USAID/OTI Haiti Hot Topics May 2005
From Dirt Road to Disarmament: The HTI Process at Work
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| Martissant 1 Road, new and improved. |
Collaborating closely with the U.N. peacekeeping force in Haiti (MINUSTAH), OTI's Haiti Transition Initiative is targeting activities in those areas where the U.N. forces are most active. The program will work with MINUSTAH to help ensure quick investments in communities affected by gang violence following MINUSTAH's intervention as a precursor to disarmament in these neighborhoods.
The Haiti Transition Initiative (HTI) began its involvement in Martissant, a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince rife with gang activity and violence, at the request of the Ministry of Public Works and the Secretary of State for Youth, Sports and Civic Education. The Ministry was keen on initiating labor-intensive projects such as road repair to provide short-term income, integrate disaffected youths into broader society, and build the credibility of the central government in the area. The rehabilitation of Martissant 1 Road, located in a rundown, high-traffic area, was the first HTI activity in the community. Simultaneously, HTI worked with the Secretary of State for Youth and the soccer club of the Ste. Bernadette School to rehabilitate the neighborhood soccer field, which not only solved a community dispute about field access and provided a valuable resource to residents, but also built the stature of the local soccer club as an alternative to gang activity. The soccer club worked with the community to select and develop the different projects, and, in so doing, has developed its own capacity to voice and serve the needs of the community at large.
These initial projects in Martissant yielded impressive results. Residents added speed bumps and street cleaning after project completion, and partners in the soccer project went on to develop two subsequent HTI projects, including the "Play for Peace" tournament inaugurating the Ste. Bernadette field and the addition of a multi-sport center in the school complex. The Secretary of State for Youth continues to enhance the football club and broaden its scope as a community sports association without HTI's direct support.
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| Ghazni Bazaar a day after the break: Radio Ghaznawiyann journalist interviewing a shopkeeper . |
As HTI gained credibility in Martissant, it was able to extend its reach up the mountain to neighboring Grand' Ravine. Residents familiar with HTI's work in Martissant expressed interest in holding a festival of traditional Rara bands for the Easter holidays in Grand' Ravine. This request provided HTI the opportunity to involve the Ministry of Culture and Communication and the MINUSTAH disarmament program, which provided T-shirts for the competing bands reading "I play for peace" and T-shirts for the general public reading "I make the peace." The project not only built a positive working relationship between HTI and the disarmament program, it began to build an association between the two in the minds of residents.
This collaboration resulted in a plan to incorporate disarmament into the HTI program. Previously, when former gang members obtained employment on HTI project sites, there was no obligation to relinquish a weapon and no barrier to resuming gang activities at the end of the project. Under the most recent project in Martissant, the rehabilitation of Romulus Road, former gang members will have to turn in a weapon at a MINUSTAH deposit point before they can work on the HTI site. MINUSTAH recruited local advocates of disarmament who will participate in the implementation committees organized as part of the HTI process. These committees will identify the workers and ensure (within the MINUSTAH disarmament process) that they have met the requirements for receiving employment. This project will create 50 short-term jobs for more than two months.
For further information, please contact:
Katherine Donohue, OTI Haiti Program Manager, 202-712-0498, kdonohue@usaid.gov
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