Diaspora Action to Address the Exclusion of all Haitians from Leadership in development & Haiti Relief Funding

Title: Diaspora Action to Address the Exclusion of all Haitians from Leadership in development & Haiti Relief Funding

Concept:

A two hour break-out session to discuss ways to collaborate and partner to take legal action in national and international courts, draft and advance legislation, and request equal time in U.S. media (print, broadcast, radio).

The Issue:

Recent studies and research show evidence of deep rooted, institutional, and systematic discriminatory practices by world organizations, NGOs, and large contractors that excludes all Haitians from leadership and discriminates against qualified Haitians who compete for public funding earmarked for Haiti relief. This is in violation of the doctrines, laws, and regulations that govern these organizations.

Additionally, overwhelming data shows that over the last decade billions in relief funding that was pledged, earmarked, and designated for the Haitian people never reached them. Those monies were taken and handed to non-Haitians groups that delivered substandard outcomes  with little accountability. Most recently, $10 billion in earthquake relief funding for the Haitian people was disbursed to non-Haitian organizations that now cannot substantiate or account for how they spent the billions that did not reach the Haitian people. Those funds must be returned to the Haitian people.

Goal: 

Identify Haitian individuals, Haitian-Led groups  who want to come together as a coalition to help implement actions the Diaspora has been discussing for decades.

Possible Session Leaders/Speakers:

Identify 4 regional leaders from Diaspora communities to convene the break-out session. These individuals should come from either Haiti, Canada, or the United States: ATL, Detroit, Chicago, CA, CT, NJ, NYC, FL.

Proposed Action:

The following steps should be taken collectively by a coalition of regional leaders that represent thousands and even millions. This does not require the creation of a new organization, but instead, leverages existing assets.

  • Letter to Major Media Executives Demanding Equal Time
  • Draft Legislations to Dismantle the Republic of NGOs.
  • Multiple Litigations in National and International Courts on Behalf of Specific Groups in the Diaspora & Key Constituencies in Haiti

(End the deep-rooted racist, colonialism styled institutional system of development and recoup the billions stolen)

Moderator: Cleve Mesidor, Global Solutions at the Raben Group

Participants: TBA