Haiti NGO Sector

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play a key role in economic, political and everyday life in Haiti. The Library of Congress reports that, 'some analysts went so far as to call the development community in Haiti a shadow government, because overseas funding contributed as much as seventy percent of spending on economic and social development and forty percent of the national budget' (Library of Congress). This article explores the history and landscape of NGOs in Haiti.

The Republic of Haiti seceded from France in the first and only successful slave rebellion in the world in 1804. Declaring itself independent of colonial power, Haiti became the earliest self-ruling black republic in history. Notwithstanding its revolutionary beginnings, Haiti has seen more than its fair share of instability and dictatorship. Haiti is presently the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and is the most corrupt nation in the world according to Transparency International. Racial divides and discrimination – a remnant of colonialism and occupation – have also contributed to social instability and economic inequality. Race still, in large part, determines social and economic power. 'One of the striking facts about the social and political history of Haiti from independence in 1804 to the present is the deep gulf separating the largely mulatto elite groups from the predominantly black masses' (Nicholls 1974). According to BBC News' country profile of Haiti, almost half of the nation's wealth rests with one percent of the francophone mulatto class (BBC News 2007). The Haitian Diaspora includes the United States, in particular, Boston, Miami and New York, where those of Haitian descent maintain links to their mother country. According to the World Bank, approximately one-fifth of Haiti's GDP in 2002 came from private transfers, primarily from the expatriate community (World Bank 2004). Foreign aid and nonprofits have become key players in the country’s economic and social development. 'Although the major multilateral and bilateral development agencies have provided the bulk of foreign funding, hundreds of nongovernmental organizations have also played a prominent role in development assistance,' (Chapin Metz 2001).

Haiti's Natural Resources and NGO Community

Haiti's massive deforestation and natural resource degradation traces back to colonial rule, at which time intensive farming for a single crop was the norm. Large-scale timber harvesting also became prevalent and was used as a means to pay off an indemnity debt to France. Following Haiti’s independence, the majority of the Haitian population became small-scale farmers (White and Jickling 1995). Government limits on land access and farming resulted in devastating environmental consequences. Marginal access to 'hillside soils [and areas between 200 and 600 meters above fertile plains that] were particularly susceptible to erosion when cleared for farming,' led to extraordinary environmental decay (McClintock). This coupled with rapid urbanization led to the near wipe-out of Haiti’s forests: forested land decreased from thirty percent in 1940 to between 1.4 and 2 percent in 2001 (Michel 2001).

Researchers have studied the relationship between environmental scarcity and civil unrest. As land loses its capacity for fertile production, groups rush for control over these limited resources, which also forces those without such economic and political capital to migrate, often to slums in urban centers. This further jeopardizes the remaining resources and gives rise to social instability. As one case study explains, 'Environmental degradation induced a mass of poor people to migrate to the slums of Port-au-Prince. By the mid-1980s many of these people had organized groups based around small church parishes and achieved a collective awareness of solidarity and common grievances. Protests became riots, riots became increasingly violent, and the political crisis that ensued has yet to be properly resolved,' (Howard 1998).

Urban migration, caused by a lack of ecological resources, helped pave the way for social organization. While social organization helped fuel unrest, it also laid the foundation for NGO development in Haiti. It was with the help of NGOs that the Duvalier government of the 1980s was overthrown because of its lack of civic and development programs (Chapin Metz 2001). President Jean-Bertrand Aristide came to power with the support of the poor masses from the capital's slums (Benton and Ware 1998). Further underlining the relationship between environmental degradation and NGO development is one survey's report that many NGOs who came to Haiti before 1960 came to help in the aftermath of 1954's Hurricane Hazel (Chapin Metz 2001). Government Development Assistance and NGOs

Because of the political instability in Haiti, the international donor community has wavered in both supplying humanitarian aid and becoming involved in Haiti's affairs. Many governments have simply resorted to placing trade embargoes on the country. US non-humanitarian aid to Haiti halted in 1963 under John F. Kennedy's administration, followed by a period from 1973 to 1986 of resumed aid. The Reagan administration ended all aid other than humanitarian assistance in 1987. As U.S. foreign policy changed, Haitian-U.S. relations and the NGO community were affected. In 1982 the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) began transferring aid through NGOs. According to the Library of Congress, 'Canada, West Germany and other foreign donors also decided to circumvent government agencies in favor of nongovernmental organizations. This approach proved so much more efficient and effective that, by the late 1980s, USAID distributed all of its humanitarian aid through a network of nongovernmental institutions,' (Chapin Metz 2001). Amnesty International reported that annual U.S. overseas development assistance (ODA) channeled exclusively via NGOs to Haiti increased by US$ 6 million to almost US$ 70 million in 2003 (Amnesty International 2003).

Foreign Military Intervention and NGOs

Because of extensive foreign military intervention, NGOs in Haiti have had as important a relationship to foreign governments as to the domestic government. A key illustration of this was during the multilateral intervention and UN Mission to Haiti in the 1990s. Following the coup d’état of Aristide in 1991 foreign governments including the US placed large embargoes on the country, allowing only humanitarian aid to be funneled to devastated areas. In September 1993, the UN Security Council (UNSC) approved the UN Mission in Haiti but plans for the mission halted due to extreme rioting. A year later, the UNSC approved Operation "Uphold Democracy," and deployed a multinational force, led by the US, to restore Aristide to power. The force transferred its power officially to the UN Mission to Haiti in March of 1995. This international peacekeeping mission looked to Haiti's NGO community in managing the humanitarian needs of the civil conflict. Several Civil Military Operations Centers (CMOCs) were subsequently established with a number of civil society groups . Two CMOCs were established in Haiti during Operation "Uphold Democracy" at Port-au-Prince and Cape Haitien. The great majority of CMOCs activities were focused on addressing NGOs applications for military support in humanitarian efforts. As Major Aaron L. Wilkins states in his Air Command and Staff College report , 'While they customarily operate outside of chains of command, NGOs collectively serve as huge force multipliers by reducing the military's burden for humanitarian resources. With external resources of money and services available to NGOs, it is in the military's best interest to foster good relations. Conversely, the military's services to NGOs, in turn, decrease their overhead,' (Wilkins, 1997). Notwithstanding their mutual goals of delivering aid, NGOs began to question their relationship with foreign military powers. Aligning themselves too closely with an intervening military, they deemed, would make them, in the eyes of the people they are serving, tools for foreign governments. In one report on CMOCs, the author asserts that,

'the military and NGOs have not learned to work together and are mutually suspicious. NGOs are concerned about potentially compromising their neutrality, or at least appearing to, if they interact with the military. Many organizations fear that if they cooperate with the military, they may be associated with it, or be perceived to be an instrument of some country's (or the UN's) foreign policy. Thus, NGOs may fail to take advantage of a CMOC because they believe that they will best serve the "at risk" population by remaining neutral,' (Benton and Ware 1998).

It was due to these concerns that the UN peacekeeping mission did not use the CMOC as the direct means to link the NGO community to the military in Haiti. Instead, the mission created a separate office, the Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Center (HACC). There were also issues surrounding food distribution, which the military looked to NGOs to handle only to find that there were not enough relief NGOs to manage the task – most NGOs in Haiti were development NGOs and not relief NGOs and, thereby, more focused on long-term rather than short-term emergency efforts. Furthermore, the military operated on a chain of command, using a hierarchy to disseminate information, a management approach unfamiliar to many NGOs more prone to independent operation. Different approaches to management and coordination created frustration for military personnel trying to administer support to NGOs. While Haitian NGOs have had ties with military forces, many remain independent from foreign government influence.

Haitian NGOs

There is a dearth of information on Haitian NGOs. This may be because so much research is on foreign forces in Haiti and because of a lack of clear structure of NGO laws or body overseeing NGOs in the country. The Embassy of Haiti in Washington, D.C. features links to NGOs and lists only four Haitian NGOs, nine Haitian-American NGOs, and seven foreign NGOs (http://www.haiti.org). Other research states there are more than 300 NGOs in Haiti (Chapin Metz 2001; Wikipedia). More recently, the relationship between NGOs and the Haitian government has been strained because of corruption prior to the departure of Cedras, the head of the army who led the coup against Aristide. 'The NGOs not supported by Cedras were either not functioning or were operating in secret and under intense pressure from the government. NGOs which did function were forced to pay bribes,' (Benton and Ware 1998).

Timeline of NGO Law in Haiti

A timeline of nonprofit law in Haiti begins with the law of June 8, 1921 on the recognition of public usefulness; the law of July 23, 1934 modified by the law of September 29, 1953 on foundations; the edict of September 14, 1989 defining the implementation and functioning of NGOs. There is a draft of a new NGO law, 'the Draft Fixing the Status of Nongovernmental Organizations and Registering Their Implementation and Their Functioning in Haiti,' which was published in December 1996 by the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation (MPCE), the principle government body that oversees NGO registration and NGO Affairs, and the Union for the Control of Nongovernmental Organizations' Activities (UCAONG). It is this draft that most implicitly outlines the establishment and operation of Haitian and foreign NGOs (MPCE, UCAONG 1997). According to the French Liaison Mission of International NGOs, this draft has been drawn up by the Haitian government to regulate the NGO community in Haiti, which 'the latter find to be a fetter to their rights,' (Mission de liaison avec les organisations internationales non-governementales 1999, my translation). The desire to monitor NGOs emerged from a history of unstable government, which pushed Haitian NGOs to seek, often unregulated, aid from foreign sources. Some organizations operating for commercial benefit and corrupt purposes also became the impetus for the drafting the 1996 decree.

Presently, the title of nongovernmental organization (NGO) is given by the MPCE. There are numerous methods, both official and unofficial, to obtain legal status as an NGO. A Canadian market research report details the registration of NGOs in Haiti, beginning with a special application to the Ministry of Planning in Haiti. The organization must submit a document of Legal Status of the Charitable Organization translated into French or Creole; the names, nationalities, addresses and current working status of Board Members; a letter of recommendation from two NGOs operating in Haiti or from a multilateral or bilateral organization. The City Council where the NGO will be set up must give authorization. After following these steps, if an NGO is specializing in medical services or Charity, it may also send the application to the Ministry of Public Health. Recognition by the Ministry of Public Health allows NGOs to order drugs without paying duties at customs. For this, it is necessary to submit the commercial and generic names of the drugs, along with the expiration date and manufacturer's serial number (International Market Insights 2003).

According to the French Liaison Mission of International Nongovernmental Organizations, the informal practice of a government minister giving 'authorization to function' to an organization is a popular unofficial method to gain legal acceptance as a public interest association or NGO. Certain associations can claim the status of development NGO if they submit a proposal to UCAONG (Mission de liaison avec les organisations internationales non-governementales 1999). The head of one Haitian NGO, the Foundation for the Children of Haiti, states that the government does not employ strict guidelines for organizations seeking NGO status. 'Essentially, one needs only to file cursory paperwork to receive that status [as an NGO]. Background checks are rare or nonexistent,' (Benton and Ware 1998). Unclear and informal registration processes underscore the importance of the 1996 draft to turn the tide on corruption. Tax Treatment of NGOs

Nonprofits and cooperatives are not required to pay taxes on earnings in Haiti. According to the French Liaison Mission of International Nongovernmental Organizations, development NGOs receive hefty advantages at customs; although, these advantages are unspecified. NGOs also have access to public funds and, like cooperatives, can legally import goods necessary to accomplish their goals, like medications, agricultural tools and computers. Foreign NGOs are exonerated from the transaction costs at customs and have particular advantages in bringing over foreign personnel's belongings. Foreign NGOs must adhere to the same laws as domestic NGOs, with the added rule that one-third of the members of the board of directors must be of Haitian nationality.

Future Forecast of NGOs in Haiti: Challenges and Opportunities Most research on the NGO community in Haiti suggests that cooperation is the key to future success. With similar concerns and goals, some NGOs state that they see themselves as part of an informal group that can work together to meet the needs of the populations they serve. The sense of cooperation may come from having membership links to the same organization and seeking funding from similar sources. 'Those NGOs that are members of InterAction have made the most progress on forming alliances with other groups. Apparently, high level international coordination is extremely beneficial,' (Benton and Ware 1998). Some research suggests that the NGOs would be better off with stronger ties to the government, instead of conducting their activities outside of regulations, as some do. 'When NGOs operate completely outside the government, the civil service does not build its capacity to manage money, staff, or the country's problems. There is a significant amount of experience in Canada and the United States in the area of organizational management, and some of this experience should be applied to the challenge of grafting the best features of NGOs and our own civil service onto the Haitian bureaucracy. For example, the World Bank's new Forest and Parks Protection Technical Assistance Project will place NGOs under the technical supervision of government authorities, exposing government staff to the principles of institutional transparency and meritocracy' (Howard 1998).

This also highlights the need for NGO support from the Haitian government. The 1996 draft of a law on NGOs is an example of such support, because it gives a formal guideline that can help weed out organizations fronting as NGOs and give authentic and transparent NGOs a better reputation in front of donors. The political climate and public sector transparency, however, will be a major determinant.

'While political crises have prompted the withdrawal of donor support to the public sector, the very weakness of institutional capacities in Haiti has been identified as the main factor condemning the effectiveness of development assistance. In a 2002 evaluation of the unsatisfactory impact of its assistance to Haiti, the World Bank concluded that "the Bank and other donors erred in offering traditional assistance programs without identifying the fundamental governance and political barriers to development, and by overwhelming [Haiti's] fragile absorptive capacity. In a 2004 review of a "Decade of Difficult Partnership," the Canadian International Development Agency, Haiti's second largest bilateral donor, suggested moving away from reactive, political triggers for aid-allocation and towards an engagement based on analysis of structural challenges and opportunities, in partnership with government, donors, and civil society,' (World Bank 2006).

The future of any NGO community also hinges on international awareness of its efforts. The international response to Haiti has been and will continue to be as important as the domestic response. A powerful factor in gaining awareness is celebrity involvement and its subsequent media attention. Most notable for Haiti is the effort of one of its sons and now a music celebrity, Wyclef Jean. His spotlight has put Haiti and its development needs in the international limelight in a positive way, rather than news reports that focus on the instability of the nation. Jean has created a nonprofit of his own called Yéle Haiti, whose goal, according to the singer and producer, 'is to restore pride and a reason to hope, and for the whole country to regain the deep spirit and strength that is part of our heritage' (Yéle Haiti 2007). Media plays a key role in all NGO communities' advocacy efforts, and radio is the most widely used medium in Haiti. Therefore, some researchers suggest that NGOs should tap into this resource and use radio as a tool for informing the public and starting dialogue between organizations (Benton and Ware 1998). Haiti relies heavily on the NGO community for development and will continue to do so in order to meet economic and social needs. 'On the social plan, the weakness of the State and its public services have essentially left the field open to NGOs in the health sectors where certain access to care is exclusively the private association sector's domain. The same goes for the education sector. The build-up of great social distress, orphans, street children, and abandoned sick people remains the quasi-exclusive domain of charitable organizations and religous congregations,' (La Mission de liaison avec les organisations internationales non-governementales 1999, my translation). With the desire for cooperation among NGOs, there is hope that Haiti can regain its spirit, as Wyclef Jean writes, « a spirit of liberation. » The country boasts a unique and inspiring heritage and, as NGOs work to address the humanitarian needs and roots of environmental and economic poverty, they can move Haitians into a better future. 'The accomplishments of the nongovernmental organizations have proved that concerted efforts [can] achieve results in Haiti,' (Chapin Metz 2001).

References

Amnesty International. 2003. http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR360072003

BBC News. Country Profile: Haiti. 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1202772.stm

Benton, Leslie A. and Glenn T. Ware, 1998. Haiti: A Case Study of the International Response and the Efficacy of Nongovernmental Organizations in the Crisis. Emory Law Review. http://www.smallwarsjournal.com

Chapin Metz, Helen, ed. 2001. Dominican Republic and Haiti : country studies / Federal Research Division, Library of Congress.

Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union. 2007. http://www.coopfcu.org/ASP/financial.asp

Howard, Philip. 1998. Environmental Scarcities and Conflict in Haiti: Ecology and Grievances in Haiti's Troubled Past and Uncertain Future. http://faculty.washington.edu/pnhoward/publishing/articles/haiti.pdf

International Market Insights. 2003. strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/imr-ri.nsf/en/gr116440e.html

McClintock, Nathan C. Agroforestry and Sustainable Resource Conservation in Haiti: A Case Study. http://www.unif2004.org/HaitiCaseStudy.doc

Michel, R. 2001. Informations sur les technologies traditionelles en Haiti. http://www.haiticulture.ch/Env_techno.html

Ministère de la Planification et de la Cooperation Externe (MPCE), Unite de Coordination des Activités des ONG (UCAONG). 1997. Avant-projet de loi fixant le statut des organisations non-gouvernementales (ONG) et regissant leur implantation et leur fonctionnement en Haïti. International Center for Not-for-Profit Law

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Nicholls, David. 1974. A Work of Combat: Mulatto Historians and the Haitian Past, 1847-1867. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, Vol. 16, No. 1.

Sletten, Pål and Willy Egset. 2004. Poverty in Haiti. Fafo 2004:31. United Nations Mission in Haiti. 2007. http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/co_mission/unmih.htm White, T. A., and J.L.Jickling. 1995. Peasant, experts, and land use in Haiti: Lessons from indigenous and project technology. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 50(1): 7-14.

Wilkins, Major Aaron L. 1997. The Civil Miliary Operations Center (CMOC) In Operation Uphold Democracy (Haiti). http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/acsc/97-0086.pdf

World Bank. Haiti Country Overview. 2004. http://web.worldbank.org/

World Bank. Social Resilience and State Fragility in Haiti: A Country Social Analysis. 2006. Report No. 36069. http://www-wds.worldbank.org/

Yéle Haiti. http://www.yele.org/vision.html