The Earth Institute’s Haiti Research and Policy Program at the Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development welcomed two distinguished speakers as part of the Spring 2013 Haiti Dialogue Series to discuss government capacity building and national monitoring systems for government funded programs.
Haiti faces ongoing pressures of high population growth, high illiteracy rates and low primary education completion rates. On April 30, the Haiti Research and Policy Program’s Dialogue Series welcomed Sophia Stranksy, CEO of the Digicel Haiti Foundation, to discuss the foundation’s primary education and youth programs and Haiti’s challenges.
On April 22, 2013 the Earth Institute’s Haiti Research and Policy Program at the Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development welcomed Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe to the Spring 2013 Haiti Dialogue Series and the Columbia University World Leader’s Forum. The prime minister and Haitian diplomats met with Earth Institute senior researchers to discuss the strategies for the Haitian government’s national-scale monitoring, planning and implementation development programs.
The Haiti Research and Policy Program at the Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development continued its Spring 2013 Dialogue Series with Kimberly Green, president of the Green Family Foundation. This discussion explored the importance of and areas where small foundations are supporting Haiti’s cultural vibrancy and innovation. In the post-earthquake period, most foundations and policy [...]
Haiti Dialogue Series: Should funds be more effectively channeled through the Haitian government, a decentralized finance program could help streamline financing and reinforce local government planning efforts. As part of the Haiti Research and Policy Program dialogue series, Tatiana Wah was joined by Leslie Pean to discuss possible approaches to achieving the call for decentralization in Haiti that has been a part of the country’s development plans for decades, with renewed efforts after the 2010 earthquake. Most current international aid and development funding circumvents the government ministries at the national level. The lack of dedicated local budgets, as well as a weak incentive structure to attract or retain skilled professionals who are capable of complex governance, is a considerable hurdle for any decentralization proposal in Haiti.
Haiti Dialog Series: Author Jonathan M. Katz joined the Haiti Research and Policy Program’s dialogue series to discuss his new book and two years reporting on the Haitian recovery after the devastating 2010 earthquake. Katz argues within his book that the international aid money has become a missed opportunity to address core development challenges in Haiti and that the country remains equally vulnerable today as it did prior to January 10th, 2010.
The Earth Institute has begun implementing an innovative project throughout the South Department of Haiti, and has added a new partner to this critical work, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The work includes the Côte Sud Initiative, covering all communes within the South Department, and the recent launch of the first Millennium Village in the Western Hemisphere in the Port-à-Piment watershed.
By Tracy Slagle and Madeleine Rubenstein Of the many countries at risk from the effects of climate change, small island states are widely considered to be among the most vulnerable. Not only are these countries exposed to direct impacts of climate change, particularly sea level rise, they are also highly sensitive to existing environmental stresses [...]
In 2010, almost two-thirds of the world’s ecosystems were deemed degraded due to human impacts and mismanagement, but fortunately ecosystems can be restored. The Earth Institute’s work in Haiti illustrates just how complicated ecosystem restoration can be.
Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille met with students and scientists of the Earth Institute to explore core issues of Haiti’s growth and development.
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