Je nan Je platform and campaign

Two years on from the earthquake which struck Haiti in January 2010, killing over 300,000 people and displacing a further 2.3 million, little progress has been made in the reconstruction of the country. Almost 600,000 Haitians are still living in camps and informal settlements and struggle to access key services such as water, food, sanitation, healthcare and education. Over 75% of the population lives on less than $2 per day, including 90% of all rural families.

The Haitian people, as well as citizens, governments, charities and other international institutions around the world, want to understand why so little has been done to resolve these many challenges. In March 2010, 55 donors from different international governments and multi-lateral institutions pledged to donate $5.6 billion in aid, including $4.59 billion in program support to Haiti by the end of 2011, to help support its redevelopment plan. Yet, with only a few months remaining, only 43 percent of pledged program funds, or $1.97 billion, has been disbursed. Haitians, however, have little access to information detailing how this money has been used and why the remaining $2.61 billion has yet to reach those in need.

What is Je nan Je?

Je nan Je (meaning “Eye to Eye”) is a grassroots movement urging aid accountability and transparency to reform the national housing and agriculture plans and provide secure safe, affordable, long-term housing for the most vulnerable displaced Haitians.

The Je Nan Je coalition, with support from the international anti-poverty charity ActionAid, was created in 2011 out of deep concern about the lack of progress in the reconstruction process in Haiti. The coalition launched an advocacy campaign under the same name, ‘’Je nan Je’’ to help guarantee Haitians’ rights to land and safe, affordable housing in the context of the country’s reconstruction.

Who is involved?

The Je nan Je coalition is made up of grassroots networks, social movements and women’s groups that represent over 800,000 Haitians. It includes the following members : KROS, RENHASSA, KONAFAP, KPGA, COSADH, APV, MPP, COZPAM, FANM DESIDE, KABAGRANGOU, MPNKP and ActionAid.

ActionAid is giving financial and technical support in campaigning and advocacy expertise.

What are the aims and objectives of Je nan Je?

The Je nan Je platform aims to promote higher transparency, accountability and participatory democracy within the reconstruction process, with special attention to the issue of land and housing rights.

The campaign, through intensive research and analysis, capacity building for grassroots partners and awareness raising for national and international stakeholders, aims to create an inclusive, participatory space for critical debate and dialogue between the different sectors so that participants can identify collective priorities and sustainable, alternative solutions to key land and housing challenges. This includes recommendations for instituting both institutional and legal reforms in four different areas:

  1. Land tenure reform
  2. Equal access to safe, long-term housing
  3. Rural agricultural movements’ right to agricultural development and natural resource management
  4. Local, regional and national disaster risk mitigation

What are the campaign’s ultimate goals?

  • The 600,000 Haitians currently living in IDP camps will have increased access to safe, dignified, affordable long-term housing by the end of 2014.
  • The Haiti National Agricultural Investment Plan is reformed to prioritize the needs, voices and full participation of Haitian rural agricultural movements and smallholder farmers in development plans.
  • The Haitian government, donor governments and international institutions recognize the need to secure land and housing rights for all Haitian citizens and the crucial role that civil society, grassroots groups, peasant movements and women’s networks have to play in development planning, implementation and evaluation.
  • Haitian grassroots, peasants and women’s movements have consistent access to key reconstruction planning, implementation and evaluation information and mechanisms in Creole, including land tenure reform planning, the national housing plan, the Martelly relocation plan, and the national agricultural investment plan.
  • Civil society, peasant movements, grassroots groups and women’s networks consistently share key recommendations with both national and international stakeholders on land tenure reform, housing development and reconstruction accountability and transparency. National and international stakeholders have prioritized official roles for grassroots partnerships in the reconstruction process and routinely incorporate their recommendations into national and international planning.

Activities to date

  • The platform held several pre-symposiums in Haiti’s 10 departments to gather demands from farmers and tent residents.
  • The platform held a symposium event in October which brought together over 500 representatives from domestic and international government, grassroots organizations, civil society and donors to discuss recommendations moving forward on rebuilding a more prosperous Haiti
  • Development of a “charter of demands” listing key asks of the international commnunity and the Haitian government in relation to the reconstruction process and land reform in particular.
  • A mass mobilisation of Je nan Je member organisations and their constituents is planned for 11th January 2012, during which the movement will present the charter of demands to the Haitian parliament.