What Goes Wrong With Rebuilding Efforts (And How To Do Better This Time)

I'm not and have never been a relief worker, but I've spent a lot of time looking at humanitarian crises to try to identify patterns in what derails well-intentioned efforts. Unfortunately, the last twenty years offer plenty of opportunity for analysis. As the full scale of the devastation in Haiti continues to be revealed this week, here are five common things that plague relief and rebuilding efforts, and what they suggest about which organizations we should support to avoid them.

1. Lack of local knowledge: Every place has it's own traditions, perspectives, customs and that dictate behaviors and responses to crisis. This local knowledge and local context is essential for being able to effectively engage local populations and effectively adapting relief best practices to successfully deliver aid. What this means: Look for and support the leadership of organizations like Partners in Health that have been in Haiti for years.

2. One-dimensional, victim-centric view of impacted populations: Everyone impacted by this earthquake is a victim, but to successfully implement immediate and long-term relief programs, aid organizations have to be able to get beyond the "victimhood" of the people they're serving to actively engage their ideas and talents to work with, not only for, local people. What this means: Look for organizations that have a commitment to the equal capacity of everyone to contribute to change.

3. Lack of respect for local economic systems: One of the most challenging parts of development and relief is delivering necessities like shelter and food that must be rights in a way that doesn't harm local economic capacity. While right now, the name of the game is get people what they need, it will take smart planning (plus constant adjustment) to rebuild in a way that gets Haiti back of the right economic foot. What this means: Look for organizations like Architecture for Humanity that view every rebuilding program as a program for job training and creation.

4. Lack of appreciation for the importance of political power: At the end of the day, poverty is as much about power as it is about economics. For most of the history of the country, average Haitians have lived without discernible political power through which they could claim their rights. The long view of rebuilding Haiti has to include a commitment to enabling (even just not interfering would be a good start) with local political processes. What this means: Look for organizations that understand that all humanitarian actions have political consequences and strive to appreciate and understand how that should impact their programs.

5. Lack of commitment: There is something of a mission problem that happens midway through the rebuilding process. Humanitarian relief organizations are inherently focused on disaster relief. After some period of time, the Haiti earthquake will not be a "recent" event by the industry's standards. Something else will happen and donor dollars will flow elsewhere. Almost certainly, Haiti's infrastructure will still be bulwarked by relief institutions at that point, and even with careful planning in the transition from relief to rebuilding, these resource outflows can be devastating. What this means: Look for organizations that are, from the very beginning, building widespread alliances across sectors.

Photo Credit: stevendepolo