Earthquakes, Nongovernmental Organizations, and Governance in Haiti

Abstract

On January 12, 2010, the Haitian people suffered the most dramatic and unimaginable catastrophe in the Caribbean in recent times. More than 222,570 citizens perished as a result of a 7.0 earthquake, and over 1.3 million are currently homeless. The city of San Francisco, in California, United States, had a similar earthquake in the 1990s, and fewer than 100 people were killed. Chile a few months ago had an earthquake that was far stronger than Haiti’s, but fewer than 1,000 people were killed. So why did a 7.0 earthquake on the Richter scale cause so much destruction in Haiti? In this article, the author argues that the historical boycott of Haiti’s government in the 19th and 20th centuries by the international community, the constant internal struggle among the members of the elite for the control of state power, and the weakening of state structures through the creation of nongovernmental organizations have weakened the government’s capacity to deal with major catastrophe and meet the needs of its citizens.