The Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently held a hearing on empowering Haiti to rebuild better featuring Chris Milligan (USAID coordinator for Haiti), Kenneth Merten (U.S. Ambassador to Haiti), Mark Schneider (vice president at the International Crisis Group), Andrew Natsios (former USAID administrator and CGD visiting fellow), and Sean Penn (actor and founder of J/P Haiti Relief Organization). With a bill on Haiti’s reconstruction due for mark-up today, this hearing offered a chance for witnesses to discuss the short-term and long-term needs in Haiti as well as the effectiveness of current aid efforts.CGD visiting fellow Andrew Natsios said the long-term development of Haiti requires going beyond “brick and mortar” reconstruction to focus on governance, security and pro-growth economic policies. He explained that currently 35 percent of funds are allocated to health needs while only 4 percent are committed to governance and democracy. Natsios argued development in Haiti must be “institution-based” and do far more than the typical work on roads, schools, and health clinics. If not, he said, “Haiti will simply revert to its failed status and whatever is reconstructed will begin to crumble over time without institutions to ensure maintenance.”The witnesses at the hearing unanimously called for unrestricted trade and utilization of the Haitian diaspora, two ideas championed by CGD experts Nancy Birdsall, Kim Elliott and David Roodman. Open markets for Haitian products – that is free trade with zero restrictions – are intended to help to spur industrialization and improve policies for business start-up. Likewise, engaging the vast Haitian diaspora in the U.S. and Canada would offer another untapped resource to stimulate and sustain Haitian reconstruction.At the end of the hearing, Natsios cautioned Senator John Kerry about the overly burdensome regulatory restrictions on USAID activities that come from Congress, albeit often from outside the foreign relations committees (he also alluded to his forthcoming CGD work on these issues). Natsios strongly urged the committee not to judge the success of aid based on how fast money is disbursed. Rather, he said, results should center on consulting the right people and instituting the right policies.
