Inter-American Dialogue | Carribean Region

FEATURED

HAITI: THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR
THE WILLSON HOUSE PROCESS

Starting in September 2005, FOCAL and the Inter-American Dialogue convened a series of groundbreaking meetings between leaders of the Haitian private sector and international donors at Willson House on Meech Lake near Canada’s capital city, in Atlanta and in Port-au-Prince. These meetings were a unique attempt to harness some of the ideas and energy of the one sector in Haiti with the resources, skills and capacity to reduce poverty from within and to help build capacity for development in Haiti through formalization, modernization, privatization and decentralization in a variety of sectors.

In May 2011, leaders of the principal private enterprises and private sector associations of Haiti and international donors convened in Washington, D.C. for a roundtable meeting on the role of the Haitian private sector in the development of Haiti. The key ideas that emerged from the discussions are detailed in the report, Agenda for an États généraux in Haiti: Third Roundtable of the Willson House Process.

MORE ON THIS PROJECT

ABOUT

The Dialogue’s Caribbean Region Program focuses on Cuba, Haiti, and the Anglophone Caribbean.

The Dialogue’s work on Cuba aims to establish connections between Cuba’s economic community and international financial institutions. The Working Group on the Cuban Economy regularly brings together some 25 experts from the region to discuss Cuba’s prospects for increased integration with the IFIs. The Dialogue project on Cuba and the Organization of American States facilitated a thorough review of US policy towards Cuba under the Obama administration and Latin America’s stance toward Cuba during the same period.

The Dialogue has long sustained an active program on Haiti including publications and discussions on political and economic developments and US policy. Our recent work on Haiti has focused on engaging with the private sector.

The Caribbean Program also offers a forum for leaders from the Anglophone Caribbean to bring important policy attention to the issues of concern to that region.

STAFF

Michael Shifter, President
Peter Hakim, President Emeritus
Joan Caivano, Deputy to the President
Kim Covington, Program Assistant

For more information, contact Kim Covington at kcovington@thedialogue.org or (202) 463-2938.

ARTICLES & OP-EDS

Economic vs. Political Change in Cuba, by Jorge Domínguez, The New York Times, March 28, 2012.
Dilma in Cuba, by Peter Hakim, O Estado de S. Paulo, February, 18, 2012.
Lecciones de la visita de Dilma a Cuba, by Peter Hakim, Infolatam, February 8, 2012.
Does Brazil's Rousseff Care Enough About Cuban Democracy?, by Peter Hakim, Lino Gutierrez, Margaret Daly Hayes, Daniel Hellinger, Latin America Advisor, February 8, 2012.
Cuba-Estados Unidos:¿es posible una relación distinta?, by Carlos Alzugaray Treto, Temas, July-September 2011. Review of Dan Erikson's book The Cuba Wars: Fidel Castro, the United States and the Next Revolution.
Obama da paso positivo sobre Cuba, by Michael Shifter, El Colombiano, January 18, 2011. (English)
Clearly, there was nothing new to say, by Marifeli Pérez-Stable, The Miami Herald, July 29, 2010.
Too many still languish, by Marifeli Pérez-Stable, The Miami Herald, July 1, 2010.
Castros reject any opening, by Marifeli Pérez-Stable, The Miami Herald, June 17, 2010.
The U.S. Needs Help on Cuba, by Peter Hakim, América Economía, April 26, 2010.
Countries at the Crossroads: Haiti, by Daniel Erikson, Freedom House, April 8, 2010.
Obama and the Haitian earthquake, by Daniel Erikson, FOCAL Point, March 17, 2010.
Haiti's Educational Moment, by Jeffrey Puryear and Michael Lisman, FOCAL Point, March 17, 2010.
Los cubanos de la próxima revolución, by Daniel Erikson, Política Exterior, March 10, 2010.
Mejorar la educación para reconstruir Haití, by Jeffrey Puryear, Politica Exterior, February 17, 2010. (English)
The Politics of Disaster Relief: China, Taiwan and the Haitian Earthquake, by Daniel Erikson, China Brief, February 4, 2010.