ONLINE EVENT: Haiti’s Crisis Deepens — What Must Be Done Now?
In grave distress for many years, Haiti has now been plunged into an even deeper crisis. The president of Haiti, who had been governing by decree after failing to call for congressional elections, was assassinated on July 7. A month later, the country’s southern coast suffered a catastrophic earthquake, followed two days later by Hurricane Grace leaving more than 2,200 dead and many survivors without shelter and sufficient food. Now, well over 12,000 Haitians encamped at the Texas border town of Del Rio are starting to be expelled or deported to Haiti by US immigrations officials. The webinar will focus on what needs to be done to address Haiti’s intersecting crises. Our panel of experts will discuss the following questions, among others:
- What must be done immediately to assist the direct victims of the earthquake and floods?
- What can and should be done to address the nation’s current political vacuum and restore a functioning, democratic government?
- What is needed to alleviate the continuing humanitarian burden on so many of Haiti’s citizens?
- Specifically, what will be required of Haitian political, business, and civil society leadership to set the country on a different course?
- How can the international community contribute to help Haiti meet its immediate needs and establish the basis for sustained, longer-term development?
- How can the Biden administration and other governments best assist Haiti to confront its multiple challenges?
This will be the third public event in the past year co-hosted by Quisqueya and the Dialogue. The two institutions are now working together to develop Think Tank Haiti, an independent network of Haitian researchers and policy analysts. The network will conduct research on the governance, economic, and other core problems facing the nation, seek to identify practical responses, and widely disseminate the results in Haiti and internationally. A central priority of this initiative is to engage the Haitian diaspora in the production and dissemination of Think Tank Haiti’s research and policy analysis. This cooperative initiative is the first step toward the establishment a new public policy research and training institute at Quisqueya University.
Follow this event on Twitter at #HaitiInTurmoil and @The_Dialogue.
We invite participants to submit questions using the Q&A function in Zoom OR to email questions to meetings@thedialogue.org.
WATCH THE EVENT LIVE HERE:
WELCOME:
MICHAEL SHIFTER
President, Inter-American Dialogue (@MichaelShifter)
JACKY LUMARQUE
OPENING REMARKS:
ANDREW LEVIN
SPEAKERS:
MICHÈLE DUVIVIER PIERRE-LOUIS
AMY WILENTZ
Journalist, author, and contributing editor, The Nation; Award-winning journalist and author of The Rainy Season: Haiti Since D (@amywilentz)
JUAN GABRIEL VALDES
First Head of the UN MINUSTAH program, Former Foreign Minister of Chile, Former Chilean Ambassador to the United States (@jg_valdes)
PATRICK GASPARD
President & CEO of Center for American Progress, Former US Ambassador to South Africa (@patrickgaspard)
MODERATOR:
JACQUELINE CHARLES
Caribbean Correspondent, The Miami Herald (@Jacquiecharles)
EVENT PARTNER
This event is hosted in partnership with Quisqueya University. This event is convened jointly by the Dialogue and Quisqueya, as part of their cooperative initiative, “Think Tank Haiti.”
