The Diaspora a tool for
nation-building
and an instrument for
market expansion:
The case of Haiti!
► By
Jean-Hervé Charles
MSW, JD
► Sunday May 16, 2010
Strategic Plan for National Salvation
► The
PSSN and its
world tour of
education and
penetration of the
Haitian communities
Diaspora history
► The
Jewish Diaspora after the destruction of
Jerusalem in 132
► The Black Diaspora through Slavery during 300
years
► The Irish Diaspora due to the potato famine
► The Chinese Diaspora after Mao’s cultural
revolution
► The Korean Diaspora
► The Haitian Diaspora in the 1960s with the
violence of Duvalier
Wide range of the Haitian
Diaspora
► One
million in the United States
► One million in the Dominican Republic
► One million in the rest of the world in
particular Canada, France and the Caribbean
Strength of the Haitian
Diaspora
► 300,000-strong
in a demonstration to force
the CDC to reclassify Haitian people in the
AIDS debacle.
► Forced the return of Jean-Bertrand Aristide
to power in Haiti
► Sending $1.4 billion to Haiti every year in
remittances
► Converging en masse in Haiti to help in the
recovery from the earthquake
Successful models of Diaspora
► Singapore
► China,
Korea, Malaysia, Israel, Grenada
► On the other end of the spectrum: The
Cuban Diaspora as an impediment to the
end of the U.S. embargo
Criteria for successful role of
Diaspora in nation-building
► It
must be country-driven, not Diasporadriven
► It must be give-give, the return must flow
from both sides
► It must be personal, although groups and
organizations can pull together for specific
projects
Diaspora role in nationbuilding as foreseen in the
PSSN
►A
Creole cultural institute in each one of the
major cities of the globe!
► They will be a governmental- and Diasporarun entities with high-level instruction in
cuisine, art, language and dance from Haiti.
The registrants will pay a fee to attend the
sessions to make the venture selfsupporting and sustainable.
Talent inventory
A bank of exchange of grey material run
by the Ministry of Haitians Abroad with an
office at the Haiti UN mission in New York
and at the embassies and consulates in
other cities of the globe to catalog the
Haitian and foreign experts desirous of
offering their skills in the rebuilding of
Haiti.
Business facilitation
A development unit attached to the Office of
Business Facilitation that will advise the Diaspora
on potential investment opportunities, bids, and
market offers in the infrastructure sectors,
environment rehabilitation and the provision of
services. By contrast, the Haitian remittances will
be from the different transfer agencies through
the Central Bank to insure credit on the financial
markets for a positive balance of payments.
Dual citizenship
At the Haiti Ministry of Justice a unit will
be established to facilitate the speed-up of
the process of double nationality for all
Haitians with a foreign passport. It will
work with the electoral board and
legislature to facilitate immediately the
registration and right to vote of Haitian
residents with a valid Haitian passport.
Encouraging dual nationality
► At
the Ministry of Haitians Abroad a
contingent of social workers will be
deployed in the consulates to encourage
Haitian residents to become citizens of their
country of residence, to live as good citizens
and to become a point of light for others to
follow
Ensuring rights
► These
social workers will work with the
private and public sector to ensure that the
rights of Haitian workers are respected,
their human rights not violated and their
contributions to the society well appreciated
Opening up consulates
Haitian consulates all over the world and
the UN office in New York will be
transformed into homes for Haitians to
discuss issues of integration, harmony
among themselves and development at
home.
Hometown associations
► They
will get special attention to incubate
their projects.
► Mexico has offered three dollars for each
dollar invested by its Diaspora in their home
towns
► The Haitian government through the PSSN
will accompany the hometown associations
from conception to finished project in each
town and hamlet of Haiti
Courting Haitians abroad
Retirees, senior citizens, the intellectuallygifted, athletes, children of the Diaspora,
all qualified Haitians abroad will be courted
to return home or bring their personal
contribution to the motherland while living
in foreign lands.
Marketing to Diaspora
Agriculture and production will appeal to
the nostalgia of the Haitian Diaspora.
Organic produce grown in Haiti will be sold
abroad with facilitation of the government
in all the markets of America, Europe, Asia
and the Caribbean.
Chain of solidarity
Some of the Haitian interns who have
profited from a free graduate education
will be sent abroad with grants from the
UN specialized agencies and other
foundations to help in the development of
Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America to
continue the traditional Haitian chain of
solidarity towards others people of the
world.
Thanking through art
We will seek a way to express a sincere
thanks in our art, which is so universally
appreciated, to the countries that have
assisted Haiti not only in the recent
earthquake but throughout the long agony
of dictatorship, ill-governance and a
transition without end.
Conclusion
► To
conclude, the
following poem reflects
our sentiments and our
hope for a better
future with the
contribution of the
Diaspora...
I cannot forget you Haiti
► As I depart from your weeping shores
► I steal your salty air in my greedy lungs
► I smell nothing but the scent of your sorrows and suffering
► The memory of your unique cuisine resides permanently in
my Mouth. Your sovereign soil deeply embedded beneath
my nails
► Home . . . I am home . . . Yet you continue to haunt me
► Angel Aloma, executive director, Food for the Poor.
►
Thank you.