Transcript File - Housing and Shelter in Haiti

Governance and Accountability:
Lessons (not) Learned
Mark Schuller
Northern Illinois University / Universite d’Etat d’Haiti
November 24, 2014 – “Fooling the Sun” conference
Research design
Purposive sample of 8 camps
 Five weeks of research (June-July 2011):
 Participant observation
 Household surveys (791)
 Semi-structured interviews (88)
 Interviews with aid workers (58)
 Follow up – January, summer 2012
 Eight visits to the camps
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Photo: Esaie Jules Gelin
Lesson 1: not built back better
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People moving into lower-income neighborhoods
56% left the camps because of bad conditions;
17% were forced out
62% report worse economic activity and make
less money now than when living in the camps
53% report access to health services was worse
now than when living in the camps
47% report their access to water is better, 36%
worse, than before the earthquake
Lesson 2: NGOs are private
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Accountable to whom?
Look at current reward system
Kolonbi – latrines abandoned for 10 months
Karade – creation of “haves” and “have nots”
WASH services:
NGO management – statistically significant
But CMAs only in 27% of camps
37.6% of camps didn’t have water (40.5)
25.8% of camps didn’t have toilet (30.3)
Lesson 3: role of govt?
WASH progress concentrated in Cite Soleil
 DINEPA – co-chaired a cluster
 Cluster system excluded Haitian govt
 *GBV subcluster / MSPP
 Coordination
 UCAONG / Departmental Councils
 Municipality matters – Delmas / Tabarre
 Carrefour – “community enumeration”
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Lesson 4: local participation
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Excluded from institutions and decisionmaking
– LogBase and IHRC
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Excluded from funding
– 1% emergency response to GOH
– <10% reconstruction to GOH
– <.6% to Haitian NGOs/ businesses
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Aid did not match local priorities
– 41.5% prioritized housing
– 62.7% received a hygiene kit
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4.3% - NGO aid explained
Lesson 5: cost of top-down approach
“Humanitarian gentrification”
 Housing allowance, etc.
 Expat v. Haitian salaries
 High-visibility, temporary solutions costly
 Water truck v. fix community water tap
 T-shelter v. own housing
 Local materials and knowhow
 Parallel structures / “brain drain”
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Lesson 6: Sustainability
The “photo op”
 Pressure to kick people out of camps at all cost
 Where do people go?
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– Mon Lopital / Kanaran / other camps
– 47% not with family / 32% different neighborhood
Disruption of family, solidarity networks
 Displacement of collectivist traditions
 Local capacity not increased
 Not enough to go around = favoritism, conflict
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Recommendations
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Need new models
Humanitarian / development / human rights
Inclusion / Participation
Haitian context – not “one size fits all”
Change the reward structure
Change how we contract with agencies
– “Tax” aid – support coordination
– Require submission to local government
– Local participation plan
– Accountability to population
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Implement Assessing Progress in Haiti Act