their communities on November 28 and in the aftermath of the elections, which saw violence in other parts of the country, particularly in the south where multi-sectoral dialogues had not taken place. Radio broadcasting enabled them to spread their message to a much larger audience. Effectively engaging political party supporters, which USIP’s training addressed, was important to their success.

USIP workshop participant Pierre Francique organized a non-violence promotion campaign that culminated in a three-hour event in October at the Hotel Ideal in Guaname with 110 participants. These included representatives of the clergy, judicial officials, party chiefs, and 11 party representatives, 42 civil society/NGO representatives, representatives from the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), members of the police, and 10 journalists. The media’s presence ensured that the message of non-violence was spread much more widely.

The police attending the event reportedly saw the value in these dialogues; one remarked that “the ICs need to continue these activities.” The community of Guaname has a reputation as a “hot spot,” therefore it is significant that there were little to no incidents of violence in this community in December 2010 when demonstrations turned violent in Port-au-Prince and other cities amid allegations of fraudulent vote counting and the controversial decision to give Jude Celestin a place in the run-off elections over Michel “Sweet Mickey” Martelly.

Participant Valcourt Josué reported sharing dialogue training with fellow IC members twice per month during regular meetings. He also reported meeting with civil society organizations on ways to promote non-violence. He organized a large multi-sectoral meeting with local political candidates, local elected officials, the priest, mayor, and civil society and media participation.  This meeting was broadcast on the radio thereby reaching many more than were present.

Michel Herode also reported holding a meeting with fellow IC members to share skills gained from the workshop and resources. He held a meeting with local political candidates and got them to sign a “Pact of Non-violence.” He also held a large event at the Town Hall on November 19 in which 100 people participated. A priest and pastor spoke about “democratic tolerance.” Representatives of police, judiciary, and the elections bureau also attended and explained election procedures and measures in place to ensure fairness. This event was also reportedly broadcast on the radio. A justice of the peace was quoted as saying regarding the event organized by Herode and his team: “Thanks to this activity, there was no violence [in our community] on the 28th of November.” Herode reported that on the day of elections when some Inité party supporters tried to stir violence and panic, the crowd rejected them saying, “We have signed a pact of non-violence.”

Louis Gabriel held a dialogue on October 20 at the Centre de Lectures, a local library, attended by 60 people. They included the police commissioner, several judges, the education Inspector, health officials, representatives from grassroots organizations, and locally elected officials. Gabriel framed the dialogue in the following manner: “We are here to study how to stop or reduce violence in our community.” He said people had an opportunity to express themselves and report on the security of the community. The commissioner asked for the help of the IC in acting as a kind of early warning system. He expressed confidence and trust in the IC and wanted to partner with them on reducing violence. When asked how the community feels about the police, Gabriel responded diplomatically that they believe they are insufficient in numbers and recognize their constraints. Gabriel reported organizing several police-community dialogues that have improved relations and also improved police performance on the day of the elections. Gabriel sees this improvement as a result of the police feeling more accountable to the community as a result of having participated in the dialogues.

USIP and NDI plan to discuss mechanisms for documenting impacts from the second workshop held in Les Cayes, as well as plan for a more advanced workshop for the most active IC members. The IC members interviewed and the majority of those trained in the first round strongly advocated for a second workshop to build their skills further. With the March elections having passed more peacefully than most had anticipated, an advanced workshop will build on the initial training and prepare IC members  to conduct more sustained dialogues  on justice and security issues.

The IC members demonstrated their convening power and ability to gain the trust of different sectors in their communities. They are ideally positioned to engage at the local level, and they are very motivated. Using their dialogue and convening skills, the ICs are also well positioned to play an important role in broadening civic participation in Haiti’s National Reconstruction Plan, which will become a focus of attention again now that elections are over.

With the election of Michel (“Sweet Mickey”) Martelly and the rejection of the old order, Haitians have called for more accountability, transparency, and effective governance so that their basic needs and aspirations can be met. ICs and other civil society groups in Haiti can play a critical role in holding government accountable and in ensuring the voices of the people in their communities are heard, respected, and answered.

Explore Further

• Countries and Regions: Haiti
• Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding
• Post-Election Haiti: What Happens Next?
  Upcoming Event | April 20, 2011