OTTAWA, Canada –The 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping Friday said it is “deeply concerned” by the deepening of the multi-dimensional crisis in Haiti, telling the international community that its efforts to assist Haiti should go beyond strengthening the police and the judiciary.
CARICOM Secretary General, Dr. Carla BarnettCARICOM Secretary General, Dr. Carla Barnett, addressing a virtual international meeting on Haiti, organized by Canada, said the situation of institutional collapse with the executive, legislature and judiciary having become dysfunctional at different times and for different reasons “is unprecedented. “There is, consequently, no constitutional or legal way of filling the present institutional void in the absence of elections,” she added.
Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the meeting that Haiti’s allies must act immediately to help tackle a spike in violence that is worsening an already precarious humanitarian situation.
He said that the international community also needs to address deep governance problems that are fueling a political and security crisis in the western hemisphere’s poorest country.
“In order to address Haiti’s humanitarian needs, we must also address the challenging security situation. The increase in violence is only worsening the already precarious humanitarian situation,” Trudeau told the meeting being attended by foreign ministers .
“This will require immediate action to mitigate violence … we must also address the deep governance problems that are fueling the current political and security crisis. That includes taking action against corruption.”
In her address to the conference, the CARICOM Secretary General said preceding meetings of senior officials on have been extremely useful in helping to identify areas and details of the assistance which Haiti’s international partners are willing to provide.
She said particular attention has been placed on the security area, as well as on the political and economic, adding that they are all deeply interlinked.
She said in the area of security, where the situation continues to deteriorate, helping to strengthen the capacities and professionalism of the Haitian National Police (PNH) through training, the provision of equipment and materiel, as well as improve logistics and infrastructure have been highlighted as a priority.
“The Caribbean Community has indicated already its ability to provide training and capacity building through current and planned initiatives of its Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS). Individual member states such as The Bahamas are also in a position to provide training as has been done in the past.”
On the political side, Barnett said the meeting is timely as the constitutional clock ticks down to February 7 and that Haitians have demonstrated the will to put in place a Haitian solution to their political crisis.
She said a number of building blocks have been assembled by different civil society and political groupings, some more-broad-based and structured than others.
“They all seek the same objective, the establishment of a transitional government leading to elections. Constituting these groupings has required inter-Haitian negotiations and concessions, some quite painstaking. There is still some distance to go for the intra-Haitian dialogue to come to fruition, but this display of sovereignty should be respected by the international community. “
She said that in their engagements with the Haitian leadership, CARICOM leaders continue to express their willingness to offer their good offices, offering also assistance in a number of key areas. “Elections will be required at the earliest possible time to restore the integrity and legitimacy of the dysfunctional institutions and the continuity of the state. This is an area where the Community has assisted in the past and is ready to do so again.
“These issues need to be addressed in order to ensure enabling conditions without which there can be no transparent, inclusive, and secure free and fair elections. This includes: curbing insecurity, eliminating voter disenfranchisement and enhancing transparency, impartiality and popular confidence.”
But Barnett said CARICOM is of the view that the international community in its efforts to assist Haiti needs to go beyond strengthening the police and the judiciary.
“Without social and economic development through a long-term development plan, Haiti will not enjoy peacefulness. In addition, the hollowed-out state and public administration need to be strengthened so that they are in a position to provide the public goods expected of the state, and without which it will enjoy neither the trust of its people nor legitimacy.”
The CARICOM official said that public administration is an area in which the regional integration grouping has provided training in the past.
“CARICOM also looks forward to Haiti involving itself more deeply in and benefitting from the functional cooperation as well as the trade and economic workings of the Community,” she told the international conference.
Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Mélanie Joly, who had earlier this week announced that Ottawa would be hosting the meeting, said that it would allow the international community to convey its commitment to supporting Haiti as the country confronts a number of critical issues, including growing insecurity.
Canada said the meeting would also provide an opportunity for discussion between Haitian officials, foreign ministers of like-minded democracies and representatives of multilateral organizations, including the United Nations, CARICOM, the International Organization of La Francophonie and the Organization of American States (OAS),
“Canada and Haiti have long been united by a deep friendship and close collaboration. As a long-time friend and partner, Canada stands ready to support Haiti-led solutions to the country’s most pressing issues, and remains committed to supporting Haiti for a more democratic, safer and more prosperous future,” Joly said.
The assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian Nichols, said Washington was looking forward to a strong commitment from countries, both within the Americas and around the world, in support of the Haitian people.
Nichols was briefing reporters on President Biden’s priorities for the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, in June. It will be the first time the Summit will be held on US soil since the inaugural event in Miami in 1994.
“As we approach the summit, I expect that we will continue efforts among the nations of our hemisphere, as well as partners from around the world, to support those nations in the Americas that need more help, and Haiti’s obviously very much among them,” he said.
“I hope that the Haitian people will come together around a unified way forward that will put that nation back on the path to democracy and economic growth,” he added.
A jump in kidnappings, added to worsening economic conditions, has prompted a growing number of Haitians to seek better opportunities in other countries.
