Haiti has been classified as one of the poorest and most failed states in the world despite billions of dollars in aid from the international community. [1] Conventional approaches to sovereignty and democracy have failed to improve conditions. [2] The author proposes a model of "Shared Sovereignty" where Haiti grants economic management powers to an international development agency for 15 years while maintaining other government functions. [3] This could help rebuild infrastructure and lay the foundations for long-term stability and economic self-sufficiency.

1. Security Council. Haiti and us.
By Hugo Guiliani Cury
Haiti is classified as one of the first ten failed states worldwide. Before its independence,
the French colony of Saint-Domingue was the wealthiest of the French empire. It has
been 204 years since its independence from France, and ever since, it has become the
poorest nation of the Western Hemisphere. That is the sad reality of the country that
first abolished slavery in the world and the second of the American continent to achieve
its independence. In the search for solutions for that nation, the International
Community has tried for years to export the democratic model and has applied the
concept of conventional sovereignty. Elections have been held, governments have been
elected, but the reality is that none of that has worked there. This has happened because
the institutions that operate a democratic regime are not present there. Simultaneously,
the United Nations has failed and has spent millions of dollars in Haiti without any
results. However, the International Community has not wanted to acknowledge this
situation. Even with the experience after the earthquake, where billions of dollars from
donor countries were spent. These resources were applied to humanitarian aid, military
spending and to organize elections. Nothing was achieved and Haiti is worse than
before.
In the case of Haiti, which is clearly a failed state, the best thing would have been to
establish a "Protectorate" but chapter XII, Article 78 of the Charter of the United
Nations, indicates that it is not possible to do it in territories that are members of that
organization and that is the case of Haiti. How then to reconcile that situation with the
reality of that nation? For this, it is necessary to look for other mechanisms that could
allow an immutable value as the principle of sovereignty to be maintained. But at the
same time, obtaining it should not be an unconquerable obstacle to the very existence
of Haiti as a nation. Therefore, we have to look for other solutions to make of Haiti a
viable and prosperous nation.
Regrettably, the United Nations has continuously supported the concept of conventional
sovereignty. However, this thought and its application have been negative in many of
the so-called "Failed States". This has led us to the search for other alternatives that
allow international aid to be more effective in such instances. We believe that an
alternative for that, is the application of the concept of “Shared Sovereignty” under
which some type of partnership between the parties could be achieved and in which the
local authorities grant part of the power, to the International Community, to manage
certain areas of the state for a determined amount of time. This option would allow
reaching an agreement under which the International Community can apply a scheme
similar to what would be achieved with a protectorate, but with a modality and
denomination different from the protectorate.

2. This modality would be called " Strategic Alliance Under a Shared Sovereignty”.
Which implies to have a government in Haiti managed by the Haitians but shared with
the International Community. Under a scheme of this nature, an international agreement
should be reached in which Haiti delegates to the International Economic Community
the management and control of the economy for about 15 years. However, the other
party that is Haiti would govern and manage the other powers and areas that normally
are part of an independent state. A government under this scheme would be elected in
free elections as established by the Haitian constitution. In essence, under this type of
strategic alliance, the responsibility of the country is shared between two different
parties. There are precedents of this concept and according to the experiences obtained,
it is viable as long as there is a balance between the parts involved, which are the internal
actors represented by the Haitians and the externals represented by the International
Community.
With a pact like this, the instrument to execute the process for the economic
reconstruction of Haiti would be carried out by a Development Agency that would be
created to assume all the economic functions. This agency should be autonomous and
its main attribution would be to design and execute the reconstruction program in Haiti.
Its main source of funds would be the donations that the group of donor countries would
make. Also, the funds loaned and coming from the International Economic
Organizations. The main functions of the agency would be: 1- To set economic
priorities. 2- Design the reconstruction program. 3- Bid for and supervise the works to
be carried out in that program. 4- Receive the donated resources and loans, to make the
disbursements according to the plan and commitments made. 5- Oversee and supervise
the fulfilment of the contracted works according to the execution schedule.
Simultaneously, the agency will coordinate its main activities with the World Bank, The
International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Organization
of American States and Non-Governmental Organizations. Those international and
regional institutions working with the Haitian Government will supervise activities such
as: economic development, macroeconomic stability, infrastructure projects, electoral
and humanitarian issues. The Development Agency working in coordination with those
international institutions will be responsible to oversee the well-functioning of those
aspects. In the initial phase of the program to be executed by the Development Agency,
the attention would be directed towards creating the infrastructure and organizations
that Haiti needs for its social and economic development in areas such as roads,
hospitals, technical schools, aqueducts, energy, civil registration offices and electoral
college. A program of that nature could need in the first phase of five years, about ten
billion dollars. After fifteen years and under a repeating scheme like the one indicated,
Haiti will have laid the foundations for its economic and social development, but at the
same time, it will have created the institutions that make democracy viable. It is from
that moment that Haiti could become a Nation-State capable of operating under a
democratic regime without external intervention.

3. The Dominican citizens, who share the same island but have a much higher degree of
development, must be the promoters of this initiative. It is not necessary to abound on
this point. Whoever does not want to understand that if the Haitian situation continues
as it is today, we should know that it will be a matter of few years for the Dominican
Republic to also become a failed state with millions of Haitians in its territory. Then it
could come a time that the solution will be to merge the two nations, and neither
Dominicans or Haitians want this to happen.
Currently, we have the possibility to influence and help Haiti, since we are part of the
exclusive club that is the United Nations Security Council. This gives us the opportunity
to be actually working very close to the most powerful countries in the world. We
should start the process to influence and convince the five permanent members of the
Security Council starting with France that has a historical debt with Haiti and the United
States that has intervened Haiti several times.
The reality is that in the Haitian case if we know how to present and lobby this case, it
won’t be possible for the International Economic Community to continue avoiding a
long-term political and economic commitment to Haiti. In essence, it is the time to
influence the International Community and to make them to assume responsibility as
the only way to make Haiti a viable nation, and stop being the failed state that it is today.