One year since the earthquake that devastated Haiti, the government and people of Haiti continue to experience a multitude of hardships. Massive displacement, a devastated infrastructure and the recent outbreak of cholera have all spurred the international humanitarian community into action. However, even with the mobilization of major relief efforts, many problems remain that will challenge reconstruction efforts for years to come.
On January 10, the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement and InterAction hosted a discussion marking the anniversary of the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Sean Penn, founder of J/P Haitian Relief Organization and Paul Weisenfeld, USAID senior deputy assistant administrator, opened the discussion, offering their individual assessments of the current situation in Haiti. Following their remarks, Samuel A. Worthington, president and CEO of InterAction; Elizabeth Ferris, senior fellow at Brookings; and Claude Jeudy, Haiti national director at Habitat for Humanity; each offered insights based on their recent trips to the island nation.
Senior Fellow Theodore Piccone, deputy director of Foreign Policy at Brookings, moderated the discussion. After the program, the panelists took questions from the audience.