The United States Institute of Peace is a nonpartisan, independent think tank (or at least as independent as possible given that it was established and funded by Congress.) Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and development, and increase conflict management capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide.  The Institute has a Haiti Working Group, which meets monthly and is open to anyone interested in Haiti.  The Group periodically publishes papers or organizes Haiti related events. Last week, the Working Group held a panel called The End of Poverty in Haiti. Read more »

Caribbean 360 carried an announcement that, by early next year, Haiti will have taken a step toward closer integration into the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy.  As part of this deal, CARICOM will carry out public education campaigns to educate Haitains about CARICOM and to educate other Caribbean countries about Haiti. The expansion of Digicel, the largest company in Haiti, shows the potential of the private sector in Haiti.  Haiti needs trade more than it needs aid and I hope regional integration will help create much needed employment.   Read more »

Today, as prescribed in the Haiti HOPE Act of 2006, the President implemented preferential trade status for Haiti. Read more »

The United States Trade Representative has made a request for comments from the public on Haiti's eligibility for benefits under the HOPE Act that was recently signed into law [link< Read more »

Yesterday, President Bush signed into law the Haiti Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act (worst acronym ever). Read more »

According to a recent study, 1/10 of Haiti’s GDP comes from the garment industry. A report released by the Progressive Policy Institute goes even further to point out one of the key arguments for granting Haiti preferential trade status: Read more »

At long last, the Haitian community thought there'd been some progress on Capitol Hill. After two years of negotiation (or neglect), Chairman Thomas and Ranking Member Rangel of the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives introduced, for the first time, the Haiti HOPE Act. That's the Haiti Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act, for those who struggle with obscure acronyms. Read more »