Caricom framework for stabilising Haiti

I recently visited Haiti in a professional capacity connected to my work with an international organisation. Like many visitors before me, I was struck not only by the scale of that country’s challenges, but by the profound mismatch between those challenges and the evident character of the Haitian people.

Haiti is often described as a failed state. That description, while convenient, is incomplete. What has failed is not the people, the land, or the culture. What has failed over generations is governance.

Driving through Haitian cities, one sees uncollected garbage piled high, informal food vending taking place amid unsafe conditions, and public spaces that appear abandoned by the state. Yet within this disorder, one also sees constant work, creativity, resilience, and dignity.

People trade, send their children to school, build, cook, repair, and innovate daily. The land itself is fertile. The human potential is unmistakable. This contradiction points to a single missing link, a functioning, trusted system of governance capable of co-ordinating effort, enforcing basic order, and delivering public services predictably.

Haiti does not need saving. It needs scaffolding.

For decades, the international community has oscillated between disengagement and heavy handed intervention, neither of which has produced durable results. Western-led solutions are now widely mistrusted, and unilateral control by any single country would almost certainly be rejected. Doing nothing, however, guarantees continued collapse.

There may be a third path, one rooted in regional solidarity, functional pragmatism, and time-bound stewardship.

I propose that Haiti, with its consent, enter into a temporary Caricom-led governance compact, supported technically and financially by the United Nations and other partners.

Under this model, Caricom member states and regional partners would not govern territory, but would co-steward specific state functions alongside Haitian counterparts for a fixed period, perhaps ten years, with clear benchmarks and a defined exit.

Illustratively, this functional stewardship could include:

• National Security and Policing – supported by Jamaica, focusing on professional standards, community policing, accountability, and command discipline.

• Justice and Corrections – supported by Trinidad and Tobago, strengthening court administration, case processing, and humane, secure corrections systems.

v Public Administration, Revenue, and Customs – supported by Barbados, restoring civil service discipline, procurement integrity, and predictable state revenue.

• Health Services – supported by Barbados and regional partners, stabilising primary care, public health delivery, and hospital administration.

• Education and Skills Training – supported by Barbados and the OECS states, focusing on curriculum standards, teacher training, vocational education, and workforce certification, recognising education and skills development as critical levers for long-term national transformation.

• Public Works and Municipal Services – supported by Guyana, Suriname, and Dominica, including roads, drainage, waste management, climate resilience, and local infrastructure delivery.

• Tourism Development – supported by Jamaica, St Lucia, and the Bahamas, restoring regulatory frameworks, safety standards, and community-linked tourism opportunities.

• Agriculture and Food Security – supported by Guyana, Belize, Grenada, and St Vincent and the Grenadines, strengthening production, agro-processing, and rural livelihoods.

• Investment, Commerce, and Permitting – supported regionally, creating transparent one-stop investment processes, predictable commercial rules, and investor confidence.

• Culture, Social Welfare, and Sport – supported by Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and St Lucia, recognising the central role of cultural identity, youth development, social protection, and sport in national cohesion, crime prevention, and dignity restoration.

• Labour Mobility and Workforce Integration – supported regionally, in partnership with the Dominican Republic, facilitating skills training, certification, and managed labour mobility programmes that allow Haitian workers to contribute legally and productively to labour-short Caribbean economies while earning income, experience, and dignity.

Haiti possesses one of the region’s largest untapped labour forces. With structured skills training and lawful mobility pathways, this workforce could become a driver of growth across the Caribbean, particularly in construction, agriculture, tourism, care services, and public works. This while easing migration pressures and strengthening regional integration.

Importantly, this effort should begin where trust is rebuilt fastest, visible public order. Waste management, drainage, street lighting, regulated vending, and community maintenance are not cosmetic concerns.

These are signals of state presence and competence. When order is tied to jobs, income, and dignity, behaviour changes rapidly. Once people see that a system works and rewards participation, compliance follows.

This model preserves Haitian sovereignty, avoids domination by any single external power, shares responsibility across the Caribbean, and offers Haiti something it has long been denied, a stable, predictable container in which its people can thrive.

Andrew P. Anderson is a facilities, project management and construction professional.