Earlier this year, my paternal grandmother died in northern Haiti at age 94. My father wanted to attend her funeral but was afraid to return to his birthplace, fearing he would be kidnapped or, worse, killed. His fears were not unjustified.
More than 2,500 people have been killed in the capital, Port-au-Prince, amid escalating armed clashes between local gangs in the first months of 2024. The violence has forced at least 300,000 people to flee their homes, many of them in southern cities such as Lécayes and Jacmel, and northern municipalities such as Cap-Haitien.
While leaving dangerous areas offers temporary relief, internally displaced people face difficult living conditions as well as inadequate aid. “I feel like a stranger in my own country,” Paul Petit-Frank, who moved to Cap-Haitien from Port-au-Prince, told The Haitian Times.
This alienation did not emerge overnight and speaks to broader problems in Haitian society: years of mismanagement, corruption and violence have torn apart the country's social fabric.
Instead of addressing the complexities of Haiti's crisis, the international community has proposed a $600 million security mission. Even as violence escalates in Port-au-Prince, many Haitians question whether another foreign military intervention will solve the country's systemic problems.
While the international community seems to refuse to learn the lessons of the past, many Haitians at home and abroad are pondering other possibilities. Haitian author Edwidge Danticat posed a notable question in The New Yorker: “How can we rekindle the grit and determination of that community that defeated the most powerful army in the world and inspired us to put the motto 'United We Are Strong' on our flag?” [Unity is strength]Danticat is right: what Haiti needs is a renewed sense of unity.
I would expand on her letter by asking, “What if the intervention in Haiti was not a military mission but a reconstruction project that prioritized sustainability, economic redistribution, and ensuring social services?”
What Haiti really needs is a revitalization plan that will not only ensure jobs for many Haitians, but also provide the badly needed infrastructure to modernize the country and restore its social fabric.
This means investing in the country in ways that Haiti's elites and foreign powers never intended: It means implementing a Green New Deal.
This national program mirrors what the United States did to address socioeconomic inequality during the Great Depression and what Europe did to rebuild devastated countries after World War II. There is no reason why the same vision cannot be applied to Haiti.
An environmentally focused development plan would reallocate resources in a way that prioritizes social issues rather than just security concerns.
Haiti's Green New Deal will focus on creating sustainable jobs through launching renewable energy projects, constructing energy-efficient buildings that can withstand hurricanes and earthquakes, developing a national recycling center to reduce landfill waste, climate-proofing the country's coastline, and expanding water purification infrastructure.
To address the failure of the private sector to deliver services, the plan will establish a social housing program, a national rail system, a universal health care system, and take a people-centered approach by directly assisting Haitian farmers to modernize their agricultural practices.
To address socio-economic inequalities, the plan aims to develop not only Port-au-Prince, but also surrounding cities such as Cap-Haitien, Jacmel, Gonaïves and Port-de-Paix, as well as rural areas.
It will also require financial provisions to rebuild state institutions, expand existing structures, and hire sufficient Haitian staff to manage climate-related programs.
A Green New Deal will be modeled and built by Haitians with Haitian needs in mind. It will not only create jobs, it will improve the quality of life, stabilize the country, stimulate the economy, reduce people's reliance on gangs, and give them a sense of security.
To implement a Green New Deal, three key issues need to be addressed.
First, Haiti's foreign debt, which currently stands at $2.35 billion, or about 12% of its gross domestic product (GDP), needs to be forgiven. Haiti's struggle with debt repayment and economic stability has a long history, dating back to when former colony France forced Haiti to pay indemnities for 100 years after declaring independence in 1791. Removing this debt burden from the Haitian economy is an important step in helping stabilize the Haitian economy.
Second, securing funding for the Green New Deal should begin with a shift in how Caribbean countries and the United States view and engage politically with Haiti. Instead of viewing their neighbor as a beneficiary or a pariah state, these countries should embrace the Green New Deal as a sustainable solution to the Haitian crisis. This would bring stability to the region and counter the hostility shown by some countries, such as the Dominican Republic, where Haitian refugees are being mistreated. It makes much more sense to fund long-term plans that can ensure economic prosperity and security than short-term military intervention that could make the situation worse.
Third, corruption must be addressed both at home and abroad. Haitians have already repeatedly demonstrated their rejection of the corrupt elites who have embezzled billions of dollars from state coffers. Anti-corruption laws must be enacted and enforced to prevent further embezzlement of public funds. Regional actors and international organizations must support anti-corruption efforts by refusing to associate themselves with corrupt political elites.
Many Haitians, both at home and abroad, feel the weight of the violence in their personal lives – whether they have had to flee their homes or have not been able to say a proper goodbye to loved ones who have died (as was the case with my father) – but they do not believe that this crisis is inevitable or predestined.
As Jackie Lemarque wrote in the Financial Times, “Haiti is an immensely complex society. Those seeking solutions for us will need humility, nuance and historical depth to deliver adequate answers.” Providing hope and highlighting the humanity of Haitians is essential. A Green New Deal can provide both; it's a plan that doesn't make empty promises and that values ​​Haitian lives.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
