CONCLUSION

The Special Envoy, the Deputy Special Envoy, and their staff in the OSE have sought to adhere to the precepts of accompaniment, with the goal of helping Haitians to place their country on a path to stability and prosperity. “Aid as usual” has not worked in Haiti, and it is critical that all donors and actors in the Haitian context proceed with that lesson in mind. Giving money is not enough, and an international partner acting alone is counterproductive. Donors must pair their generous funding with generous time, attention, and sharing of experience; and no single actor will succeed in effecting change in Haiti without an array of Haitian partners at its side. It is only by acting together, with an agreed set of principles, that the members of the international community and their partners in Haiti will make improvements in the lives of the Haitian people.

Internationals must extend one hand to the government, while the other reaches out to civil society. This approach may take longer, but in the end, when the friends of Haiti look back a few years hence, they will have helped build a strong Haitian society, with a healthy and productive dialogue between the government and the governed.

Only this approach can give Haiti the hope of shedding the hackneyed superlatives of impoverishment. It is through accompaniment that Haiti will gain a new distinction as a country that fought back against circumstance, and won.

ACRONYMS

AERT Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies, Inc.

CGI Clinton Global Initiative

CIAT Interministerial Committee for Territorial Planning

CSO civil society organization

HUEH Hôpital Université d’État l’Haïti (State University Hospital of Haiti)

IDB Inter-American Development Bank

IHRC Interim Haiti Recovery Commission

MINUSTAH Mission des Nations Unies pour la Stablilisation en Haïti (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti)

NGO non-governmental organization

OCHA UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

OSE United Nations Office of the Special Envoy for Haiti

RCCL Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines

SEDF Soros Economic Development Fund

SELF Solar Electric Light Fund

SRSG Special Representative of the Secretary-General

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNEP United Nations Environment Programme