Abstract

As Latin America’s poorest nation, Haiti has myriad problems that undermine its social sustainability: degradation of the natural environment, marginal social and political infrastructure, high rates of poverty and illiteracy and a faltering economy. International interventions, economic embargoes, unfavourable trade agreements, political instability and governmental corruption have plagued the Haitian people for generations and have contributed to the massive foreign debt that handicaps Haiti’s ability to provide basic necessities for its people. This paper reviews recent social, environmental and economic conditions which have created and defined decades of extreme deprivation in Haiti with the purpose of identifying the social infrastructure, institutions and processes that would be required for a more sustainable, resilient and thriving society. The paper is informed by a framework of social sustainability as well as Sen’s human development concept and relies on secondary data to develop a critical theoretical argument to understand the Haitian experience. The paper incorporates a discussion of how the assets and potential evident in Haiti can be promoted in the interest of its sustainability and concludes with an exploration of whom, and/or what agencies, internal or external, should shape the objectives and process of implementation.