Hundreds of thousands are likely to have died, millions are in need, their homes having been lost. Many wait for medical care. Safe water is in short supply and the rainy season starts in May. Could it have been different in Haiti? Would good planning have eased the pain of the shocks?
Real Instituto Elcano de Estudios Internacionales y Estrategicos
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
6 p., As well as being one of the worst natural disasters in history, the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 exposed the developmental shortcomings of the poorest country in America and had repercussions on its foreign relations and internal policy. As the damage is still being assessed and the debates carry on regarding the reconstruction agenda, this report looks at the international response to the humanitarian catastrophe and its effects on the country's domestic political agenda.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
23 p., Argues that now is the moment to lift Haiti from under the dust and rubble and transform it into a less vulnerable and more equitable nation. The opportunity must not be lost.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
26 p., Argues that if the electoral process is to be as transparent, non-violent and widely participated in as it needs to be, the Haitian government must meet a higher standard than ever before, and the UN, regional organizations and donors like the U.S., Canada, the EU and Brazil must urgently press for this and expand support.
This essay is framed around interpretations of Haiti's long history in order to demonstrate that there is neither curse nor punishment in Haiti's history; there is only intrigue, interest, and interference. The natural disasters whether earthquakes or hurricanes do not occur because of some rational targeting of the country but are the results of the arbitrariness of nature.
Considers the potential contribution of traditional construction techniques and materials to rebuilding in Port-au-Prince and other areas in Haiti that were devastated by the 2010 earthquake. Based on different examples of housing that collapsed or was damaged by the earthquake, it shows how traditional construction systems often demonstrated better resilience to earthquakes than buildings constructed with modern materials.
Real Instituto Elcano de Estudios Internacionales y Estrategicos
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
6 p., This paper analyses the US military deployment in Haiti after the earthquake of 12 January, which caused catastrophic damage in the poorest country in the Americas. Haiti's request, the US took the lead in directing rescue operations and coordinating an aid campaign with the United Nations and the international community. The US also had its own reasons for coming to the rescue of the Haitian people. However, its military deployment has not been without criticism inside and outside the region.
"I'm from the United States," said Dr. [Claire-Marie Cyprien], a 43-year-old anesthesiologist who three days earlier had dropped her practice in Orlando, Fla., to rush to Haiti, the land of her birth. "And I'm a doctor." For generations, Haiti's chaos, corruption and poverty pushed out many of its most talented people. Haiti has a population of about nine million, but as many as two million more Haitians live abroad, about half a million of them in the U.S. The diaspora-Haitians refer to the émigrés as Haiti's "Tenth Province"-sends about $2 billion a year home, a sum equal to about 30% of the country's gross domestic product. Despite the money, émigrés have often been regarded warily by those who stayed behind. Emigration may offer a way to climb up or break out of Haiti's rigid class structure. But new wealth inspires jealousy, while distance from the motherland opens émigrés to accusations that they aren't as "authentic" as those who never left.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
2 p., This fact sheet profiles the health status of Haiti prior to the devastating earthquake that hit the island nation on January 12, 2010. It reviews the major US government global health and development programs operating in Haiti and examines the US response to the quake and the future health challenges as the nation rebuilds.
The head of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Alejandro Mayorkas, says his agency can't eliminate its fees, but it has the power to waive them for people who can prove they are poor. He has promised that his employees will treat applicants with a "generosity of spirit." This would be a refreshing change for an agency notorious for bureaucrats expert in finding a way to say no.
