Haiti Diaspora Federation: One Year Later By Stanley Lucas

Carole Janus - March 23 2011, 12:29 AM

Haiti Diaspora Federation: One Year Later By Stanley Lucas
March 22, 2011

One year ago today, several Haitian Diaspora leaders -- with the support of the OAS -- conceptualized a Haitian Diaspora Summit in Washington to develop a strategy defining the Diaspora contribution in the reconstruction of Haiti.

Just two and half months after the earthquake, hundreds of Haitian Diaspora from the US, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe convened at the OAS in Washington, DC to discuss practical solutions to addressing the massive need for humanitarian assistance and longer range goals in our country.

The earthquake had galvanized the community.

We put forth a series of recommendations (see: solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2010/04/ha... ) and discussed the launch of a Haitian Diaspora Federation.

One year later, we have absolutely nothing to show for the effort.

All momentum has been lost and the Federation is a complete failure.

Over the past year, a few people have hijacked the Federation mainly to advance personal agendas.

They have held a few meetings on Capitol Hill and with the new coordinator for Haiti at the State Department.

They inherited a seat on the Haiti Interim Reconstruction Commission (HIRC).

Yet what results are there to show for these meager efforts?

As far as I can tell, the Haitian Diaspora have not been brought into the dialogue on how to develop Haiti

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