Haiti's Government: What Should Its Next Moves Be?

Monika Kalra Varma

director of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, which is tracking human rights issues in the rebuilding of Haiti

The better question is what can the international community do to support the Haitian government? Half of the [Haitian government] ministries are completely leveled and the palace is broken as well. Historically, when you look at how money has come into Haiti, it hasn’t been coordinated with the government or in partnership with the government so going forward if we are going to see real change it has to be done in a different way.

The Haitian government is going to have to take a leadership role in this... they are going to have to be leading the charge and unfortunately in Haiti and in many countries like Haiti where international organizations have more power than the government that is difficult.

They are going to have to reach out to include the people of Haiti as much as possible in the recovery process. The government is also going to have to play a role in dealing with projects that don't succeed, whether with international donors or projects that are not fulfilling their promise to the Haitian people.

We are pushing very hard on the international community because of the resources they have here but the central role needs to be played by the Haitian government.

PBS News Hour