Panel: Foreign and Diaspora Direct Investment in Haiti

Summary:

Diaspora Direct Investment (DDI) can be distinguished from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by the notions of social embeddedness and an intensity of community affect inherent in returning migrants. Returning migrants not only have the financial incentives of a typical foreign investor but have the social aspects and knowledge of the local business environment and investment possibilities as well as an ethnic advantage.

The Panelists will discuss the pros and cons of doing in business in Haiti and will offer potential solutions on how to address those challenges. In addition, they will discuss their companies’ corporate social responsibility efforts to promote social, environmental, and economic development in Haiti. In other words, the panelists should discuss how their companies are creating shared value in Haiti.

Moderator: Kesner Pharel – President of Groupe Croissance

Panelists: TBA

Panel: Successful Haitian Professional

Summary:

Haitians in the Diaspora and in Ayiti possess an entrepreneurial spirit that has helped to sustain them globally.

During this fourth edition of the National Association of Haitian Professionals’ conference this panel, Successful Haitian Entrepreneurs, will go in depth on specific strategies and tactics that have propelled prominent Haitian entrepreneurs.

This one hour forum is intended for conference attendees seeking examples of successful road maps that have delivered results and contributed to advancements for Diaspora communities.

A dynamic group of business leaders will comprise the panel and will share best practices for how they launched successful ventures. Participants of this panel will explore:

• Unmet needs/problems
• Potential solutions
• Stakeholders that should be engaged
• Barriers to achieving the goal(s) or implementing the solution(s)
• Incentives and infrastructure needed to promote solutions
• Implementation plans or existing models that can be replicated
• Success evaluation models

As immigrants or/and children of immigrants, the panelists will focus on how to be a successful businessman and entrepreneur in the United States. The panel will seek to answer questions like:

• What should entrepreneurs in the Diaspora do to create and run a successful business in the United States?
• What are the challenges?
• What advice would they give to their younger self? How are they using their success to mentor the younger generation?
• What are good opportunities to give back to the motherland?

Moderator: Cleve Mesidor, Global Solutions Principal, The Raben Group

Panelists:

• Harold Charles, President of CEEPCO Contracting
• Jeff Lozama, President and CEO of CMS International Group, Chairman of the Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce Chamber of Commerce of Florida
• Jean Orelien, CEO & President of SciMetrika, LLC
• Frantz Saintellemy, President of ZMD America Inc., Executive Vice-President of ZMDI
• Dumarsais Simeus, Founder, of former Siméus Foods International, Inc.
  

Panel: Toward a Stronger Education System in Haiti

Summary:

This conversation will focus on how the diaspora can contribute to a stronger education system in Haiti. There is a shortage of skilled labor in Haiti and the Haitian education system is not preparing its students to tackle the issues of the 21st Century. However, the Haitian diaspora has a strong pool of professionals who can contribute in addressing the education crisis in Haiti. Today, the sentiment is that the international community is the one setting the agenda on those issues while Haitians should be the ones at the table leading the conversation. How can the diaspora lead on those issues side by side with our fellow citizens in Haiti? What is the role of advocacy in addressing this issue? Who are the key agencies/institutions that should be targeted to create change in the system? What policy changes are needed to allow for greater involvement of the diaspora in the country?

After completing this session, the participant will be able to name current and potential opportunities for collaboration within the education sector, between professionals in Haiti and its diaspora. The participant will be able to identify a “bright spot” to leverage and existing gaps to be filled for a stronger education system in Haiti.

Panel to address the following questions:

• Where have opportunities for collaboration – between Haitian and diaspora professionals, students, universities, faculty members, researchers – already succeeded (bright spots)? What barriers prevent their replication or continuity?
• Is there a common definition of success (and evaluating success) when envisioning a “stronger education system”?
• Who are the stakeholders in this conversation? Are we thinking more broadly about the diaspora, beyond those in the U.S.? What about Haitian students and professionals in the DR, Cuba, Brazil, etc.?
• What are the critical building blocks to ensure citizens in Haiti and the diaspora are engaging in mutually collaborative ways? Which components are already in place or missing?
• What are the barriers to effective collaboration in the education sector?
• In addition to direct action, what are the advantages and disadvantages of using advocacy and policy setting for greater collaboration?
• Has higher education been overlooked in the education reform conversation? Is it not a benefit that university-level students can actively participate in partnerships, reforms, and projects (as opposed to younger students at the primary and secondary level)?
• How can Haiti lead the way: What are the opportunities for global innovation, uniquely tied to Haitian culture and community?

Moderator: Nedgine Paul, CEO of Anseye Pou Ayiti (Teach for Haiti)

Panelists:

• Jean-Claude Brizard, Former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Anseye Pou Ayiti Board
• Dr. Paul Pierre, Fulbright program alumnus and Deputy Chief Medical Officer at Partners In Health
• Dr. Francois Pierre-Louis, Associate Professor at CUNY
• Dr. Marjorie Pierre Brennan, NAHP Chair of the Advisory Board and Physician specializing in pediatric anesthesiology at Children National Medical Center

Panel: Dominican-Haitian Human Rights Crisis and Diasporic Engagement: Amplifying our Voices, Ensuring Results

Summary:

Dominicans of Haitian descent have suffered institutional discrimination in the DR for decades. One of the most egregious manifestations of this discrimination is the government’s refusal to recognize their nationality and provide them with identity documents, most importantly birth certificates and cédulas (national ID cards), in violation of both international and national law.

This practice became law in September 2013 when the DR Constitutional Tribunal (CT) issued a ruling on the legal status of Dominicans of Haitian descent which retroactively changed the meaning of Dominican constitutional law to convey citizenship on the basis of parents’ immigration status, instead of the basis of birth in the territory. As it is currently stands, the ruling denationalizes hundreds of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent.

Following national and international outrage, President Medina promised a humanitarian solution to reverse the negative effects of the new law and in May 2014, the Dominican Congress unanimously adopted the Ley Special de Naturalización 169-14 (Law 169-14, or “Naturalization plan”), which set out a pathway to citizenship for Dominicans of Haitian descent (DHDs). Under this law, DHDs were divided into two groups: those previously recorded in the Civil Registry as Dominicans (“Group A”) and those who were undocumented (“Group B”). Group A was to be automatically restored Dominican citizenship because they were already in the Civil Registry. Group B, those born in the Dominican Republic but who remained undocumented, were to apply for naturalization after a two-year waiting period during which they would be considered foreigners, leaving them stateless in the interim. Only 8,755 of an estimated 100,000+ had applied for the Group B process by the deadline of February 1^st. Members of Group B who have not applied for naturalization are subject to expulsion as unauthorized persons in the DR. Despite reassurances from the DR government that it would not deport people who were born in the country, absent any documentary proof of birth in the DR, Group B remains vulnerable to expulsion.

Running almost concurrently was the Plan Nacional de Regularización de Extranjeros (hereinafter the Regularization Plan). Unlike Law 169-14, the Regularization Plan applied to migrants, i.e. those born outside of the country, mostly in Haiti. This Plan ran for 18 months, ending on June 17, 2015.   288,466 out of 524,632 people applied for the Regularization Plan by the deadline. Those migrants who failed to apply are at risk of deportation.

Neither pathway has offered a credible, durable solution to the crisis, and in the face of inertia of various international bodies and governments, the diaspora has deepened its engagement.

Where do we go from here? What role does the diaspora play? How have current efforts changed the landscape of this issue? What have been the responses in the USG, in Haiti, at the UN and on the ground in the DR?

Panel Objectives:

• Ensure that Conference attendees leave with a clear understanding of DR actions that led to the denationalization of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent
• Provide attendees with updates from those who have been actively working to resolve the DR-Haiti human rights crisis and the progress they’ve made, if any
• Ensure that conference attendees know the current demands and overall goals
• Provide attendees with information on next approaches and opportunities for them to get involved

Here to discuss the various strategies and the arduous work of keeping this issue in the in the hearts and minds of the world audience, as other world crises continue to vie for our attention, are:

• Nancy Morisseau, Esq. – Haitian American Lawyers Association of New York
• France François – Rights4AllinDR
• Edwin Paraison – Fondation Zile
• Joseph Makhandal Champagne Jr. Esq. – National Association of Haitian Elected Officials
• Soeurette Michel, Esq,. LL.M – The Michel Law Firm

Moderator: Cassandre Theano – Open Society Justice Initiative and member of NAHP Advocacy Committee

Panel: The current State of Affairs of Haiti

Summary:

When analyzing the political scene in Haiti, one can be overwhelmed by the situation and conclude that the country could never change. Is this a true statement? If there is hope, what needs to happen? How to reverse the tide of negativity? What is the role the diaspora and Haitians living in the country? Should the diaspora get more involved in the politics of the country? The panel conversation will follow this outline:

The unmet needs/problems

• What has the latest round of elections exposed about our electoral process?
• There has been a strong push for investment and tourism in the country. A poll conducted earlier this year reveals that jobs remain the number one issue for Haitians. What does this imply about the confidence the public should have in some of these initiatives.
• Haiti has been at the center of the disaster relief industry conversation. Reports exposing mismanagement of funds and unethical practices have brought to light what little impact earthquake relief funds have had for the country. How did this happen?
• There’s a growing humanitarian crisis at the border for Dominico Haitians. What immediate problems are exacerbating this issue?

Potential solutions to the problems identified

• How can the electoral process be changed to ensure a smoother, more transparent process?
• How can some of the larger initiatives for business in Haiti can be translated into immediate job opportunities? What opportunities for employment are there in the agricultural sector?
• How can the diaspora and Haiti officials take more charge and have a hand in deciding how relief funds are used?
• What immediate processes can be put in place to help Dominico Haitians at the border?

Stakeholders that should be involved in the solutions and Roles

• Who or what groups should be championing the proposed solutions above?

Barriers to achieving the goal (s) or implementing the solution (s)

• What are the obstacles that Haiti officials and the diaspora face when trying to implement change Haiti on the political and business level?

Incentives and Infrastructure needed to promote solutions

• A common belief in Haiti is that much of the election violence at poll sites are the result of people hired by candidates to disrupt voting if they believe the ballots aren’t going in their favor. How do we show Haiti politicians and their operatives that doing things “the right” way is in their best interest even if it means losing an election?
• How can Haiti business owners show investors the country is able to put in place the logistics and infrastructure needed for a profitable business?
• What system can be put in place that would allow Haiti officials and international overseers to both have control in how relief money is spent?

Implementation plan or existing models that can be replicated

• What lessons can be learned from post disaster building such as in the case of Katrina and post tsunami Thailand?
• What lessons can be taken away and applied to the historic elections that took place in Nigeria this year?

Success evaluation

• How do we quantify the successes we have had so that we can use them as evidence against future criticisms.

Moderator: Vania Andre, Editor of the Haitian Times

Panelists:

• Dr. Eduardo A. Gamarra, Ph.D, Professor of Florida International University (FIU)
• Francois Guillaume II, Former Minister of Haitians Living Abroad
• Kesner Pharel, President of Groupe Croissance
  

Panel: Women of the Diaspora, a driving economic force in Haiti

Summary:

This session aims to provide delegates an opportunity to gain insight and join discussions about the obligations, obstacles and opportunities for the Diaspora Haitian Woman in development of Haiti. It is hoped that this panel can provide an avenue for understanding and paving a way for Haitian women, including those in the Diaspora, to play an integral part in the economic development of Haiti.

Moderator: Elizabeth Guerin, Anchorwoman NBC Miami

Panelists:

• Ambassador Danielle Saint-Lot, Ambassador–at-Large of the Republic of Haiti for Women’s Empowerment & President of Danielle Saint Lot Haiti Women’s Foundation
• Carline Joseph, President of Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie d’Haiti
• Dotie Joseph, Deputy City Attorney of North Miami Beach
• Suze Francois, Senior Manager at WallMart Foundation
• Marleine Bastien, Executive Director of Fanm Ayisyen nan Miyami