Stubborn Stakeholders slow Progress in Haiti says CARICOM Chairman, President Ali

Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#Haiti, March 9, 2024 – Despite countless meetings the Caribbean Community is no closer to getting Haitian stakeholders to reach an agreement on how to approach rehabilitation of the country.

In a March 6 update, Irfaan Ali, Chair of the Caribbean Community and President of Guyana, updated on the progress made by the regional bloc with negotiations following a major increase in hostilities in the French speaking nation.

”We have been working on this around the clock for the last three days and in spite of many, many meetings we have not yet been able to reach any form of consensus between the government and the respective stakeholders in the opposition, private sector, civil society and religious organizations.”

The statement from Ali, coming days after a jailbreak that saw 4,000 inmates sprung from prison thanks to an attack and takeover by gangs mirrors those of the Eminent Persons Group assigned to Haiti by CARICOM over the past several months.

Admitting that the situation and road to recovery were complex, CARICOM Chairman Ali said the issues were being exacerbated by not only violence but the lack of critical institutions like the Presidency and Parliament.  Ali urged the Haitian stakeholders to consider the effects of their inaction.

”Given that they all agree that a solution must be Haitian led, consensus is therefore of paramount importance. There must be a political solution to anchor any stabilization of the security and humanitarian effort,” he said.

Without any sort of widespread agreement the citizens will continue to suffer at alarming rates.

”The fact that more people have died in Haiti in the early part of this year than in Ukraine must give everyone in Haiti and in the international community serious pause.”

The matter of Haiti’s security issues went before the UN Security Council on Wednesday in a closed session according to Ali.  He again stressed that while the international and regional community had it’s part to play in supporting the country, Haitian stakeholders had to agree on how they should do so before progress could be made.