Haïti Gender Equality Collective - Collectif Haïti Égalité

Where are the women in Haiti’s Reconstruction?

Women and gender issues were glaring in their absence from the March 31st 2010 Haiti International Donors’ Conference held in New York when billions of dollars were pledged to finance Haiti’s reconstruction. Haiti’s National Plan of Action, the blueprint guiding reconstruction efforts and resource allocation, was based on a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA). The PDNA resulted from a two month process led by the Government of Haiti and involving more than 250 people from the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union and the Inter-American Development Bank. Despite this large scale effort, the resulting PDNA failed to address gender dimensions of Haiti’s proposed strategies for reconstructing macroeconomic, social, environmental policies, as well as infrastructure and governance.

To amplify Haitian women’s voices, a collective effort involving more than 100 international women’s organizations and networks held a press conference and parallel event across the street from the Donors’ Conference on March 31st. At the event, they released a Gender Shadow Report that provides a gender analysis of and response to the PDNA. The report is introduced by an open letter to donors demanding the inclusion of Haitian women’s voices in the reconstruction process and attention to gender issues in all policies and budget allocations.

Ensuring Haitian Women’s Participation and Leadership in All Stages of National Relief and Reconstruction

A Gender Shadow Report of the 2010 Haiti PDNA

Since the end of January 2010, Haitian government officials and global stakeholders representatives have worked to draft a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) to serve as a blueprint for Haiti’s reconstruction. Although the PDNA is comprised of eight themes: governance, productive sectors, social sectors, infrastructure sectors, territorial development, environment and disaster risk reduction, economic analysis and cross-cutting sector (including gender, youth, culture, social protection, etc), only one theme (cross-cutting sector) peripherally addresses gender.

Women’s full participation and leadership in all phases of the reconstruction of Haiti requires that a gender perspective be integrated into ongoing discussions and planning. Therefore, a broad coalition of women from diverse backgrounds working both on the ground in Haiti, in grassroots communities, and within the international arena has resolved to produce a Gender Shadow Report which was released on March 31, 2010, on time for to the Haiti Donors’ Conference.

The Report offers human-rights based policy guidelines to donors, international agencies and other stakeholders and promote the rights and leadership of Haitian women, who are key to rebuilding Haiti on a more sustainable, equitable and disaster-resilient foundation.

> Gender Shadow Report Main Recommendations

An Open Letter to Donors of the Haiti Reconstruction

We are a coalition of women and feminist organizations from diverse backgrounds working in communities in Haiti and within the international arena. As organizations committed to partnering with Haitian women to ensure their effective participation in rebuilding Haiti, we call upon donor governments to declare and adhere to internationally recognized standards of women’s human rights in forthcoming relief and reconstruction investments. Such a human-rights based approach is mandated by international law and crucial to rebuilding Haiti on a more sustainable, equitable and disaster-resilient foundation.