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And that long-term foundation is the core of the international aide plan. If there can ever be said to be a silver lining in a cloud such as this, it is this: a

And that long-term foundation is the core of the international aide plan. If there can ever be said to be a silver lining in a cloud such as this, it is this: almost the entirety of the existing infrastructure was destroyed in the quake, and Haiti gets to do it right this time -- buildings that "meet code", city planning that makes some kind of sense, distribution of services that has some correlation to demographic distribution, and so on, all under the eye of international observers who must be present while Haiti, once again, tries to build a police and law enforcement system from scratch. It will cost a mint in foreign generosity to give Haiti the leg up it needs, but it will, at the same time, reduce the need for continual infusions of aide over the long term. (Haiti has certainly never been off of the aide map in Canada; money, material, medical, police and military contributions have been going there pretty much since Baby Doc bit the big one.)

dschobel 17y ago
Agreed. It's been encouraging to hear all the talk about "sustainable aid". I'll be curious how they solve the corruption problems though. If you have international observers on hand, others will scream "colonialism". But honestly, after Haiti was ranked as the most corrupt nation on earth in 2006[1], I don't think there's anyway you give long-term aid without intensive supervision. [1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6120522.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6120522.stm
anamax 17y ago
> Haiti gets to do it right this time What are the odds that it will? > all under the eye of international observers who must be present This isn't the first time that "international observers" have been present. What has happened in the past when they were around? If this time will be different, why? > Haiti has certainly never been off of the aide map in Canada; money, material, medical, police and military contributions have been going there pretty much since Baby Doc bit the big one. That is not encouraging. Canada is pretty good at this stuff and pre-quake Haiti suggests that it wasn't enough.

dschobel 17y ago

Agreed. It's been encouraging to hear all the talk about "sustainable aid". I'll be curious how they solve the corruption problems though. If you have international observers on hand, others will scream "colonialism". But honestly, after Haiti was ranked as the most corrupt nation on earth in 2006[1], I don't think there's anyway you give long-term aid without intensive supervision. [1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6120522.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6120522.stm

anamax 17y ago

> Haiti gets to do it right this time What are the odds that it will? > all under the eye of international observers who must be present This isn't the first time that "international observers" have been present. What has happened in the past when they were around? If this time will be different, why? > Haiti has certainly never been off of the aide map in Canada; money, material, medical, police and military contributions have been going there pretty much since Baby Doc bit the big one. That is not encouraging. Canada is pretty good at this stuff and pre-quake Haiti suggests that it wasn't enough.