Building Haiti’s resilience in a time of crisis through evidence gathering, debate and policy engagement

 

Haiti is facing a major multi-dimensional crisis. It is the poorest country in the Americas and has a long history of political instability, corruption and violence. Haiti has one of the greatest inequality rates in the region. Financial insecurity is compounded by societal polarization and weak state institutions. This project seeks to contribute to the development of locally led solutions and the opening of spaces for policy engagement to rebuild democratic governance and enhance civic engagement in the country. The project will be divided in two complementary components. The first component, led by the Université du Québec à Montréal, will generate a deeper understanding of the positive role that key civil-society actors from the youth and feminist sectors can play in transforming the governance crisis and promoting the emergence of a democratic state in Haiti. In collaboration with local partners from civil society and academia, the project will develop a political roadmap for democratic consultations in Haiti.

The second component, led by the Inter-American Dialogue, will seek to strengthen the role of the Think Tank Haiti initiative in facilitating policy dialogues, public engagement and knowledge sharing to rebuild democratic institutions. In collaboration with Quisqueya University in Haiti, the team will focus its efforts on knowledge-sharing activities and political engagement to keep Haitian and international stakeholders well-informed about developments in the country and promote consensus-building on how to resolve the current crisis.