It's Haiti, not Hate-y

Strange title. I'll explain.

First, in the context of the terrible devastation that has struck Haiti, let me say that my thoughts and prayers go out to its people, my United Nations colleagues, and the wider development community. The UN and NGOs stationed on the front lines are staffed with good people, trying to overcome hellish odds, to do good work for the betterment of humanity.

Yet, I can't help but see the week's tragic events in Haiti in its larger (and I would argue more important) context.

I am not an imperialist. But given the relatively close proximity of Haiti to the US and Canada, we must see this destructive tragedy as a mirror. Our hemisphere has failed to deliver fair and equitable development assistance and has failed to transfer the skills needed to build a sustainable society and reinforce democratic principles in support of self-determination and sovereignty.

We have forsaken the people of Haiti and it was on full display this week. Most, if not all of the government buildings were destroyed in the earthquake (note the 'before' and 'after' photos of the presidential palace, for example). A vast majority of the functionaries critical to ensuring government continuity, were killed or are unaccounted for. Systems for communication, internally and externally, were essentially destroyed. At a special session of the Joint Meeting of the Executive Boards of UNDP/UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Food Programme on the situation in Haiti last Friday, the representative spoke emotionally and passionately about the situation on the ground. (I intend to post his audio here - please check back)

We have known for a very long time that Haiti, despite the efforts of the UN, has been unable to combat its dire poverty or put its internal affairs in order. Instead, for most of the 20th century, the world was preoccupied with obfuscation and confusion of the real issues, focused more on the instability brought about by a myriad of puppet dictators and petty thugs, each claiming to be the political saviour for the Haitian people. With the exception of the name plaque on the office of the President, has anything changed? We certainly witnessed the literal collapse of the Haitian government this week.

So now, the question in my mind related to the title of this blog post is, do we hate Haiti? Do we value our lives more than those in Haiti?

While we can barely manage our own population of poor and disenfranchised in Canada, is it not in our best interest to invest in democratic institutions (and associated redundancies) so that a country like Haiti can be self-sufficient and stable, even in the worst time of need? The burden of responsibility is extra heavy on Canada -- we are as much French as we are English; Quebec has been -- and remains -- a beacon of hope for many Haitians. From a justice and dignity perspective, we must begin to play a greater role in ensuring the requisite knowledge for modern physical and social constructs are shared swiftly and take firm root immediately. Meanwhile, isn't it a shame -- actually, isn't it disgusting -- that our politicians aren't around (thanks to prorogation) to show solidarity with the people of Haiti on behalf of Canadians? Another nail in the coffin of the ideological and the negatively-progressive Conservative government.

At the Joint Meeting of the Boards, the WFP representative on the podium was quite candid. He said things would get worse, before they get better. My prayer for Haiti is that we are in a position to turn our hate into hope... and action.