- ATD Fourth World

But it is not enough for this undertaking to be guided by the most dynamic leaders of both Haiti and the international communities. For this reconstruction to benefit every citizen of Haiti, including the most vulnerable people—those who were living in extreme poverty long before January 12th, and who remain completely unreached by the current relief efforts—they too must be enabled to play a substantive role in designing it.

In every country, generations of families in extreme poverty have suffered from the unintended consequences of well-meant aid, including:

• donated food that destroys local agriculture in many parts of Africa;
• welfare policies that undermine self-esteem in Western Europe and North America;
• school systems that humiliate certain children, paralyzing their capacity to learn.

People who have endured the worst of these situations have a unique contribution to make toward crafting innovative approaches that can harness the best of what everyone can bring to their country’s progress.

In Haiti today, we are concerned that too many valuable voices remain unheard. Bill Clinton, as the UN Special Envoy for Haiti, has made a parallel to the rebuilding of New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward where environmentally sound housing is beginning to replace the pre-Katrina dilapidated shot-gun homes. But in fact, the most disadvantaged families of New Orleans had no voice in that rebuilding. A great number of them remain displaced to this day, more than four years later, unable to afford the increased rents in their hometown. These families have expressed hope that the most disadvantaged families in Haiti not be left out in these ways.

Diana Skelton,
Deputy Director General