ARTICLE - MICHAELLE JEAN - PARADIGM SHIFT

TOWARDS A PARADIGM CHANGE IN THE COUNTRY
(Haiti Libre)-

In an interview on TV5 as part of the program "L'invité", Michaëlle Jean, the UNESCO Special Envoy to Haiti, has declared that "it's fabulous, it's great to see the energy that there is in this country, ... even when remotely we have the impression that nothing happens. For example, the President is struggling to form his government [...] but nevertheless, things are moving in Haiti. It is a country always in effervescence", stating that the country "needs investment"... what is taking shape in Haiti, is a complete change of paradigm. That is to say, abandon the logic of assistantship which has produced only dependence, [...] but has never produced anything sustainable... Switch to a logic of investment, [...] the economic investment for the socio-economic developmentof country, and also to investment in the capacities. This is what UNESCO is doing. That is to say, strengthening the capacity at the level of the governance of institutions. Including education, [...] it is fundamental. We can not think reconstruction in Haiti, if we do not put the emphasis on education and vocational training. It is a country of youth and if the reconstruction is not led by the creation of opportunities, of training and capacity building for all... this mass of the young, often in extremely risky situations, we will go nowhere in Haiti."

Concerning the international aid, Michaëlle Jean recommends that the country takes care of itself completely. "We can no longer think of sustainable development in this country based on total dependence on international aid. It is no longer possible [...] this fragmentation that has transformed the country into a laboratory, where there are tens of thousands of NGOs, that makes the state increasingly deprived of the means to implement its policies. Take three major NGOs in Haiti. You are put their budgets together and they have more financial resources than the state itself. It is total nonsense! This creates a kind of parallel state, which is why we speak of the Republic of NGOs in Haiti. It is not possible, if we want there to be a major advancement at the level of governance. It is necessary to have a state with resources,... to really put forward its policies. Haiti has plans. There is a Haitian plan for education, a plan for the development of Haiti,... against poverty. We must work within these parameters."