Haiti urges OAS to 'move from aid to investment' for stabilization

Haiti's Foreign Minister, Raina Forbin, has appealed to the Organization of American States (OAS) to transition from providing aid to making investments as a means to achieve lasting stability in her nation. Speaking at the 56th OAS General Assembly in Panama City, Forbin stressed that security and development are intrinsically linked, advocating for a paradigm shift. "Security cannot be dissociated from development. We must accompany our stabilization efforts for a change of paradigm: moving from aid to investment," she stated. Forbin argued that investing in education, entrepreneurship, employment, and infrastructure, thereby offering tangible prospects to young people, women, and girls, is a highly effective strategy against violence, forced migration, and social exclusion. She called for enhanced regional cooperation to combat transnational criminal networks, arms trafficking, drug smuggling, and money laundering, activities she believes fuel insecurity across the Americas, particularly in Haiti. The minister emphasized that Haiti's security challenges have hemispheric implications, urging the region to move beyond crisis management towards stabilization and from formal coordination to tangible results. "Haiti does not ask us to act in its place, but to act together with it, respecting its sovereignty, its national priorities, and the shared responsibility that unites us as peoples of the Americas," Forbin added. She also highlighted recent progress made by the Haitian government, including strengthening security forces with the training of over 2,000 new police officers and the recruitment of 1,500 soldiers. Operations against criminal gangs, which control a significant portion of the capital, have intensified, yielding encouraging results such as the resumption of Council of Ministers meetings at the National Palace. Forbin applauded the UN-approved Gang Suppression Force (GSF) and called for its accelerated deployment and mandate renewal to consolidate security gains.

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La seguridad no puede estar disociada del desarrollo. Debemos acompañar nuestros esfuerzos de estabilización para un cambio de paradigma: pasar de la ayuda a la inversión