Ingrida Kerusauskaite speaks to Paul Collier, Flavia Pansieri and Carolyn Miller about Clinton’s role in coordinating relief and reconstruction works in Haiti.

Around a billion pounds in donations from around the world has poured into Haiti since the disastrous earthquake in January. Since then, around 1000 NGOS have registered with the UN, with perhaps just as many more operating in the country without having registered. However such rapid and committed response, despite the good intentions, may at times complicate rather than assist relief operations. Aid workers returning from Haiti have expressed frustration with the numerous NGOs “tripping over each other”, often duplicating other NGO and UN operations. The sheer number of organizations operating in the country also requires a certain degree of bureaucracy, which has slowed down or even jeopardized certain food and water distribution operations. Given such issues, the major task to coordinate relief and reconstruction efforts of the “zoo of different actors”, as the economist Paul Collier puts it, has been tasked to former US president Bill Clinton.

Yet many ask the question, why an American? Some might see the appointment of Clinton as clear evidence of the spread of US imperialism, asking why it is not an international body, such a UN agency, leading the relief operation. However, Ban Ki-Moon, the secretary general of the UN, has himself appointed Bill Clinton. “The UN is saying that Clinton is the right person,” said Collier. Flavia Pansieri, the UN Volunteers Programme Executive Coordinator, pointed out that Clinton had already been formally appointed as the UN’s Special Envoy for Haiti in March 2009, before the earthquake, “and in this capacity he would continue to support Haiti relief efforts”.

Paul Collier believes that the appointment, which will see Clinton forming a decision-making structure alongside senior Haitian politicians, will be ideal for the earthquake stricken country. Collier, who had previously worked for the UN in Haiti, noted that the disastrous collapse of the UN building in Haiti, in which senior ranking officials died, means “the UN is starting in Haiti from scratch again”.

Moreover, numerous UN agencies, as well as the World Bank and other organizations all believe that they should be the ones coordinating the relief and reconstruction operations. It is thus felt that a widely recognized public figure is required to cut through such departmental in-fighting. “So, in my mind, Clinton is ideal,” states Collier, commenting on Clinton’s involvement and popularity in Haiti. Clinton is “uniquely well-placed” to coordinate the private and public sectors in Haiti: via his role in the government, as well as with the ‘Clinton Global Initiative’, which encourages the private sector in the US to invest in Haiti. Far from representing US imperialism, Clinton’s public profile will be intended to boost the Haitian response internationally.

However, such a comprehensive foreign role raises questions about the sustainability of the development and reconstruction effort in Haiti. The troubled country’s infrastructure was extremely poor before the earthquake that has finally focused international attention there. “Haiti has not had a functioning government for as long as most of us can remember”, said Carolyn Miller, Chief Executive of MERLIN (Medical Emergency Relief International). For the past two decades, Haiti had been heavily relying on foreign aid to sustain basic services and infrastructure in the country. According to a 2006 World Bank study, 92% of Haiti’s schools and 70% of healthcare operations were undertaken by NGOs.

This historical reliance has raised concerns that in a couple of year’s time, when the unprecedented aid that is currently being donated to Haiti will cease, there will be a sudden abandonment of such comprehensive reconstruction and relief projects. “You all generously donated now, but will you still donate in three years’ time?” Miller asks. Indeed, how long will the international community need to “guide” Haiti’s politics and development until it can stand on its own two feet?

Collier deems Clinton’s and the international community’s involvement be necessary during the coming 3 or 4 years, and “to do practical things”, such as set up an efficient network of electricity and infrastructure. The fact is that “it’s not that [the power network] has fallen down, it was never there”. One of the most important lessons learned from previous disasters, according to Miller, is that “it takes a very long time to rebuild”, and early abandon of developmental projects could have devastating effects, as seen in Sierra Leone.

However, such statements point to the need for a lengthily international engagement with Haiti that many Western governments may not be keen to honour, despite the efforts of prominent diplomats such as Clinton.

All international responses to crisis manage a balancing act between the immediate need to act and issues of sustainability for the country that will soon be “yesterday’s news”. Despite the robust international response thus far, serious questions remain for Haiti.  How long will it take the country, which has been largely dependent on foreign aid for the past few decades, manage to successfully move away from NGO and international actors’ patronage? Only time will tell if the humanitarianism of the last few months will be sustained by aid donors and the recipient government alike.

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