Final Report Field work in Haiti May 31st to June 30th 2011 In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community

Renata Avelar Giannini 10/02/2011 Abstract

his report intends to evaluate international eff orts in the prevention, treatment and eradication of sexual gender based violence (SGBV) in Tconfl ict and post confl ict situations. For that purpose, it shows the de- velopment of a legal framework within the UN system with the launch of resolutions and guidelines that intend to improve women`s conditions in the fi eld. Despite the signifi cant advance of this matt er, the fi eld work highlights the diffi culties and challenges of translating this framework of reference into practice. While member states lack appropriate training and female person- nel; the UN struggles with budgetary constraints, inter-agency competition and lack of cooperation between main actors on the fi eld, including civil so- ciety organizations apart from the UN system. Patt erns of sexual and gender violence seem to have been a common trend since before UN involvement. The strategy adopted to prevent and respond to SGBV has focused on several fronts, from improving their physical secu- rity to enhancing their economic and social status through empowerment policies. However, while this strategy has been limited, it lacks the involve- ment of all actors on the fi eld. The mandate to protect civilians needs further clarifi cation to bett er involve military and police actors. At the same time, UN civilians and civil society organizations ought to fi nd mechanisms of coordination to avoid parallel and uncoordinated activities that do not serve their own purpose and beset an integrating approach. As Latin America´s contribution to peace operations has grown exponen- tially in the past few years, this report focuses on(but is not limited to) the eff orts carried on by countries from that region as an att empt to assess how their contribution has been translated into the adaptation and incorporation of UN guidelines. As they reaffi rm their political and social compromise with Haiti, a “Latin American way of doing peacekeeping” has evolved. How- ever, analyses showed that some has incorporated more gender mainstream- ing actions than others highlighting important diff erences in the regional approach. Contents

INTRODUCTION ...... 9

THE IN FRONT OF SEXUAL GENDER BASED VIOLENCE ...... 11

HAITI AND ITS CONTEXT: GOVERNMENT, CULTURE AND GENDER ISSUES ...... 13

Haiti and SGBV ...... 15

Haitian Institutions ...... 16 Ministry of Women`s Condition and Rights ...... 17 Haitian Police ...... 18

Conclusions and Recommendations ...... 19

THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE UN IN HAITI ...... 21

MINUSTAH`s Civilian Personnel ...... 22 Gender Unit: ...... 23 UN Women...... 24 Conclusions and recommendations: ...... 25

The Military Component ...... 26 MINUSTAH structure ...... 28 The countries ...... 28 Conclusions and recommendations ...... 37

The Police Component ...... 39 The UNPol ...... 39 Bangladesh`s female FPU ...... 41 UN Police and SGBV ...... 42 Conclusions and Recommendations: ...... 43

THE CIVIL SOCIETY ...... 45

Civil Society and SGBV ...... 47

CONCLUSION ...... 49

SOURCES: ...... 51 Acronyms:

ARGBATT ...... Argentine Battalion BOYCOY ...... Bolivian Company BRABATT I ...... Brazilian Battalion I BRABATT II ...... Brazilian Battalion II CHIBATT ...... Chilean Battalion CVR ...... Community Violence Reduction DDR ...... Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration DPKO ...... Department of Peacekeeping Operations DSRSG ...... Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General GBV ...... Gender Based Violence HC ...... Humanitarian Coordinator HNP ...... Hatian National Police MINUSTAH ...... United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti MSF ...... Médecins Sans Frontieres- Doctors without Borders QIP ...... Quick Impact Projects ROE ...... Rules of Engagement SC ...... Security Coordinator SEA ...... Sexual Exploitation and Abuse SOP...... Standard Operating Procedures SGBV ...... Sexual Gender Based Violence SOFA ...... Solidarité Famn Ayisyen (Haitian local organization) SRSG ...... Special Representative of the Secretary General URUBATT I ...... Uruguayan Battalion I URUBATT II ...... Uruguayan Battalion II URUMAR ...... Uruguayan Navy Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community

INTRODUCTION

lthough the UN`s leadership in en- fl ict and post confl ict situations, the subjection hancing women`s status and empo- of women to violence is intrinsically related to Awerment has been an important part their social status and subject position within of the Organization´s mainstreaming actions the societal structure. Consequently, address- on the fi eld of peace and security, there is a gap ing the “inequality” problem by promoting between theory and practice. UN resolutions, gender balanced local institutions and empow- guidelines and statements have approached ering women is an effi cient way to protect them the problem according to its magnitude and against all forms of violence. have promoted holistic approaches to improve However, despite the validity of this action, women`s vulnerable status and to end sexual the UN has faced increasing diffi culties in imple- violence in confl ict and post confl ict situations. menting its strategy. Overlapping UN agencies However, the diffi culties of translating what is and uncoordinated work are just some of the still on paper into practice have posed a bigger challenges. To add more to the problem, coun- challenge than framing the issue and advancing tries that contribute the most to peace opera- its agenda. tions seem to not care about UN`s gender con- As the UN`s eff orts in peace building and cerns. Poor training capacity and the absence of post-confl ict reconstruction increases, concerns gender approaches are some common problems regarding the vulnerability of women and chil- shared by the police and military units sent to dren to violence, particularly , peace operations. are amongst one of its primary concerns. Since The UN has made its guidelines and train- the year 2000, the UN has approved a series of ing requirements available, however, it lacks resolutions that aim to promote gender balance the capability of translating them into practice abroad and at home, enhancing women`s po- and enforcing States` compliance. As a conse- litical, economic and social status in intervening quence, many unprepared peacekeepers are and intervened societies. still deployed in peace operations, and in some The strategy is based on the assumption that cases, they become part of the problem and take not only must the security environment be im- part in these hideous acts. proved, but also women`s status. In these con- In the light of this debate, this report will ana-

9 Renata Avelar Giannini lyze UN gender based actions and policies in one Considering this context this report will ana- of its peace operations: the United Nations Sta- lyze how the diff erent actors within MINUSTAH bilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Haiti deal with the widespread problem of SGBV in is an interesting case study. It has been plagued Haiti and evaluate how successful UN eff orts in by sexual and other forms of gender based vio- the area have been to date. For this purpose I lence against women and has been the object of will fi rst analyze the UN`s basic strategy in ad- diff erent UN peacekeeping missions since the dressing SGBV in peace missions zones, iden- 90`s. Moreover, it refl ects a paradoxical reality: tifying its strategy as a foundational basis that it is not a confl ict or post confl ict situation. Al- determines patt erns of evaluation to be tested though gang rivalry led to the multiplication of against MINUSTAH`s actions. Secondly, Haiti`s several political upheavals and the worsening political, security and social contexts will be of the security and humanitarian situation lead- evaluated, highlighting the nature of gender ing to Haitians fi ghting Haitians on the streets, based violence in the country. The third part it was insuffi cient to be called or considered a will focus on the central question of the report, civil war by the international community or that is, how MINUSTAH`s actions seek to fulfi ll Haitians themselves. the UN`s conceptual and theoretical approaches MINUSTAH has been present in the coun- to the problem of SGBV. try since 2004 and despite the accomplishment This key part was accomplished thanks to a of important goals, such as supporting the es- fi eld research performed by the Latin American tablishment of a democratic government and Defense and Security Network (RESDAL) from the improvement of the security situation; Haiti May 30th to June 30th, 2011. The fi eld research confronts a complex humanitarian crisis exacer- allowed a fi rst-hand analysis of the practices bated by the constant recurrence of natural di- and perceptions of several diff erent actors on sasters and foreign aid dependency. As Haitians the fi eld. It is also important to clarify that al- demand the UN to leave, their weak government though not limited to a Latin American lens, the structure shakes dangerously in light of the new research had a focus on Latin American coun- political disturbances and lack of resources to tries and thus most interviewees, particularly address the population`s basic needs. the military troops, were from that region.

10 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community

THE UNITED NATIONS IN FRONT OF SEXUAL GENDER BASED VIOLENCE

s part of the UN`s eff orts to promote and lence and, in particular, to sexual violence. maintain peace, gender approaches are According to Pratt and Leah1, sexual violence Agradually being included in all of the takes a variety of forms including “individual UN`s actions related to peacekeeping. The lo- , , gang rapes, genital mutilation, and gic is plain and simple: incorporating women in -shooting or rape-stabbing combinations, at times peace talks and post-reconstruction eff orts is an undertaken aft er family members have been tied up and important step towards a more equitable society, forced to watch.” They also add that sterilization, reinforcing women` reintegration and contribut- and forced are also ing to the underpinnings of the peace process. common forms of . This debate is reinforced with the transfor- The dynamics of war, the symbolic meaning mation of the international security order and of the subjection of women and lack of security the changing patt erns of confl icts and nature of in confl ict and post confl ict situations along with threats. Interstate confl icts are not as frequent women`s role as the providers for the elderly as they used to be. However, internal strife, of- and children, transform them into easy targets of ten resultant from cultural or ethnic diff erences violence. It is not just a matt er of opportunity. and/or state failure, is a prominent feature of the Although motivations vary, throughout history emerging “international security order”. In this widespread cases of SGBV had one element in context, while the individual`s security is put in common: the subjection of women to violence jeopardy, it is progressively seen as inextricably committ ed by man was and is part of an unequal linked to the state`s security. gender status previous to the confl ict.2 As a consequence, since the 90`s the UN has es- Considering women and young girls` vul- tablished several peace missions, aiming to restitute nerability to sexual violence in confl ict and post the statehood of these places and, at the same time, confl ict situations and the relation between their to protect the civilians threatened by numerous internal upheavals within these societies. In such 1 Pratt , Marion and Werchick, Leah. Sexual Terrorism: Rape as a Weapon of War in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: An assessment situations, whereby the lives of the civilian popula- of programmatic responses to sexual violence in North Kivu, South Kivu, tion are seriously threatened, women and children Maniema, and Orientale Provinces. USAID, 2004. 2 UN OCHA Research Meeting, “Use of Sexual Violence in armed are particularly vulnerable to diff erent types of vio- confl icts: Indentifying gaps in Research to inform more eff ective in- terventions”, June 26th, 2008. 11 Renata Avelar Giannini full rehabilitation and reintegration and the foundational pillars: establishment of an equitable society and rein- 1. Promoting the empowerment of women in forced peace, the UN has adopted gender main- the economic, social and political life through gender streaming policies in all peacekeeping actions. balanced actions during reconstruction process. Its core objective is to address the vulnerable As SGBV is inextricably linked to gender based status of women in these societies by protecting inequality, promoting affi rmative action to in- and empowering them, thus establishing the crease women´s participation in peace talks and foundational basis of equitable societies. in the political and economic life of the state will In 2000, RES 1325 set the UN agenda re- positively aff ect their social status and condition. garding women, peace and security. It put the 2. Promoting gender balance in UN`s deployed incorporation of women in police and military personnel in all its components (civilian, police and units as an important operational capacity to be military). considered by member states and urged them Enhancing gender balance within the UN to deploy more female personnel to peace ope- personnel on the fi eld has two direct eff ects: rations at all decision-making levels and in all 1. First, it provides a model to the society un- components (civilian, police and military). der construction, highlighting the presence of Eight years later, in 2008, RES1820 was the women in all instances. 2. Second, by promoting fi rst that clarifi ed the relation between sexual increased participation of women among the po- gender based violence and the diffi culties in es- lice and military personnel, women and young tablishing lasting peace in post-confl ict zones. girl`s security is enhanced. It encourages report- It reaffi rmed the necessity to ensure the protec- ing as women may be more comfortable to report tion of women and young girls from sexual vio- sexual violence cases to other women. Further- lence and to rehabilitate and reintegrate victims more, in light of past experiences, sometimes the to society. UN and other intervening forces are part of the In 2009, two Security Council Resolutions fo- problem; increasing women in combat functions cused on the problem: RES1888 and 1889, reaffi rm- would partially address this problem as well. ing the importance of increasing women´s partici- 3. Enhancing the UN`s capacity to respond to pation in peace operations and stating that sexual sexual violence in the fi eld. violence was not only amongst the most serious On one front, the UN has att empted to pro- crimes against humanity, but also a serious threat mote gender sensitive training and awareness, to the peace process. Member states were encoura- improving soldiers, police offi cers and civilians` ged to increase the participation of women in all capacity to respond to SGBV on the fi eld. On peace process stages, to promote awareness and another front, it has promoted the creation of gender sensitive trainings and to cooperate in the gender unit offi ces responsible to improve over- establishment of sound local institutions. all fi eld mission actions in regard to gender. Finally, in 2010, RES1960 aimed to ensure the 4. Promoting the establishment of eff ective local protection of women against generalized and institutions to address sexual violence. systematic sexual violence in armed confl icts As part of reconstruction eff orts, the UN has and to promote access to medical and psycho- promoted the establishment of sound police insti- social treatment as well as legal assistance and tutions and justice systems to address sexual economic reinsertion of SGBV victims. violence on the fi eld. An important part of the Overall, these resolutions work in conjunc- rehabilitation and reintegration eff orts of women tion to form the UN`s strategy to address sexual victims of SGBV relates to promoting a safe envi- and gender based violence, and highlight its ronment and to breaking the cycle of impunity. 12 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community

HAITI AND ITS CONTEXT: GOVERNMENT, CULTURE AND GENDER ISSUES

he path from the Pearl of the Caribbean Hundreds of millions of dollars in an uncer- to a broken nation is a complicated one. tain intervention and other hundreds in aid have THaitians oft en appeal to superstition produced poor returns. Although the democratic when trying to cope with the country`s enor- government has been reestablished along with mous problems. During the night, the sounds other state institutions since 2006, there is a gap of the voodoo practices could be heard in dif- between the state`s capacity and its desire to be ferent locations and stories about how Haiti be- free from the international presence in its terri- came a broken nation fi ll the imaginary of the tory. “Without MINUSTAH, Haiti will return to the local population. Whether ancient Haitians or pre-MINUSTAH state of nature”, was a common voodoo practitioners are responsible for bring- response in all interviews with international ac- ing disgrace to the country through an evil pact tors performed during the fi eld trip. with the devil is unknown; however, many be- If this be true or not events unfolding in the lieve that an equally powerful and mystical ac- near future will tell. Not only has the Haitian tion is necessary to rescue the country from its government openly expressed that it is time for current humanitarian situation. MINUSTAH to leave, but also MINUSTAH`s The Fantasy Island - as some foreigners would main troop contributor, Brazil, has given the call Haiti, where everything is possible and no fi rst signs that it may be returning home soon. rules exist - is a complex and paradoxical place. In fact, it was verifi ed that most security threats It is home to 10 million inhabitants, the poorest of have been overcome and what is still to be done the Americas and where more NGOs per square refers to police work. Still, the military engineer meter are sett led and fi ght over the scarce inter- companies would be of good use and there are national resources in an economic crisis sett ing. rumors that more of those will be soon arriving However, not even the concentrated aid has man- in Haiti, while artillery troops will be sent back aged to save Haiti from its current dire state. The to their countries. socio-economic devastation, gang-related crimi- With all this help it seems incomprehensible nality, weak government, an under-prepared na- for the inatt entive observer that Haiti still is in tional police and a disillusioned population are such a fragile situation. Haiti`s vulnerability not just some of the countless challenges ahead. only comes from its eff ervescent political up-

13 Renata Avelar Giannini heavals and gang activity, it is also is a result of Haitians are seen as the main contributing fac- its geographic position, on the route of deadly tor causing the country´s situation. hurricanes, and subject to disastrous earthquakes “They don`t seem to care about their situation. that seem to push the nation back every time it They are living in tents for more than a year and don`t seems to be ready to walk on its own feet. leave because in the camps they receive food and wa- However, as much as natural disasters con- ter for free and thus they don`t have to work”, adds tribute to the nation`s increasing humanitarian a military offi cial. This very same statement was needs and devastated infrastructure, it is also a heard a couple of times and repeated by many direct result of social and economic problems other interviewees, highlighting the inability of that hinder reconstruction eff orts and the insti- many actors on the fi eld to comprehend the lo- tutionalization process. The 2010 earthquake in cal culture and to assess their necessities. “It is Chile is an example of how a country experienc- not consensual. There are those who love MINUS- ing a similar or even worse natural disaster can TAH and are grateful for the help, and those that provide a more adequate, faster and permanent throw stones at us and demand us to leave” clari- response. “Haiti`s 2010 earthquake? It looks like it fi es a young Latin American soldier who didn`t happened yesterday”, commented some Chilean seem to understand why Haitians would want military offi cers when comparing Haiti`s post- them out of their territory when the state could earthquake situation to Chile`s reconstruction not work properly on its own. “The population´s eff orts aft er the earthquake that hit the country perception of us? I think it varies, and it is related to a few months aft er Haiti`s 2010 earthquake. age- children and elderly are very caring and enthu- But those were not the only answers we gath- siastic about us. The children in particular, they are ered during the time we spent in Haiti. “Haiti`s not afraid, they come aft er us, running behind the problem is a cultural one, only a generational change vehicles and greeting with a smile. But the adults can save Haiti, not MINUSTAH.” That was the don`t like us. They see us as invaders and oft en yell most common response received when inter- ‘Allez MINUSTAH’”, mentions a member of the viewees were asked about Haiti. As troubled military deployed close to the border with Do- as it might look, culture was considered as the minican Republic. main factor explaining Haiti`s current vulner- It was indeed a consensus amongst all inter- able condition. International actors, from dif- viewed actors that education was the way out for ferent backgrounds, military, police and NGO Haiti, the only way by which the cycle would be workers would say that there is a cultural factor broken and the enthusiastic children could be- that makes Haiti what it is. Whether such state- come enthusiastic adults that would care for the ments were carried with prejudice or not, they country they live in. As critics have emphasized, had common grounds: in general, the Haitian an initial assessment would confi rm the interna- population was perceived to be extremely indi- tional community´s worst fears. “MINUSTAH vidualist, and with no sense of community. give me water”, “MINUSTAH give me food”, are Interviewees would go even so far as to say common signs on the streets of Haiti`s main ur- “They are only worried about their own and imme- ban centers, indicating that Haitian population diate well- being. They don`t worry about long-term may have indeed developed a dependent rela- stability or even their own neighbor. It might sound tion to charity and international aid. harsh, but I don`t think Haiti is ready for democ- However, if aid had never been provided, racy”, confessed an interviewed offi cer serving would Haiti`s situation ever be improved? That MINUSTAH for more than a year. Depicted by is hard to know. More importantly it is certain most interviewees as extremely individualist, that the realist approach that excludes moral- 14 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community ity from any political considerations cannot be other civil society organizations, such as Doc- applied to Haiti, as the international commu- tors Without Borders (MSF) and SOFA (a Hai- nity seems unable to cohabit a world in which tian NGO dedicated to report and eradicate people are dying of starvation and nobody does SGBV cases in Haiti) have become active in the anything. fi eld of prevention and response to sexual and gender based violence. According to these ac- tors, it is a mistake to blame IDP camps for the Haiti and SGBV problem of widespread sexual violations and Culture was also the champion explanation other types of GBV in the country. “It perpetua- accounting for gender based violence in Haiti. tes a wrong view of the problem, GBV has always According to most interviewees, women´s sta- been present in Haiti; the IDP camps violations has tus in Haiti society is a submissive one. As they only brought the topic to the surface and the inter- are responsible for the support of the family, national community could no longer ignore it”, said they end up being victims of economic exploita- one high ranking offi cer of UN-Women, in an tion by their own partner and targeted in unsafe interview with RESDAL`s research team. This is environments, such as that of the post-earth- one of the main points of debate regarding GBV quake scenario. and there is a clear line between those believe In fact, it was a consensus amongst all diff e- the IDPs have facilitated an increase in sexual rent international and local actors that the earth- violence cases and those that fi rmly believe it quake and the resultant unsafe environment, hasn`t changed the patt ern of an ever-existing particularly within the IDP camps, only brought reality, but only making it more evident. the problem of widespread SGBV to the surface. Amongst the latt er group, many would say Despite the fact that all of MINUSTAH`s com- that there is an intrinsic and cultural problem ponents - including the military, police and civi- within Haitian society. The central role of wom- lian contingents- agreed on the need to reinforce en is that of a submissive position and vulner- security within the camps as their precarious able status. Many of the interviewees would say conditions may have facilitated misconducts; it consider women responsible for the support of was also said that violence against women has the family and for the care of the vulnerable, always been present in Haiti. particularly of children and elderly. However, The civilians were the most reticent in cate- their status is inferior to that of the man, trans- gorizing SGBV as a security problem; however, forming GBV into a social problem. they did recognize that the recurrence of sexu- Gender based violence in Haiti is thus diff e- al and other forms of violence against women rent from that of a confl ict or post confl ict situa- have frequently happened within IDP camps. tion. First of all, despite all the similar destructive MINUSTAH`s Gender Unit confi rms that the signs, Haiti is not considered by the Haitians or by current security condition has facilitated the the international community as a confl ict or post- recurrence of SGBV in Haiti, particularly in the confl ict zone. Secondly, the kind of massive rapes camps and for that reason security counter-ac- and violations aimed at undermining opponent tions had been taken. Amongst those, the mili- or ethnically diff erent groups are not observed in tary was authorized to enter the camps along Haiti, where the problem seems to be more related with the police. Previously, their presence was to a generational mindset and the current insecure limited to the perimeter of the camps. social, economic and political situation. They also agree that it is not only a security While women are constantly victims of se- problem. To this end, UN-Women and many veral types of GBV, particularly domestic vio- 15 Renata Avelar Giannini lence, they confront yet another vast array of increase in reporting violations? The only conclu- challenges in pursuing treatment and justice. sion one can make is that awareness campaigns may As explained by Concertation Nationale, a na- be working bett er and women are less shy to report tional platform comprising local organizations, cases. It doesn`t necessarily mean there was an in- government ministries and international UN crease in sexual violations, it can mean there was an agencies to fi ght SGBV, there are only a few increase in reporting the crimes.” health centers that treat SGBV victims and even And that is true. The situation in Haiti is not fewer provide them with offi cial proof of crime. favorable for reliable quantitative data. Not Not only are there limited centers, but fi nancial only has the existing database collapsed with costs, such as for transportation and fees, may the Ministry of Women`s Condition and Rights add to the challenge of seeking assistance. demise, but no one single method of collecting The Haitian Police lack the capacity to ad- data seems to follow any statistically reliable dress these crimes. Not only are there no foren- technique. As gender becomes a fashionable sic specialists, but few members of the police topic and more organizations are interested in force have received training on gender. The jus- working in the area, there is a gap between ac- tice system also poses the following barrier to cepted defi nitions of sexual and other types of recourse. At a nascent stage, it rarely condemns gender based violence and those of many fi eld criminals, who may also become victims of the workers who don´t seem to have an adequate or system, being thrown in prisons without judg- appropriate idea about the nature of the issue. ment or defense lawyers. This debate comes along with another: the reporting system. The “problem of data” was Haitian Institutions a common issue highlighted by all intervie- Haiti is one of those paradoxical places where wees. While some would say the earthquake weak institutions have led to a failed-state-like destroyed the database, others would empha- modus operandi. For several years now, Haiti has size that the diff erent ways of reporting did not, been struggling to maintain the rule of law and up to now, allow the establishment of a joint democratic institutions within the boundaries of database. As a consequence, patt erns of SGBV its territory. However, it has not yet managed to occurrences cannot be determined. do so. The several accounts regarding the practi- Nonetheless, there seems to be an even more cally absent state in diff erent instances of Haiti`s worrisome reason explains why the reporting society is contrasted to the formal existence of a system is problematic. It seems that there is not government structure and political leaders. an agreed-upon defi nition of SGBV, with diff e- Haiti`s paradox becomes even more complex rent actors interpreting the term diff erent ways. when considering the absence of an internal con- “What is reported as SGBV? Just because the vic- fl ict that accounts for failing state institutions tim is a woman it doesn`t mean it was gender based and the disastrous humanitarian situation. Des- violence. You cannot say that a female victim of an pite the absence of organized violence against assault is a victim of gender based violence”, ex- the state or against diff erent internal groups, plained a Latin American Police offi cer. Other Haiti`s current landscape resembles that of a representatives, be they from important inter- post-confl ict situation, marked by strongly op- national NGOs or from organizations within posite political groups, a weak state and extreme the UN system, argued that misinterpretations levels of humanitarian needs. should be avoided: “How do you know if the data This situation has led many NGOs to esta- indicates that SGBV has increased or if there was blish fi eld teams in Haiti. Unfortunately, most 16 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community of them have not conducted a real assessment of ing. In particular, it is said that as HNP has the Haiti`s situation or most pressing needs, leading mandate for the executive policing, much of the to uncoordinated humanitarian relief services, work that could have been done in the security and more worrisome, an unbreakable cycle of area is undermined by HNP`s lack of capability aid dependency. Aid is currently being diverted and will. to NGOs and institutions established in Haiti, Despite the criticism, however, Haitian institu- whilst the government remains without the tions have shown improvement throughout the political and economic power to assume its ba- years. From the complete absence of a govern- sic functions and strengthen its institutions. On mental structure and police unit, Haiti now has the other side, Haiti is said to be one of the most a functioning government and police. Moreover, corrupt countries on the globe. In fact, since the President Martelly has repeatedly announced earthquake, despite the money that has been do- his intentions to restitute Haitian armed forces, nated to Haiti`s government, just a few buildings dismantled since 1995. His intentions, however, have been re-built, leading many observers to have gone only as far as offi cial speeches and it conclude that the best way to reconstruct Haiti, remains unclear who Haiti`s Army would be de- is by providing funds to companies and organi- fending the country from, and who would pay zations willing to use it for designated purposes, for the fi nancial costs. As for now, Haitian po- rather than to Haitian actors. lice is the only armed arm of Haiti`s government, In regards to gender, there is a National Plan along with MINUSTAH`s police and military under construction which includes a transversal forces that serve Haitian state. gender approach to all areas. However, there is a signifi cant gap between the offi cial plans and what can realistically be accomplished. Most of Ministry of Women`s Condition and Rights the actors argue that women`s status in Haitian The Ministry of Women`s Condition and society is refl ected in its limited presence in the Rights is one of them. Created in 1994, the government structure and in the brief att ention Ministry was envisioned to promote women`s the current government has given to the topic. rights in the light of Haiti`s commitment to the Still, several of its ministries are involved Committ ee to the Elimination of Discrimination with projects that aim to improve women`s con- against Women (CEDAW). Specifi cally, accord- ditions, particularly in regard to SGBV and other ing to its current Minister, Mrs. Michel Marjory, forms of violence. The Ministries of Women`s the Ministry is responsible for identifying, de- Condition and Right, of Health, and of Justice, fi ning, elaborating and working on plans ori- seem to be the most active in the area, especially ented towards the improvement of women`s because it is within their area that women con- situation in Haiti. front the most serious challenges, as illustrated The Ministry works on two primary goals: 1. by the diffi culties to access medical care and the The promotion and defense of women`s rights justice system. However, the most troubled of and; 2. Monitoring of the gender situation. The Haiti`s institutions seems to be the Haitian Na- elaboration of Plans are thus focused on advanc- tional Police. Because Haiti has a formal govern- ing and generating public policies that promote ment and a formally established national police, and strengthen gender equality within Haitian all UN`s actions have to pass through Haitian institutions and the society in general. institutions, such as the police and military com- The Ministry also develops joint actions with ponents, this, according to most interviewees, other governmental institutions, namely, the Mi- accounts for their limited possibilities in help- nistries of Justice, of Health and of Social Welfare, 17 Renata Avelar Giannini along with the Haitian Police. Each partnership Haitian Police focuses on a diff erent area of action, emphasiz- Aft er the disbandment of Haiti`s armed for- ing an overall improvement of women`s condi- ces in 1995 and with the important push of the tion and status in Haitian society. second international intervention in Haiti initi- In regard to non-governmental partners, the ated in 1994, Haiti`s National Police was created Ministry names UNICEF as the main partner in in 1995. Its main objective was to restore demo- projects related to education, cholera, violence cracy and to maintain itself as an independent prevention and raising awareness campaigns. institution, having received specialized training An uncommon initiative carried out by the Min- by UN contributors particularly the US, Canada istry is the Youth Brigade, constituted by young and France. However, eff orts have been insuffi - men and women between 18 and 30 years old cient to overcome HNP`s main challenges. trained to provide immediate response to vic- HNP is formed by security forces, by two tims of violence. They are also responsible for separated units, the Correction offi cers and reporting cases to the Ministry and work in a the Coast guard, and by the Special Forces voluntary basis. unit wearing a blue uniform and called CIMO. Despite the Ministry`s eff orts, it lacks politi- HNP`s special forces team was considered by cal strength. In fact, as the newly established UNPol as highly capable and professional, in president Martelly struggles to gather domestic contrast to the ordinary HNP offi cer. Correction support and legitimacy, diff erent interviewees offi cers and Coast Guard members, though, said that there are plans to terminate the work seem to have similar problems as those encoun- of the Ministry. tered within HNP overall personnel. As is the case with other government insti- The 16-year-old Haitian police is under tutions, it is said that the earthquake took the equipped, underprepared, depopulated and lives of important Haitian women and men that unable to respond to most calls for assistance. were strongly advocating for women`s rights. Moreover, it lacks inspirational leadership and According to the Social Science Research Center its poor performance is related to mismanage- (SSRC), since the pillar of the women´s move- ment, the presence of corrupt police offi cers ment perished during the earthquake, the fi ght and the harmful infl uence exercised by former against gender inequality in Haiti is cracked.3 members of the Haitian army over the institu- Amongst the important activists, the center tion. HNP is further appointed as a distrusted names: Myriam Merlet, Minister of Women`s organization, accused of participating and con- Condition and Rights and founder of the um- niving with criminal activities. Most interna- brella National Coordination for Advocacy on tional actors interviewed att ributed the police´s Women`s Rights (CONAP); Magalie Marcelin, extremely violent behavior as the main reason founder of KayFamn, the only shelter for vic- for the population`s mistrust in the police. tims of gender based violence; Anne-Marie Nonetheless, as also informed by intervie- Coriolan, founder of Solidaritée Fanm Ayisyèn wees, the HNP seem to be afraid of the Haitian (SOFA), one of Haiti`s largest women`s advoca- population in general and in fact the interna- cy groups; and Myrna Narcisse, Director Gen- tional military is designated as the third line of eral of the Ministry of Women`s Condition and security in joint operations to off er protection Rights. for both the HNP and UNPol. From this pers- pective, it seems that there is a cycle of distrust and violence that feeds and reinforces HNP`s 3 Available at: htt p://www.ssrc.org/features/pages/haiti- now-and-next/1338/1428/ poor performance. HNP`s unsatisfactory re- 18 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community sponse and the weakness of its judiciary system of female HNP offi cers, not only to promote a frustrates and infuriates victims and the popu- more balanced institution, but also to provide lation in general. bett er responses to SGVB victims. As a matt er of fact, Haiti`s prisons are over- Although these initiatives seem to be worth- crowded and conditions are below minimum while and symbolize a growing interest in im- standards. A correction offi cer commented proving Haitian women`s life conditions, it be- that the situation within prisons is worrisome. comes clear that there is a structural problem in There are several detainees that haven`t been Haiti`s security institutions and a public secu- judged, some of whom are not even criminals rity reform is an urgent need. Addressing these but witnesses of crimes who ended up thrown problems without reforming the overall HNP in prison “by accident”. Some prisons do not structure and organization basis will not solve have beds or adequate facilities such as kitch- these problems, but only off er temporary solu- ens, medical centers, etc. However, because of tions to what is a structural problem. the push on gender themes, the female prison is in much bett er conditions in comparison to the Conclusions and Recommendations others. Some would point out though that this Despite all problems, it is clear that there are is discriminatory rather than positive action, as Haitian governmental institutions, such as the within correction units, everybody, men and Ministry of Women`s Condition, that are con- women, are victims of the system. cerned about the problem of SGBV in Haiti. The professionalization of HNP is one of Nonetheless, the national justice system and na- MINUSTAH`s core objectives and a necessary tional police lacks the capacity to confront these step towards the country`s reconstruction and issues and currently cannot provide adequate democracy institutionalization. Since 2004, responses to SGBV cases in the country. More HNP has been trained and reequipped and so importantly and concerning, it seems that gen- it has slowly improved, although there is still a der issues have not yet acquired importance in long way to go. the national political agenda. Despite a number In regard to gender though, the situation is of local NGOs involved with the matt er and at- worrisome. As far as it could be verifi ed there tempting to advance a “National Action Plan” is only one team trained in responding to SGVB to empower women and improve their vulner- crimes in Haiti. Its police station is located with- able status, eff orts are being hampered by the in the Brazilian military base in Bel-Air, a yel- lack of institutionalized and offi cial eff orts com- low zone area. In an interview with those police ing from the government. Some recommenda- offi cers it was verifi ed that they lacked adequate tions to improve Haiti`s response in the area training and were extremely under equipped, would be to: lacking basic infra-structure to be able to ade- 1. Promote affi rmative action at governmen- quately att end victims. More importantly, it tal level to promote women´s participation in seemed as if they had no motivation to att end the political, economic and social life of the Hai- victims who seemed to prefer the Brazilian sol- tian state. Currently, eff orts of this sort are led diers care rather than that of the police. by governmental structures that lack political There is an ongoing project to reform HNP`s strength and voice and by local organizations guidelines and Standard Operation Procedures that haven`t been able to infl uence government`s (SOP) that would include a transversal gender agenda. approach and specifi c training. Moreover, MI- 2. Promote gender balance actions within the NUSTAH is working to increase the number Haitian police, following UN`s premise that the 19 Renata Avelar Giannini increase of women within the security and mili- there is lack of coordination. Some of these or- tary institutions would have positive eff ects in ganizations consider MINUSTAH as part of the the treatment and eradication of SGBV. problem or just do not want to cooperate for po- 3. Promote more coordinated actions in the litical reasons. It is necessary to remember that fi eld amongst national and international actors many Haitians consider MINUSTAH an occu- involved in addressing gender issues. While pying force that should leave, thus making es- there is a lack of consensus amongst Haitian or- tablishing cooperation linkages a diffi cult goal. ganizations, they also play against each other, Nonetheless, as part of MINUSTAH`s mandate undermining the possibility of enhancing joint to enhance Haitian government institutions in and coordinated actions that could be more ef- the framework of democracy it could promote fective. At the same time, some of these actors more actions to increase women´s participation refuse to work with the international communi- in the political and economic life of the Haitian ty. International actors usually have funds and state, as it is indeed already doing this through could support local actions to empower women a program of the Gender Unit that promotes and protect them. women candidates for political positions. UN- Women can also promote similar actions and In regard to cooperation eff orts with the UN has established partnerships with local actors agencies and other MINUSTAH`s actors that to promote a similar agenda. It is important to are involved with the problem of sexual and work on a coordinated plan between all UN, lo- gender based violence in Haiti, it is clear that cal and international actors.

20 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community

THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE UN IN HAITI

aiti`s political instability is well known in Haiti. The President Jean Bertrand Aristide in the international community. As a was forced to fl ee the country aft er several po- Hmatt er of fact, the UN`s involvement litical uprisings resulted in another coup d’état. with Haiti started in 1990, with the establish- The transitional government was assumed by ment of the United Nations Observer Group for Prime- Minister Gérard Latortue, and MINUS- the Verifi cation of the Elections in Haiti (ONU- TAH fully assumed its role with the mandate VEH). In 1991, aft er a coup that overthrew the of reestablishing democratic institutions and democratically elected president, a joint UN- a safe environment for Haitian civilian popu- OAS (Organization of American States) mis- lation. Elections were held in 2006 and René sion was established, the International Civilian Préval was elected president. Mission in Haiti (MICIVIH). Finally in 1993, The years of 2006 and 2007 marked the en- the fi rst peacekeeping mission was authorized, trance of a renewed security situation when the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH). several of the most dangerous districts within However it was only in 1995, aft er the increase the capital of Port-au-Prince were pacifi ed by of authorized deployed forces throughout 1994, UN soldiers. Gangs were dismantled and there that UNMIH assumed its functions. Until 2000 was no organized violence against the Haitian other UN peacekeeping missions were esta- state. In that context, insecurity would be more blished in the country, such as the United Nations related to fi ghts amongst diff erent gang mem- Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH), the United bers, drug and arms traffi cking, robberies and Nations Transition Mission in Haiti (UNTMIH), kidnapping. and the United Nations Civilian Police Mission in This context led to another phase in the re- Haiti (MIPONUH), all with very limited accom- construction of devastated Haiti. The years of plishments. 2008 to 2010 left the “peace enforcement” phase Haiti`s political instability has been accom- behind and focused on strengthening Haitian panied by increasing poverty and social pro- government and institutions as well as main- blems, rated currently as the poorest country of taining a controlled security situation. How- the America`s. In 2004, the international com- ever, the 2010 earthquake had disastrous eff ects munity watched again another political uprising on the fragile administrative and economic

21 Renata Avelar Giannini situation of the Caribbean country. The earth- to be ready to att empt again its fi rst indepen- quake whose epicenter was just 15km southeast dent steps since 2004. Currently, MINUSTAH`s the capital Port-au-Prince caused the death of role is to support and strengthen Haiti`s na- 222,570 people and another 300,572 injured. tional institution and conversations regarding 105,000 houses were completely destroyed, the slow demobilization of MINUSTAH`s force while another 188,383 houses were severely have already started. damaged, leading to a US$7.2 billion worth in damage that surpassed by 20% Haiti`s 2009 en- tire GDP4. MINUSTAH`s Civilian Personnel The fragile government had its share of loss: As in all UN missions, MINUSTAH is under 60% of government buildings fell or were serious- civilian control. The Special Representative of ly damaged and 30% of government employees the Secretary General has the diffi cult task of perished. The Haitian National Police lost many coordinating all the eff orts and integrating the of its offi cers and its already weak capacity was military, police and civilian components. As of worsened. June 30th 2011, MINUSTAH`S civilian personnel This hideous situation has deteriorated the summed up to 2123 personnel, being 564 inter- living conditions in Haiti as thousands were national civilian personnel, 1,338 local civilian dislocated and have since then been living in staff and 221 United Nations Volunteers5.

Special Representative of the Secretary General SRSG

Deputy Special Deputy Special Representative of the Representative of the Secretary General Force Commander Police Commissioner Secretary General (DSRSG) (DSRSG) Humanitarian Coordinator Security Coordinator the IDP camps all over the country. Vulner- In regard to sexual and other forms of GBV able groups such as women and children were the main civilian organizations within MINUS- harshly aff ected. While more than 100,000 chil- TAH that deal with the problem are the Gender dren became orphans, many women were tar- Unit, who is responsible for establishing a trans- geted and became victims of widespread sexual versal gender perspective with the military and violence. police components, and UN-Women which is As the already fragile economy and political focused on carrying on joint eff orts with the lo- infra-structure of Haiti yield to the 7.0 magni- cal government. Along with both organizations, tude earthquake, the security and humanitarian high rank civilian authorities were interviewed situation worsened to alarming levels, leading and it became clear at MINUSTAH`s high level the Security Council to authorize an increase the problem is acknowledged even if there is a force of almost 9,000 military troops and 4,500 long path ahead for achieving lasting results. police. 20 months aft er the earthquake, it still It is important to note that the cultural fea- looks like it just happened; however, Haiti seems ture of the SGBV problem in Haiti was not con-

4 RESDAL, Newslett er: Observatorio de la Mujer en Operaciones de Paz, 5 Available at: htt p://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/mi- Buenos Aires: RESDAL, August 2011. nustah/facts.shtml. Access on: 09/19/2011. 22 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community sidered as a dead end but, more importantly as processes, the latt er is addressed by improving a way to bett er understand the problem and ad- the Police capabilities to respond to SGBV cases, dress it correctly. Haitian women are “culturally particularly within the IDP camps. and institutionally under protected” and in the last The Gender Unit regards the security situa- three years there has been an increase in SGVB tion within the camps along with the economic and murders cases, stressing that more cases and social conditions of the population inha- have been reported outside the IDP camps. Be- biting these areas as important factors in ex- sides improving the security context, it is neces- plaining the current widespread cases of GBV sary to advance women`s conditions in general, in Haiti. However, they alert that “confl icts and improving their status within Haiti`s society natural disasters certainly deteriorate and impacts and empowering them. Increasing women´s on the recurrences of GBV cases. GBV was, is and participation in political life is also an important will continue to be present in Haiti aft er MINUS- way of transforming Haiti into a less threaten- TAH leaves, that is why it is imperative to improve ing environment for women. However, as there local capacity in responding to this issue.” are competing local groups and organizations Their strategy is based on three pillars: Rais- that end up playing against one another, form- ing awareness campaigns; 2. UNPol and HNP ing a national consortium to work with the gov- training, and 3. Advocacy activities. Each of ernment would be an important way to coordi- these strategies aim to gather further support nate eff orts. for this cause as well as improving all actions In regard to security, high rank offi cials co- related to the prevention, treatment and follow incide on the necessity of improving peacekee- up on GBV cases, particularly sexually related pers training in gender issues, explaining that if ones. they are gender sensitive they can bett er identify Currently, there are 12 police stations with a and address the problem. However, because the specifi c GBV area and it is their intention to cre- military usually stay only 6 months, the mili- ate Special Units within the HNP dedicated to tary component learning curve is very steep as the matt er. It was emphasized that it is impera- there is constant personnel rotation and limited tive to create a protection cluster with all UN accumulation of knowledge in the area. DPKO components, civil society and local authorities, gender guidelines are unknown for most police so that eff orts of all involved actors can be co- and military troops and actors on the fi eld tend ordinated ultimately having a bett er impact in to ignore this problem interpreting it as some- the fi eld. one else`s problem. The military contingents receive 30-minute Finally, an increased presence of women induction training in gender when they arrive amongst the military and police is an important in the mission. The Gender Unit recognizes it way of improving MINUSTAH`s actions in re- is an area that needs to be improved and com- gard to sexual and other forms of GBV. ments that it is their intention to carry out spe- cifi c “gender” training to the military to be ful- Gender Unit: fi lled aft er a month or so of the soldiers arrival, MINUSTAH`S Gender Unit is primarily in- aiming to capture their att ention and explain volved with activities that promote the em- gender issues more thoroughly. powerment of women on the ond hand and The police component on its part has been preventing the recurrences of SGBV in Haiti part of several of the Gender Unit`s projects, on the other. While the former is addressed by particularly due to their own mandate of moni- increasing women`s participation in political toring and mentoring the HNP. Besides having 23 Renata Avelar Giannini recently launched new SOPs (Standard Opera- gender balance and SGBV opens a window of tion Procedures) that include a whole section on opportunity for the Gender Unit to highjack how to respond to SGBV, the UNPol is widely MINUSTAH`s agenda, favoring a renewed em- involved in the HNP training and in the moni- phasis on gender issues at the high level of the toring of its activities having thus a central role military component command. in the strengthening of HNP response capabili- ties. UN Women Regarding the cultural aspects of SGBV, it UN Women`s main focus in Haiti is promot- is commonly expected that all involved actors ing gender equality and the empowerment of should know Haitian laws and justice system: women as the main ingredients for a successful “You cannot argue that SGVB is a cultural matt er reconstruction eff ort and the accomplishment of in Haiti when its society has created a body of laws development goals. For this purpose its repre- that considers rape a crime.” There is a limit, we sentatives have emphasized the need to remove could add, between what can be considered as structural obstacles, such as cultural att itudes a cultural issue and what would be part of the and institutions that prevent the progress of offi cial discourse to justify the lack of purposed women within the Haitian society. actions to address the problem. One of its main areas of engagement is that Given all projects and eff orts, it seems that of increasing women`s voice, whether through the Gender Unit capacity to play a more impor- the political participation or in a broader sense, tant role should be addressed. Most of those such as within professional organizations or in that are on the streets and encounter daily cases civil society. Another important priority for UN of SGBV are unaware of the Unit`s projects and Women is economic development. As most of role in the mission. More worrisome is the fact Haitian households are headed by women there that many do not seem to have a clear idea re- is an urgent need to encourage employment op- garding basic defi nitions such as gender and portunities and create livelihood opportunities SGBV. for women. In fact, despite the UN`s recommendation of In regard to SGBV, their representatives view creating gender focal points within the military SGBV as having always been present in Haiti, and police components, not all of them seem to before and aft er the earthquake, and intrinseca- be aware of this necessity and amongst the mili- lly related to legal, cultural and social aspects of tary in particular, don`t seem to know what a the Haitian society. Nonetheless, they empha- gender focal point is. In 2011 every mission re- size that women and girls have been particu- ceived a directive from the Offi ce of Military A- larly vulnerable to violence in the post disaster ff airs in New York urging for the designation of environment: “Women are at the forefront of any a gender focal point at the military component humanitarian disaster. They play key roles in ensur- headquarters level. Within the contingents, it ing the survival of families, rebuilding communities, seems that only a few countries have a policy and providing food and health care. It is not optional dedicated to clarify the importance and func- to empower women. It is essential.”6 tions of gender focal points, while most of them Therefore, UN-Women`s main concern is appoint gender offi cers with no precise tasks. making clear that the problem of SGBV is not The existence of a gender unit itself is already earthquake-related, and in order to solve it an accomplishment. While gender has been there needs to be a National Action Plan with considered a taboo for many years, the current 6 Available at: htt p://www.unwomen.org/2011/01/un-women-on- international scenario and the emphasis put on the-ground-haitis-women-a-year-aft er-the-earthquake/ 24 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community national partners to implement long-term poli- there is an ongoing competition between the cies of change regarding gender equality. agencies, each with a diff erent approach to the Amid UN women`s actions in the area there SGBV problem in Haiti and with competing is an ongoing project designed to enhance wo- budgets. men and young girl`s security with the military In regard to UN`s overall strategy to improve and police components of MINUSTAH, as well the conditions of women and young girl`s on as Haitian institutions. Their main objective is the fi eld, and based on its four main pillars: to promote a safer environment for women in 1. It is clear that the civilian actors promote co- public spaces and identify local leaders to raise ordinated actions with local women groups awareness regarding women and girls vulner- and att empt to promote actions that em- ability. power and protect Haitian women. Howe- Within the IDP sites –as they call the camps- ver, as UN institutions confl ict and compete programs for continued assistance for victims with each other, these eff orts may be under- is being promoted where they can access medi- mined. cal, legal and psychological services as well as 2. Although the highest positions within MINUS- prevention actions. They have also established a TAH are currently occupied by men, there are safe haven for young girls that have experienced an important number of women working at violence and two new safe houses are to be es- decision making levels, such as the heads of tablished in the north and southeast regions. the UN-Women and of the Gender Unit. Many of the interviewed actors have pre- 3. The interviewed civilians are worried about sented UN-Women as being extremely closed strengthening MINUSTAH`s capacity in res- and uncoordinated with other organizations re- ponding to sexual and other forms of GBV in sulting in the duplication of eff orts. According Haiti, as expressed by its will to improve po- to some of the interviewees, since UN women is lice and military training as well as its SOPs. the face of the UN`s work in regard to gender, it However, there is a lot yet to be done within is the organization that most receives fi nancial the military component. resources. Paradoxically, it doesn`t seem to be 4. The civilians are also att empting to positively willing to develop a concerted action with other aff ect Haitian`s capacity to respond to the international actors. various types of violence against women, Whether or not the UN-Women`s lack of co- as illustrated by the training of the Haitian operative actions exists and is a deliberate act or National Police and the coordinated work of a conscious approach could not be verifi ed due MINUSTAH`s section of Justice and Human to the limited time. However, it is important to Rights to improve Haiti`s justice system. note that in situations like that encountered in Haiti, several organizations within and outside In order to improve MINUSTAH`s overall the UN system constantly compete for resour- eff orts in Haiti, some recommendations were ces, damaging the image of each other is part of identifi ed: a sad although indispensable game in the world - Top-down gender sensitive initiatives pro- of such organizations. moting coordinated actions amongst all MI- NUSTAHs components and other non-UN Conclusions and recommendations: actors. There is verifi able lack of coordinated ac- - There is a pressing need for creating a pro- tions and of top-down guidelines for concerted tection cluster with all involved actors. Cur- policies. More worrisome is the perception that rently the absence of a central coordination 25 Renata Avelar Giannini

has led to the duplication of eff orts and pa- Table n.1: Military troops contributor rallel activities that could have complement- countries by region7 ed each other. - Gender Unit projects should be more involved Countries Military with the military component; an important Male Female Total starting point would be to clarify their role Argentina 686 36 722 in protecting civilians as a ways to support Bolivia 190 18 208 the prevention of SGVB. Brazil 2,168 17 2,185 - The system should urge contributing coun- Chile 502 8 510 tries to appoint gender focal points to each Ecuador 67 0 67 military batt alion and promote coordinated Guatemala 136 12 148 actions with them as well as bett er integra- Paraguay 130 0 130 tion and consolidated cooperation amongst Peru 371 1 372 police gender focal point. Uruguay 1,059 43 1,102 - The creation of SOPs for the military com- Japan 220 3 223 ponent in regard to SGVB should be ad- Nepal 1,053 22 1,075 dressed. Philippines 150 6 156 Sri Lanka 958 0 958 - UN-Women could perform more coordina- Republic of Korea 236 4 240 ted actions with other UN civilian organiza- Canada 8 2 10 tions, particularly the Gender Unit. United States of America 7 1 8 France 2 0 2

The Military Component There are currently 8,728 military troops in As a matt er of fact, the close contact with the Haiti, of which 5078, or 58%, are Latin Ameri- local population by Latin American troops had can troops. Latin America´s problematic socio- been underlined also by other actors as an impor- economic context has been paradoxically consi- tant factor for the success of some operations car- dered as a comparative advantage in peace- ried out in Haiti. In a series of contacts performed keeping operations, as troops recognize needs with UN personnel in NY8, it was emphasized of the local population and as such are in a bet- that there is an increasing interest in evaluating ter position to provide an adequate response. It the “Latin American way” of doing peacekeeping, is also important to note that Haiti shares the which includes great approximation with the lo- Hispaniola Island with the Dominican Repub- cal population and a friendly att itude in the fi eld. lic, a Latin American country, where many Hai- However, in regard to sexual and other types tians live or travel on a frequent basis. of GBV, the military component is behind. Des- The Latin American military personnel tends pite the UN`s mandate in regard to the protec- to see other contributing regions as culturally tion of civilians, particularly vulnerable groups, very diff erent from Haitians and -in their view- the military component doesn`t seem to be thus less accepted, as was confi rmed during the 7 Canada, the United States and France do not have military contingents interviews. One of the main indicated allega- deployed and the number refers to military staff . Moreover, the countries` tions was that Latin Americans were culturally totals include both contingent and staff personnel working for the UN. 8 These contacts were established throughout the participation that more prone to a closer approximation with the some RESDAL members had in DPKO activities during the years of 2010 and 2011. They include the participation in the formulation of local population, going as far as developing Peacekeeping guidelines for the police and military in 2010, the par- ticipation at a 10th Anniversary of Resolution 1325 in November 2010 friendship ties. and a visit to set the fi eld trip to Haiti in March 2011. 26 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community largely involved in the prevention, treatment lence that has been working and has improved and eradication of SGVB in Haiti. The reasons the security situation for the women and popu- appointed were: lation in general in Haiti. 1. When SGVB cases were reported, it was said Moreover, it was also verifi ed that the dif- that the police and particularly the Haitian ferent contingents have diff erent approaches police had the mandate to investigate and to the problem, although none of them seem to detain criminals; as the police lack capabi- care much about gender issues. While Brazil`s lity and structure most of the detained were batt alion show uniformity in doctrines and released back to the society. actions, emphasizing a closer collaboration 2. When SGVB cases were reported, it was said with the population and constant and osten- that there is a cultural problem in which vio- sive military presence, Uruguayan batt alions lence against women is considered normal, maintain important diff erences in the organi- even by the victims, who seem to 1. Defend zational structure and behavior. Argentina on the perpetrator (many cases occur within the its part seems to have the cultural factor as part family structure, by the father, husband and of the offi cial discourse for the failure or slow other close relatives), 2. Preferred not to re- improvement ,both Chile and Uruguay contin- port, fearing the consequences of further vio- gents are unaware of SGVB cases and do not lence in case they return home, or 3. Didn’t regard the approximation with the population seem to see violence as abnormal and were as an important factor for the success of their unaware of their rights as women. actions. 3. Some of the interviewed contingents would These few observations show the lack of uni- affi rm that no SGVB cases were reported, to formity in actions and procedures that should two diff erent possible conclusions: 1. Diff e- come as a top-down initiative or guideline. rent regions may have more or less cases of Moreover, the absence of Gender focal points SGVB, requiring further research and closer and the lack of knowledge in regard to the exis- contact with local and international NGOs tence of this position (with the exception of Ar- that deal with the problem, 2. Contingents gentina) also show that within MINUSTAH`s may not perceive SGVB cases, requiring fur- structure, the Gender Unit hasn`t been able to ther training in gender approaches. disseminate common policies and training to The last point leads to an important matt er the troops. that was observed in all contingents. Gender It was interesting to come to the conclusion training, both the national pre-deployment as that beyond analyzing the work done by the mi- well as the in locus induction training, is pri- litary component in regard to SGVB, RESDAL´s marily focused on SEA and research project served another end: increasing within the contingents, there is litt le to no train- awareness of SGBV and gender approaches in a ing on sexual and other forms of SGVB and peace operation. their role as military in preventing, treating and Finally, it is important to mention that despite eradicating SGBV. the UN`s urge to incorporate more women in Despite the UN`s guidelines in regard to the fi rst combat lines in order to improve UN`s SGBV, it was observed that no special actions to response to GBV , particularly sexual related on protect women and girls as a vulnerable group the fi eld, the percentage of military women on were implemented by any of the visited contin- the fi eld was of only 2% amongst Latin Ameri- gents. It was said that their ostensive military can troops and 1.4% within the overall military presence was a dissuasion factor to inhibit vio- personnel. 27 Renata Avelar Giannini

MINUSTAH structure peace eff orts in Haiti. Currently, 713 Argentine The military component is under the lea- troops are responsible for the department of dership of the civilian leadership represented Artibonite only a few hours from the capital by the Special Representative of the Secretary Port-au-Prince. Diff erent from those countries General, and the Security and Humanitarian in the capital, the Argentinean batt alion in Ar- Coordinators. The military component is un- tibonite hasn`t confronted the challenges im- der Brazil`s leadership. Each of the military posed by the 2010 earthquake that devastated contingents has an area of responsibility cove- the country. However, due to the characteris- ring all Haitian territory. The most complica- tics of the terrain in which its main base is ted areas are identifi ed within Port-au-Prince located, in Gonaives, it has periodically con- and are mainly under Brazilian responsibility. fronted several humanitarian emergencies due These are also the areas in which more SGBV to fl oods and hurricanes. cases are said to happen. Argentina also has an Aviation Unit lo- cated in Port-au-Prince, which is under MINUSTAH`s command and exercise its func- The countries tion according to the overall mission`s neces- sity being independent form the Argentine ➢ Argentina Batt alion (ARGBATT) in Artibonite. Moreover, Since the beginning of the mission in 2004 Argentina has established a military hospital Argentina has sent batt alions to contribute to in Port-au-Prince, responsible for att ending all

28 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community

UN personnel, including the military, the po- sibility are less accustomed to charity and more lice and civilian components. In the aft ermath willing to improve their life conditions. Also of the earthquake the Argentine hospital was the cooperation with NGOs and other UN hu- the only that remained and so it opened to the manitarian agencies is easier as there are less community and att ended Haitian people and actors and thus less competition. They usually civil society personnel injured. do the security of NGOs that provide aid for Argentina`s Chief of Staff and other high the population in their area and no confl ict ranking offi cials are also based in Port-au- situation was reported by those interviewed. Prince, having participated actively in CIMIC activities in the capital area. In fact, along with the Aviation Unit, the Argentine military in Argentina and SGBV Port-au-Prince has adopted a school located Argentina has carried out important gender within one the biggest IDP camps, helping in policies within its armed forces and has tried the construction of its structure and in the care throughout the years to follow UN`s Resolu- of the children from the area. tions in regard to women peace and security, ARGBATT has a separated and indepen- being an important case to be analyzed and dent company located in the lower zone of Ar- tested. It has been present in MINUSTAH since tibonite Department, in the city of Saint Marc. 2004, and has currently 721 deployed perso- There, there are 157 troops amongst which nnel. some are from the Special Forces. They pro- In regard to SGVB, the Argentine personnel vide security and relief for the Haitian popula- both from Port-au-Prince and from Artibonite tion in the area. area commonly att ributed the problem of vio- Two hours away, in the city of Gonaives, is lence against to cultural issues, the rest of the batt alion, composed of another affi rming that sexuality and family are seen in three companies: one Army infantry company, a diff erent way by Haitian people leading to one Marine infantry company, and one sup- the treatment of SGVB as something “normal” port services company mainly composed of and ordinary. In fact, before going to Haiti, Army personnel. The ARGBATT is said to be troops receive a pre-deployment training that one of the few in Haiti that is a joint batt alion, includes a culture course in which Haitian counting with personnel from the three forces. family structure, their values and customs are Despite a few problems in coordination, the explained to them. integration has been successful as described Most interviewees underlined the important by the batt alion commander. Each of the for- role of women as the center of Haitian society, ces has a pre-deployment training, and aft er a being responsible for the economic support month personnel fulfi lls a joint training in the of the family and the reference for children. Argentine Peace Operation Training Center Reports speak of cases of domestic violence (CAECOPAZ). in which men beat the women for not bring- Because the Argentine batt alion is deployed ing enough money or food to their homes. In outside the capital in a rural area, its challenges regard to sexual violence some have said that are diff erent from those encountered by those sexuality in Haiti is open and people usually deployed in the capital. The interviewed per- have more than one partner, both men and sonnel underlies that as relief and humanitar- women. Sex is something ordinary, nothing ian aid is focused in Port-au-Prince the people special. In some cases, women are victims of in the countryside within their area of respon- sexual violence but don`t denounce as they 29 Renata Avelar Giannini don`t perceive it as a form of violence. ing a National Action Plan for increasing the The cultural dynamics of SGBV was a com- participation of women in the Armed Forces. mon thread pinpointed not only by the Argen- Under the leadership of the civilian Ministry tine personnel but also by almost every other of Defense, gender policies have been imple- contingent. Despite some variation they all re- mented and there is a positive movement to- ferred to the important role of women allied to wards increasing the presence of women in the the paradoxical vulnerable and subjected posi- diff erent levels of each of the forces, including tion they hold. It was also agreed upon that a those of combat. As for now, the incorporation generational change is the only way to improve of women in combat arms is still very recent, the country`s condition in general and to solve and thus there aren`t women offi cers in posi- the SGBV problem in Haiti. tion to participate in peace operations and Although there is a lot of truth in what was those that participate usually come from non- said in regard to Haitian society one cannot combat arms and thus remain largely within att ribute SGBV issues solely to cultural dyna- the base. mics, and cannot possibly defi ne these as nor- It is important to mention, however, that the mal when the existing law of that very same four women interviewed in Saint Marc partici- country frames SGBV as unlawful. Also, one pate actively in the patrols, and in Gonaives cannot ignore that several Haitian groups com- they are used to help in the medical treatment prised of local women actively fi ght against of young girls and women. Occasionally they SGBV, indicating that if there are those who also participate in patrols, especially if a check- might think of SGBV as something normal, point in which women ought to be revised is there is a group within the same society that sett led, as it happened during the 2011 elec- understands it diff erently and thus cannot tions in Haiti. generalize as “a cultural norm”. In an interview with the Argentine military As it was observed in other countries, par- women, it was said that they feel that there is ticularly in Brazil, the presence of the military a closer relationship with the population when was cited as an important factor that inhibits they are present. In fact they participate ac- violence against women by the way of dissua- tively in the civil-military activities organized sion. The soldiers from the infantry companies by their batt alion, being in close contact with that perform daily patrols have indicated that the population, particularly orphan kids. They amongst the most common incidents encoun- have also mentioned that in a school helped tered is that of domestic violence. However, by the ARGBATT, one of the employees has they think that they don`t see any more cases requested Argentine offi cials to allow the fe- not because they do not happen, but because male personnel to go more frequently and talk when Haitian men see the patrols passing by to the young girls about diverse subjects. And they behave well. The offi cial procedure for although the initiative was not implemented all contingents in these cases is to stop the act it shows the important role that women may and immediately call the Haitian police and/or exercise in promoting closer relations with the UNPol so that investigation can proceed. local population and particularly with other An important factor observed within the Ar- women and girls. gentine batt alion is the att empt to follow some Initiatives such as those ought to be in- of UN resolutions in regard to women, peace creased and military women should be more and security. In fact, Argentina has been part of in contact with the population. Up to now, as a pilot project in formulating and implement- this contact is still sporadic, it is not possible 30 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community to assess whether their presence support the Militaire, all of which have been pacifi ed by treatment of SGBV in these areas. Brazilian and other Latin American troops. Brazil`s military actions in Haiti have the support of its civil society and main foreign ➢ Brazil policy branches. In fact the Brazilian Embassy Brazil`s presence in Haiti is an important in Port-au-Prince provides resources and par- part of its foreign policy and one of its main ticipates in several of its CIMIC activities. An pillars in becoming a global player in interna- important Brazilian NGO, Viva Rio also su- tional politics. Since 2004 the country is head pports the CIMIC activities developed by both of MINUSTAH`s military component having batt alions, having its headquarters in Bell-air had more than 14,000 military troops that has it develops several activities with the com- served in Haiti. Currently, Brazil has a total of munity, promoting the reinsertion of young 2185 men in Haiti, 1485 in the Brazilian Batt a- delinquents in the society and contributing to lion I (BRABATT I)9 and 810 soldiers in the Bra- diminishing the criminality rates in the area. zilian Batt alion II (BRABATT II). Despite some marked diff erences between the two batt al- ions, some elements are common in both and Brazil and SGBV usually refer to the bigger picture of Brazil`s In regard to SGBV Brazilian personnel seems strategy in Haiti. to have a diff erent view of the role of the military Brazil´s strategy is based on the prevention in addressing this problem as it was observed and dissuasion of violence through a constant through the interviews. The country is involved and ostensive presence allied to the fulfi llment in carrying out activities that aims to empower of civil-military activities focused on dissemi- Haitian women, cutt ing the cycle of violence that nating a positive image of the country amongst they are subjected to. However, as observed in the population. Brazil`s military presence is the other contingents there aren`t specifi c ac- the most ostensive as shown by the equipment, tions directed towards the prevention of violence the type of vehicles and weaponry used. Also, against women, which is said to be addressed its areas of responsibility are the most complex through its ostensive presence and consequent and volatile encompassing some of the most dissuasion. The focus seems to be providing se- dangerous neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince. curity for the population in general and promot- Brazil`s strategy in Haiti has been the ob- ing the country`s image through its extensive ject of international interest, especially during CIMIC activities and quick impact projects. the periods of 2006/2007 when several areas The ostensive presence of military perso- dominated by gangs and characterized by nnel and Community Violence Reduction high rates of criminality were pacifi ed, allow- (CVR) projects have supported the decline of ing the population to return to their homes and criminality rates and consequently inhibited have the right to move throughout the city. In and dissuaded violence against women in its 2004, when Brazil and MINUSTAH arrived in areas of responsibility. Haiti there were several zones in which they The current Community Violent Reduction could not enter due to the extremely insecure (CVR)10 project developed by both Batt alions is conditions. Some of these areas included the 10 Community Violence Reduction refers to the UN strategy in Hai- neighborhoods of Bell-air, Cité Soleil and Cité ti. During the fi rst years of the mission, UN`s strategy was based on DDR, that is Disarmament demobilization and Reintegration. How- ever, as the security condition improved and gang activity reduced, 9 A marine and an engineer company are part of the Brazilian Batt al- the strategy was changed and is currently focused on reducing vio- ion I accounting for the diff erence in regard to Brazilian Batt alion II. lence through social projects. 31 Renata Avelar Giannini the so called “Clean Block”, has two main sta- of evaluating the impact of these projects in ges. In the fi rst, a “cash for work” program is the reduction of SGBV in Brazil`s area of res- established and the population from the select- ponsibility. It is well known that correct data ed blocks receives money to clean their block. is a rare resource in Haiti, even more regard- In the second stage, those that have cleaned ing SGBV as so many cases remain unreported the block receive materials to paint their hous- and many of those that are reported incur in es and a light pole based on sun energy is built mistaken defi nitions of SGBV lacking a com- on the block, improving thus the appearance mon patt ern of reporting and a joint database. and the security of the areas in which the proj- However, another challenged is imposed by ect was implemented. the lack of awareness regarding sexual and According to a Lieutenant Colonel who has other forms SGVB which results in the absence actively participated during the fi rst time the of researches that evaluate the impact of these “clean block” was implemented, this project valuable projects in regard to this specifi c i- has contributed to provide some income to ssue. the population, as well as to promote clean- It is necessary to remember that these pro- ness and healthier conditions in the blocks, jects have a positive impact in the reduction of additionally, it has embellished the houses SGBV because they were conceived to reduce and fi nally it has promoted security through criminality in general and not violence against the bett er light conditions and engagement of women specifi cally. Consequently, as the ba- population in the project. Currently, there are tt alion themselves evaluate the eff ects of their other seven blocks under the project, four ca- projects, SGBV is not pinpointed and conse- rried out by BRABATT I and three carried out quently the impact of these projects on SGBV by BRABATT II. cannot currently be perceived. As gender gains importance on the UN agen- The same is true in regards to Brazil`s os- da, MINUSTAH has promoted actions to bene- tensive presence to prevent and dissuade vio- fi t women. From August to October 2010, some lence. Since 2004 the security environment in few countries have reported to MINUSTAH`s Haiti has improved a lot inasmuch many argue CIMIC Center some of their actions directed that Haiti no longer needs as many soldiers es- towards empowering women and counted pecially in combat positions. Police and engi- how many of them have been benefi ted. Brazil neers are said to be the most needed in Haiti. was one of them. The interviewed soldiers all agreed that despite These actions are still very basic and consist the existence of disturbances in some areas, of distribution of care kits, diapers, food, po- the constant patrols, the soldier`s posture and table water, the provision of security for NGOs weaponry and vehicles used inhibit violence. involved in the distribution of similar items and For them, this is the basis of the civilian protec- lectures on personal hygiene amongst others. tion mandate, that is, to disseminate imminent However, since then no further gender reports threats and provide a safe environment for the were made and despite the fact that all CIMIC civilian population. activities have been extensively reported and As violence is prevented by Brazil`s constant documented the number of women benefi ted and ostensive military presence, it is said that and actions aiming to empower women are SGBV is also prevented. However, once again, not diff erentiated harming the assessment of the impact of the country`s actions cannot be Brazil`s actions in this area. assessed due to lack of research and data fo- The main challenge, though, remains that cused on the matt er. In this regard, prior to 32 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community the trip the team had received information vehicles to hospitals or allowing local civilians on an initiative in which SGBV cases reported to enter the base in order to get treatment. by Brazilian patrols were feeding a database, Finally, it is important to assess Brazil`s en- however such data could not be assessed dur- gagement with UN`s resolutions regarding ing the fi eld work. It was said the patrols re- Women, Peace and Security that aim to in- ports were sensible and could not be shared, crease women`s presence in complex emergen- remaining thus the problem of the lack of re- cies as a ways to prevent and eradicate SGBV search in this area. in these areas. As opposed to other countries, Another important action was observed in Brazil`s policy of incorporating women in its one of the detachments of BRABATT II, located armed forces is far behind that of other coun- in Bel Air, one of the most complicated areas tries within Latin America. Resolutions 1325 in Haiti in which criminality rates are amongst and 1820 are not well-known amongst the the highest in the country. The First Company members of its armed forces and the participa- of BRABATT II has established a permanent tion of Brazilian women in peace operations is base within this area in order to mark its pre- still very limited. This is a direct refl ection of sence and dissuade violence. The place is also its national policy in which women are still not the base for a Commissariat of the Haitian Na- allowed to join combatant arms in the Army, tional Police and for the UNPol, having both a which composes the absolute majority of Bra- special division to treat SGBV cases. zilian soldiers on the fi eld. In fact out of 2185 In a visit to this base it was said that since Brazilian troops in Haiti, only 17 are women the occupation of the Fort National by Brazilian and all of them remain within the boundaries of troops the population has increasingly sought the military base, being doctors, nurses, trans- medical assistance in the base, some of them lators, etc. Some of the troops interviewed con- regarding SGBV. Both the UNPol and HNP lo- curred that the presence of women in the pa- cated within the Brazilian base referred that the trols could support their work as in many of population trusts Brazilian military and seeks the incidents encountered Haitian women are them out before anyone else. The same is true involved and they believe the approximation for women victims of SGBV. According to the would be easier if there were military women military present in the place the offi cial proce- in direct contact with the population. dure is to treat the women in their clinic and However, the limited presence of Brazilian then report to the UNPol and HNP the SGBV women in the military shows this last point is cases in order to have the police investigation not a consensus and many have also affi rmed done. However, as Haitian police lack capabili- that the population does not distinguish mili- ties, the vast majority of cases remain unsolved tary women and men and that more women and the victim does not obtain justice. would not make a signifi cant diff erence. This illustrates one of the main challenges for the military to act in the prevention and eradi- cation of SGBV. As its mandate and rules of en- ➢ Bolivia gagement (ROE) prescribe, such cases ought to As of 2011, Bolivia has had a company in be reported and followed by the Haitian police Haiti of 208 troops, 18 of which 18 are women, and in its absence by the UNPol, hampering 5 Lieutenants from the Army and 11 civilian a more effi cient action by the military in this incorporated to provide service in the peace area. This has not inhibited the military to per- operation. Bolivia has sent peacekeepers to form actions such as carrying victims in their Haiti since 2006 and from that date on it has 33 Renata Avelar Giannini actively participated in the peace eff orts in that important to notice two important actions that country. Bolivian troops carry out and that may incur a Bolivia`s area of responsibility is not a com- positive impact on the fi eld. plicated area. For that reason, the security inci- Four of the fi ve women that are currently in dents are few. In regard to SGBV, Bolivia, along the Bolivian company in Haiti actively partici- with Brazil, Guatemala, Nepal and Uruguay, pate in the patrols and other activities carried is one of the few countries that have reported out by Bolivian troops in its area of responsi- in September 2010 and May 2011 the number bility in Port-au-Prince. Although we could not of local women benefi ted by its activities and perform interviews with these women, it was social projects, showing concern in strengthen- said that they are allowed to do everything ing this vulnerable group within Haitian socie- that their male counterparts are allowed and ty. It was observed that amongst the visited thus have a close contact with local women countries Bolivia is the only one in which its and children on the fi eld. military women participated periodically in Another important action done by Boli- patrols along with its male counterparts. It is vian troops refer to its CIMIC activities as re- also important to mention that Bolivia has fo- ported in the gender report from May 2011 and llowed MINUSTAH`s CIMIC Center`s guide- which included the distribution of food (milk, lines of preparing a gender report in the year biscuits, cakes), medical and dental care, oral 2010/2011, underlining the number of women hygiene tools and school supplies for women benefi ted by its actions. This submission hasn`t in its area of responsibility. The same kind of been continuous by none of the contingents report was also delivered in September 2010. that have so far submitt ed them, resulting with Nonetheless at that time the number of women the possibility of evaluating the impact of civil benefi ted was not diff erentiated from the men. military activities in empowering women. It would be important to research why Boli- Despite the few number of women in Bo- vian company restarted doing the reports and livian Armed forces, women´s incorporation if the focus on women has a positive impact on dates back to 1979, which means that soon its vulnerable status. there will be female generals in its army. The history of this incorporation is a discontinued one. The fi rst time women were incorporated ➢ Chile in the Army was in 1979, but vacancies for Chile´s Armed forces have been in Haiti women were closed from 1975 to 1997. There since the beginning of the mission in 2004 and aren`t obstacles for the participation of wo- has held the position of Deputy Force Com- men in combat specialties in the Army and Air mander for a couple of times. An aviation unit Force, indicating that in the near future more and an Ecuadorian-Chilean engineer company and more women will be able to participate in stay in Port-au-Prince and a batt alion is located peace operations in positions that allow closer in Cap Haïtien, in the north of the country. contact with the population. The Chilean contingent comprises 510 troops, 7 of which are women. The batt alion in Cap Haïtien is divided in three companies, Bolivia and SGBV being one Infantry of the Army, one of the Ma- The interview with Bolivian troops in Haiti rine and a Service company. Its base is located show that they haven`t encountered SGBV ca- in the city of Cap Haïtien, an area not aff ected ses or haven`t mentioned them. However, it is by the earthquake. The companies are based in 34 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community three diff erent places in the city, not far from have, nor CIMIC activities that may benefi t lo- one another. cal women. It is also important to mention that Most of the incidents encountered by the CHIBATT had 7 women serving, all of them Chilean batt alion (CHIBATT) refer to political fulfi lling support functions. disturbances during the periods of elections. Chile is currently implementing an Action The kind of gang problem encountered in Port- Plan following UN`s resolution 1325 in regard au-Prince doesn`t seem to have been present in to women peace and security amongst its po- the Cap Haïtien; in fact the city (which was the lice and armed forces. Analyzing the role of fi rst capital of Haiti) seems to be much more Chilean women in peace operations and its im- organized and structured, less poor and less pact on SGVB is a fertile fi eld of research and dangerous than the capital Port-au-Prince and should be explored in the near future. the cities of Saint Marc and Gonaïves. How- ever it is also important to notice that Chile`s MOU with the UN include caveats assuring ➢ Uruguay that Chilean troops will not be involved in anti Uruguay´s peacekeepers have been in Haiti drugs operations nor delinquents persecution, since the beginning of the mission in 2004 and among others. have the second largest contingent in MINUS- The current Chilean batt alion seems to be TAH. Currently there are 1109 troops, divided less engaged in CIMIC activities than the other in 2 batt alions, URUBATTI and URUBATTII countries. It was said that these activities are and a Navy company, URUMAR. The Uru- intermitt ent depending on the amount of re- guayan personnel is scatt ered in diff erent pla- sources and availability of the city major to or- ces of Haiti and thus each of its unit has con- ganize them. The Aviation Unit is not involved fronted diff erent challenges. at all in CIMIC activities, being under the URUMAR, for example, has personnel in 4 leadership of the mission and not of Chilean diff erent cities: Gonaïves, Fort Liberté, Jacmel authorities. The engineer company is actively and Port Salut. They are responsible for mari- involved in CIMIC activities in Port-au-Prince. time patrols and own all the vehicles used. This company is also under the leadership of The largest amounts of URUMAR troops are MINUSTAH and is independent from CHI- in Port Salut in the south of the country. The BATT. most serious problem confronted in that area refers to drug traffi cking; 30% of their actions are coordinated with Haitian authorities from Chile and SGBV the HNP and Haitian Cost Guard, while 50% In regard to SGBV, none of the Chilean per- is done with UNPol, indicating an important sonnel in Port-au-Prince complies with func- joint eff ort in the region. tions that would put them in contact with ca- Another URUMAR detachment is located ses, although the CIMIC offi cer (from Ecuador) at Fort Liberté. There, 38 troops help Haitian from the Chilean-Ecuadorian Engineer Com- authorities in the control of the northern bor- pany is well aware of the high number of cases der with Dominican Republic. The most com- in Haiti. The personnel from the CHIBATT, mon incidents reported by patrols relate to il- however, said that they have not encountered legal traffi cking throughout the border which many cases in that region. Diff erent from other includes child and women traffi cking. These contingents they haven`t mentioned the dis- operations are also coordinated with the lo- suasion power its military presence might cal HNP and Haitian Cost Guard as that is the 35 Renata Avelar Giannini only way they are able to detain criminals in vious years and if they are deployed they go custody. aft er them to greet. Uruguayan batt alions I and II present con- Another important feature of Uruguayan siderable diff erences in their organization. contingent is that many of them have been in While URUBATT I is scatt ered in three cities in the Congo prior to working in Haiti. As its well- the South – Miragones, Jeremy and Les Cayes known the mission in Congo comprises a com- -, URUBATT II has a big base widely known pletely diff erent security environment, which as “The farm” in which all of its personnel is is said to be considerably more dangerous. All based. In the later case as they are responsi- Uruguayan troops interviewed that had been ble for supervising 70 Km of a very permeable in Congo relate the mission with great enthusi- border between Dominican Republic and Haiti asm and seem to be extremely frustrated with they have detachments that stay in the area for the Haitian mission in which they seem not to a couple of days patrolling and then return to fi t in as soldiers but as relief workers. the base. In both Uruguayan batt alions CIMIC activi- Besides the organizations diff erences, URU- ties receive a special place, but especially in the BATT II seems to be more rigidly organized, northern one. They have a fi xed weekly sched- the regional diff erences incur considerable dif- ule and everyday they distribute food and wa- ferences in regards to the challenges confron- ter, in small villages, orphanages and schools. ted. While the area of URUBATT I is closer They also provide medical att ention and lec- to the cost and more politicized having small tures about personal hygiene, amongst others. urban centers (it also has a special anti riot It seemed almost contradictory that being in a unit composed of 30 men), the area covered by border area, CIMIC activities seem to be more URUBATT II is a rural one comprised of small important than activities aimed at maintaining villages and a border area. The most common a safe environment. incidents confronted by URUBATT I relate As a matt er of fact, Uruguayan soldiers af- to political disturbances and drug traffi cking, fi rmed in almost all interviews that they have URUBATT II on its part has important cha- no knowledge of SGBV cases whatsoever. It llenges in regard to the border with Dominican is also worth mentioning that in the case of Republic, the deportees that are sent back to URUBATT II despite the constant affi rmations Haiti, illegal movement of people and tumults. in regard the absence of SGBV they cited a lo- . An important feature to underline in regard cal organization that treat women victims of to Uruguayan personnel in general is the vast SGBV and abandoned children, which seemed experience in peace operations. Most of them contradictory. An important analysis would have participated in peace missions before be the assessment of SGBV cases in the area to (some for the third, fourth and even fi ft h time), contrast with military position. sometimes even in the same batt alion incurring in a diff erent way to deal with the problems. The interviews performed with URUBATT II Uruguay and SGBV personnel indicated that 70% had participa- Although Uruguayan troops haven`t re- ted in previous missions and as many of them ported SGBV cases, it was noted that they were had been deployed in the same batt alion they one of the few countries which submitt ed the learned the language and knew the people. It gender reports to MINUSTAH`s CIMIC Center was said that Haitian population sometimes and have an important number of women in its look for specifi c soldiers that had been in pre- batt alion and units. 36 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community

The gender reports were submitt ed by URU- only on Uruguayan troops but also on MINUS- BATT I in September 2010 and May 2011 and TAH in general. indicate that food, water and medical att ention For the debate of SGBV and how troops were provided for several girls and women. As can contribute to addressing it, the case has in the other countries case, there isn`t a conti- added to those that claim that the peacekee- nuity in these reports and thus its impact in pers instead of helping are part of the problem empowering women cannot be assessed. and the population would be bett er off with- Another important feature to be underlined out them. This case has led many to question in regard to Uruguay is the incorporation of the “Uruguayan way” of doing peacekeeping women in its armed forces. Although recent11, that is, having closer contact with the popula- women can join combat arms within all Uru- tion which is also said to be one of the main guayan Armed forces. Although most of the features of success. As a matt er of fact, many interviewed women perform activities with- would refer to the “ Latin American way” of in the base, some have close contact with the peacekeeping as that related to a closer contact population through CIMIC activities. It was with the population that would not incur in a said that they call att ention and population get sexual contact but one in which trustful rela- closer to them. tions could be built. However, a recent case of an alleged sexual Whether the marines have abused and abuse by Uruguayan troops against a Haitian violated the young Haitian boy or not is not young boy in Port Salut has put the eff orts of clear, however it is clear the consequences of Uruguayan troops in jeopardy. A movie which this highly publicized event will have lasting has been circulating in the internet since the consequences for Uruguayan and other peace- beginning of September shows a Haitian boy keeping forces of the UN. lying on the fl oor with arms tied and fi ve Ma- rines surrounding him. The Marines were ac- cused of having humiliated and violated the Conclusions and recommendations boy, however, the ongoing investigation (as MINUSTAH`s military component is con- of October 1st, 2011) has not verifi ed yet if the sidered the most reliable of the security forces rape took place, even it is clear that serious vio- that are currently deployed in Haiti, including lations of UN norm occurred as a local was the UN police and the Haitian Police. How- brought inside the military base. ever, in regard to UN`s gender policies it is the While the population has manifested against component that is least involved with activities the presence of Uruguayan and international that may enhance the empowerment of women troops in general since the event, the Uru- and decrease its vulnerable status. guayan government has acted fast, the marines Although it is true that the military com- were repatriated and are currently confronting ponent for the characteristics of its function is an investigation process. Although one cannot expected to be less involved with these kind ignore the facts, I would like to draw att ention of activities, it was verifi ed that a series of to yet another element, and that related to the policies and guidelines are simply ignored or controversy that resulted from the video ima- unknown for most of interviewees, indicating ges and the resultant negative eff ect it had not that there might also be a problem in the en- 11 Women were allowed to join the Air Force as commissioned of- forcement of UN`s gender policies. As a mat- fi cers in 1997 and the fi rst graduation occurred in 2002. The Navy also fi rst accepted the participation of women in 1997, having the ter of fact with the exception of the Argentine fi rst graduation in 2001. Finally the Army allowed women to be part of that force in 1999 and had its fi rst graduation in 2003. batt alion, no other batt alion was aware of the 37 Renata Avelar Giannini existence of a position entitled, “gender focal have promoted an increased participation point”, for each one of the batt alions and most of military women in peacekeeping opera- of them did not have a designated offi cer com- tions, women are not in the fi rst line and plying with the functions according to the UN thus do not participate in activities such Gender Peacekeeping Guidelines. There isn`t as patrols and checkpoints that have more yet a policy to enforce countries to designate a contact with the population. Usually, also military focal point, nor there are initiatives to due to their functions, they are confi ned to promote coordinated actions amongst them. In the base. One explanation is the fact that the fact, the only country that has a military focal incorporation of women in combat arms is point, Argentina, has because it is an initiative still very recent in Latin America and that of it Ministry of Defense. is why not so many of them are deployed. Due to the characteristics of the peace mis- Also due to the fact that unfortunately it is sion in Haiti and its serious humanitarian con- still the case that in some countries women dition, the military has encompassed some have not made it to these arms and thus humanitarian functions including the imple- no women in such capacities can be sent to mentation of Quick Impact Projects that not peace operations. In any case, the number only supports Violence Reduction programs of military women on the fi eld either inside but also promotes a sustainable development. or outside the military base in Haiti is way It’s within this prism that the military could be behind the ideal and there is no active poli- most helpful in the empowerment of women. cy currently being implemented to change As the military are usually seen as a more reli- this reality. able force in comparison to the police it could have a bett er impact in Haitian society. Some 2. There is no current plan or program designed of the projects that are already taking place to improve military response to SGBV cases. through the leadership of the military com- Moreover, it seems that individual soldiers ponent could be more focused on benefi ting respond to cases in diff erent ways show- women and improving its status in Haitian so- ing that there is knowledge in regard to ciety. UN Peacekeeping Gender guidelines, and a Finally in regard to its main protection func- limited training in the area. tion, the military has accomplished its goal of improving the overall security conditions in 3. The military component, due to its own func- Haiti. Also it has accomplished the goal of im- tions, is not currently involved in improv- proving the security within some particularly ing the conditions of Haitian institutions unsafe places, such as some of the capital`s capabilities to respond to SGBV. However, neighborhoods and the IDP camps. However, if a Haitian Army is to be created as Presi- no action directed towards promoting a safer dent Martelly has announced, the fi rst step environment for women and young girls spe- will be evaluate what is the role that MI- cifi cally were advanced. NUSTAH would play on this regard, and In regard to the UN gender strategy: in the case of be implicated in this process, analyze if the UN components would be 1. The UN`s policy in regard to promoting involved in their training. That clearly will gender balance within the military is clear. represent a complex and a new assignment However, challenges ahead are various. Al- for the current UN mission. though some of the interviewed batt alions 38 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community

The following are recommendations for im- The Police Component proving military action in SGBV: MINUSTAH`s police component has the primary function of mentoring and monitoring - Increase the coordination to promote shar- the Haitian Police, who has the executive man- ing information on SGBV cases amongst all date. It is formed by the Formed Police Units mission components (military, police and (FPU) and the UNPol. Most of them come from civilian) and civil society organizations, lo- African and Asian countries, although Canada cal and international ones. also has an important number of police offi - cers on the fi eld. As of June 28th, MINUSTAH - Promote bett er and longer pre-deployment counted with a total of 3,546 police offi cer, be- and induction trainings that include not ing 3,241 men and 305 women, comprising only SEA but also SGBV in the local popu- 8.6% of the total12. lation and the role of military component in While the UNPol offi cers work independen- protecting women and girls. tly and in accordance to MINUSTAH`s need, the FPUs work and live together similar to a - Promote patrols and activities that aim to military contingent; they have their own bases provide more security to women in dange- and are deployed together. The UNPol offi cers rous areas. are spread along Haitian territory, they usually live in hotels or rented houses and apartments; - Promote CIMIC activities, QIPs and CVR also they don`t work with their compatriots projects that aim to benefi t and empower but with diff erent counterparts that were ap- women. pointed by MINUSTAH. Most of the work to be done in Haiti refers to - Promote increased participation of military policing work and plans to withdraw military women in patrols and CIMIC activities in troops are starting to be discussed. However, which they would have more contact with member countries contributing to the police the population, supporting the approxima- component are very limited and insuffi cient tion of women and possibly increasing de- particularly when compared to military contri- nounces of SGBV cases and improving its butions. Because their presence is limited and treatment. despite the considerable diff erences between military and police personnel, by the end of the The last point refers to the delicate issue of day, it is the military that end up complying cases of sexual abuses of the troops. As it was with some of the police functions. Some activi- mentioned there are several reported cases in ties are performed as joint operations in which which UN blue helmets are accused of abus- the UN police, the HNP and the military work ing minors, contributing to prostitution and together. Many of the foot and vehicle patrols even raping local women. Although UN policy are also joint tasks, as due to the military man- of zero tolerance is widely approached in the date, some activities as imprisoning criminals trainings, it lacks a serious monitoring entity can only be performed by the police. to ensure that UN policy is followed including the unspoken issue of the use of prostitution The UNPol linked to peace operations. The UNPol is currently composed by 1,251

12 Data obtained at MINUSTAH`s Information Center on June 29th, 2010. 39 Renata Avelar Giannini police offi cers, of those 119 are women, com- search some Brazilian and Argentine police of- prising around 10.5% of the whole UNPol per- fi cers were also interviewed as well as a group sonnel, but still behind the 20% goal launched of 6 Norwegian offi cers who are implementing by the UN.13 The police component`s main a specifi c project about SGBV in Haiti. challenge is the lack of personnel, diff erentiat- The Canadians occupy important positions ed training and the language barrier. Because within the Police component. From all inter- MINUSTAH requires either French or English viewed they seemed to be the ones most aware as language requirements there are those who of the SGBV problem in Haiti. They also cumu- speak English, those that speak French and late extensive experience with SGBV cases due those that really don`t speak anything making to the functions they perform in their home communication very diffi cult. country. The Norwegian offi cers on their part Despite the limited induction training re- confronted several challenges to implement ceived when the police offi cers arrive in the the project they were appointed to. Specifi ca- mission, their background and previous train- lly, this project envisions fi rst to professional- ing diff ers considerably. Some countries do not ize the HNP in the prevention and eradication have specialized training for police offi cers to of SGBV and second to promote gender main- be deployed in peace operations, while those streaming policies. that do have may receive diff erentiated train- The tasks and work performed by each in- ing. Particularly, in regard to gender perspec- dividual UNPol diff ers considerably. Depend- tives, that leads to a major problem regard- ing on their position they would have more or ing the standardization of procedures and less contact with SGBV cases. The IDP camps approaches as cultural diff erences amongst represent major challenges for police work UNPol personnel lead to diff erentiated way of and specifi cally regarding SGBV (since the dealing with SGBV cases. earthquake in January 2010 millions were dis- To this one should add the fact that UN`s placed and still live in IDP camps, in fact 2 mi- police is a civilian police, however several llion Inhabitants were forced to abandon their countries send militarized police, like Brazil or homes.14 Some IDP camps in Haiti are gigantic Guatemala. These police offi cers have military with more than 50,000 people). The increasing rank and are used to hierarchies. On the fi eld, insecurity led to the creation of a UNPol IDP however, ranks do not exist, and as it happens Unit to organize projects as well as organize sometimes the head of a police station has a police patrolling and HNP training within the lower military rank than its subordinate, lead- camps. There are currently 200 permanent UN- ing to personal frustration and other practi- Pol units in the camps. cal problem. In an anonymous interview, two These interviews have once again empha- UNPol offi cers poured out “Not only rank is ig- sized the “cultural stigma”, corresponding to nored, your previous experience and background as the cultural characteristics and family struc- well. In the end you end up with a high experienced ture of Haitian society favors the recurrence Colonel working on a database sitt ing on a desk the of SGBV. Specifi cally, the necessity of raising whole day and an inexperienced police offi cer as awareness amongst Haitian women regarding head of a police station. It is all about politics.” SGBV and the need to denounce cases is high- Several UNPol, particularly Canadians, lighted. In order to do so, an upcoming project working at UN headquarter in Haiti were in- 14 International Amnesty, “Aft ershocks: Women speak out against terviewed. However due to the focus of this re- sexual violence in Haiti`s camps”, January 6th , 2011. Available at: htt p://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/haiti-sexual- 13 Ibid violence-against-women-increasing-2011-01-06 . Access: 10/01/2011. 40 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community will focus on improving gender training and being an important part of a well-functioning increasing the gender unit presence within society. Moreover, besides the well-known ar- the camps, so that a closer approximation and gument of supporting the approximation bet- collaboration with the Haitian women is en- ween the UN and the population, it is also em- hanced. phasized that increasing the number of women peacekeeper has an important practical result in dealing with SGBV. First, it can enhance re- Bangladesh`s female FPU porting by facilitating the contact between lo- The creation of entire FPUs with only wo- cal woman and women peacekeeper, and se- men police offi cers has been the most impres- cond it creates a deterrent eff ect against male sive breakthroughs since the UN has started peacekeepers sex-related misconduct. urging states to increase the number of women In an interview with the fi rst Bangladesh amongst military and police troops. The fi rst female FPU only one week before their depar- female FPU was sent by India in 2006 to serve ture it was learned that in fact, the unit was in Liberia15. At that time, the initiative was formed by female police offi cers from diff er- hailed by the UN and interpreted as a power- rent backgrounds and specialties, also coming ful message to contributing countries. from diff erent regions. The offi cers themselves Since 2006, another country has joined India informed our research team that it is an enor- in making history within the UN`s gender ba- mous challenge to work as a unit when origi- lance objective. In June 2010, Bangladesh`s fi rst nally they didn`t even know each other and all-women FPU arrived in the quake-ravaged have complete diff erent experiences. country of Haiti16. The initiative was more than Originally, the FPUs were conceived as a welcomed not only because it is an important backup and support the UN Police component push towards UN goal of achieving the 20% that is lightly armed. Before being deployed, of women personnel by 2014, but also because MINUSTAH`s spokesperson Fred Blaise said Bangladesh was the fi rst Muslim country to Bangladesh`s female FPU would work within send a whole unit of women to serve on their one of the IDP camps and being responsible own in a post disaster zone to ensure peace for crowd control, disturbances and other reg- and support reconstruction eff orts. ular duties, as their male counterparts. How- At the moment the Bangladesh´s contribu- ever, several of the interviewed UN personnel, tion with FPU to MINUSTAH rise to a total of both military and civilian, including the Police 479 police personnel, being 356 men and 123 Commissioner have said that since they ar- women (Female Formed Police Unit).17 rived, their functions were limited to guarding The presence of uniformed women has UN facilities, having thus very limited contact served as a vital example of women`s empower- with the population. Over time, though, they ment for the local population. Being half of the started to leave their base more frequently, population composed of women, the presence including patrolling the IDP camps. It was of female offi cers reinforce the idea of women surprising to verify that there is a consensus amongst MINUSTAH`s community regarding 15 UN News Center, UN hails decision by India to send 125 female police offi cer for peacekeeping, 2006. Available at: htt p://www.un.org/ the limited use of Bangladesh`s female FPU. apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=19696&Cr=Liberia&Cr1 . Access: 08/20/2011. The visit to their base was one of the most 16 Razzak Razza, “Bangladesh police in Haiti”, Blitz, May, 26th, interesting and allowed us to see at fi rst-hand 2010. Available at: htt p://www.weeklyblitz.net/755/bangladesh-po- lice-in-haiti . Access: 08/20/2011. how culture infl uences the way female po- 17 Available on: htt p://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/contribu- tors/2011/oct11_5.pdf. Access: 12/01/2011 lice personnel works. They received us with a 41 Renata Avelar Giannini friendly and openly manners and shared with of light and limited policing facilitates the per- us their vision regarding the challenges to ad- petration of SGBV crimes. dress SGBV situations and encourage local Because the UNPol does not have an execu- women within a country in which there was a tive mandate, but a mentoring and monitoring lack of values and absent family structure. one, police offi cers use to believe their role is A female commander leads the whole fe- very limited as HNP is supposed to have the male FPU and she is also the one in charge of mandate to actually act. This interpretation the disciplinary aspects. The contact with the leads to a malfunctioning of the public security local population is a matt er of evaluation as system in Haiti. well, not only regarding assistance actions but UNPol has realized this problem and is also on regard on the internal discipline relat- launching a new plan of action in which the ed with leisure outside the base. mentoring mandate is explained as support- Most of them are mothers of litt le children, ing the role of HNP, but also forcing them to recognizing, several times, that the support do what they are supposed to do, showing of their families back home is vital in order to how things should be done. In that way, HNP let them do their duty with their mind calm. would model the UNPol and copy procedures However, they feel awful with the impossibil- increasing its professionalization and capacity ity of helping the Haitian children they see in to work. front of the Bangladeshi base. HNP`s capacity to address SGBV is very limited. Currently there is a new project imple- mented by the American Embassy that aims to UN Police and SGBV train 50 HNP female offi cers in gender issues. In spite of the growing problems confronted That is indeed a pressing need. There is only by UN`s police component, it is noteworthy, one police station in the whole Haiti special- that contrary to what was verifi ed amongst ized in gender located within one of the Brazi- some of the military con- lian military bases, with 11 “I was in the police station at the IDP camp when a tingents, police offi cers mother comes in holding her two-year-old daughter. offi cers trained in gender recognize the existence She seems desperate and says that her 15-year-old issues. They do not have of SGBV in Haiti and ex- cousin had raped the litt le girl. The mother told us that enough facilities to prop- perience daily cases. For she surprised the naked boy on top of the baby girl and erly att end the victims that reason, there is an that he left running when she arrived. In the mean- and capabilities to follow UNPol Gender Adviser while, the boy`s family comes in and bring the boy, as up on cases; victims use when the population heard about the crime surrounded and a Gender Adviser to come to them because their house and wanted to take justice in their own for the Police IDP Camps hands. To protect the boy the family turned him in. in fact they look for medi- Unit. The later was cre- Then, there was this bizarre view in which the victim`s cal treatment with the ated aft er the problem of mother, the victim, the perpetrator and his family were Brazilian military. widespread sexual viola- all together in this litt le room, while the crowd was still HNP`s challenges in tions in IDP camps was outside the police station. There was sperm on the litt le addressing SGBV is not made public by some civ- girl`s tummy so we took her to the MSF hospital. There limited to the training they said that luckily she hasn`t been violated, but was il society organizations, and lack of personnel. sexually abused. When things like that happen, you such as the International feel complete despair. How come? A two-year-old baby There isn`t police offi cers Amnesty and Madres. girl…” trained in forensics that It was said that security could provide victims conditions, such as lack (UNPol stationed at an IDP camp in Haiti) with the proof or evi- 42 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community dence of SGBV cases. This is a problem UNPol more Haitian women in its national police is trying to solve and currently a program of could be enhanced by the UN police. forensic training is being implemented within the Haitian police. 2. MINUSTAH`s police component has shown Due to the critical reporting problem, there important improvement in regard to gen- is also an ongoing initiative to create a SGBV der balance. Although it still lacks female database that standardize the reporting sys- personnel in primary lines of actions, pre- tem and share information with the whole UN sence of women in the police component system within MINUSTAH. It is an important is signifi cantly higher than in the military. initiative and it will allow the establishment However, the percentage of police women of patt erns of SGBV cases in diff erent places in MINUSTAH is still behind the 10% goal. throughout time. 3. MINUSTAH is doing reasonably well in re- gard to improving its own police capabili- Conclusions and Recommendations: ties to bett er respond SGBV cases. Not only The daily police work leads to a closer con- new gender sensitive SOPs have just been tact with the population and an increased launched, but fi eld training aiming to rein- awareness regarding the existence of SGBV force awareness and response capabilities cases in Haiti. Police offi cers in general are are thought to be established. Moreover, it aware of the situation and have an adequate is important to notice that despite the cur- view of the problem. However, as in the case rent poor infra-structure and conditions to of the military contingent, their mandate was receive victims of SGBV in police stations, considered by almost all interviewed as a seri- the UNPol, aware of its debilities, is at- ous obstacle to properly addressing SGBV. tempting to improve response, by increas- The way UN`s police component is orga- ing the number of gender specialized units nized also means additional challenges: dif- to improve presence on the fi eld, particu- ferent cultures are refl ected in the way SGBV larly within IDP camps where the security is understood and the diff erent forms of ap- situation poses the biggest challenges. proaching and dealing with the problem. More- over, diff erent from the military contingents, 4. Interviews have shown that police offi cers the police component tends to work in envi- in general have not properly understood ronments that are culturally mixed, increasing UN`s police mandate and place it as an obs- the trans-cultural clashes amongst police offi - tacle to improve Haiti`s security situation. cers and hampering a joint work. The same is true in regard to SGBV. The In regard to the UN`s four basic strategic practical meaning of mentoring and moni- goals to enhance its actions in the treatment of toring should be clarifi ed so that police of- SGBV, the UN police: fi cers would actively promote a HNP bett er response in training and in daily activities 1. Due to its main functions, the police is not rather than blaming it for lack of response. involved with activities to enhance the pres- Moreover, police offi cers should be encour- ence of Haitian women in the political, eco- aged to follow SGBV cases, to make sure nomical and social life of Haitian society. that justice has been sought by victims, only However, due to the UNPol`s role in training this way the injustice cycle is broken and and mentoring the HNP action to include victim`s rehabilitation can take place. 43 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community

THE CIVIL SOCIETY

nalyzing the work of international ac- it was designed to coordinate actions amongst tors and MINUSTAH in particular in all actors on the ground, such as NGOs, inter Aregard to SGBV in Haiti cannot exclude governmental organizations, UN agencies, the civil society as an important player in the fi eld. military and the police components amongst The interviews with some of the countless civil others. The JOTC receive daily requests from society organizations in Haiti had expected and the diff erent actors and coordinate actions unexpected results. The expected outcomes amongst them, including joint CIMIC activities are related to the continuous clashes between between civilian and military actors as well as the military and the humanitarian communi- the escort and protection by the military and ties, illustrated by the refusal of some NGO`s police of humanitarian convoys. The military to work with anything related to MINUSTAH, engineering units are also requested in order going even far as to forbidding its employees to provide construction services to a varied of of having any personal relation with MINUS- actors. TAH personnel. An unexpected and surpris- The JOTC is a vivid example of the endless ing outcome was the verifi cation that despite possibilities of cooperation between the mili- the humanitarian space debate there is a grow- tary and humanitarian communities. They are ing cooperation amongst the civilians and the not only responsible for tasking joint and co- military, particularly in regard to humanita- operative actions, but are also formed by repre- rian activities and protection. sentatives of diff erent components, such as the As explained earlier, MINUSTAH`s struc- military, the police, the engineering companies, ture is a particular one. Being one of the few the UN Offi ce for the Coordination of Humani- offi cially mandated as an integrated UN peace tarian Activities (OCHA) and other liaison rep- mission, its structure is designed in such a way resentatives from several UN agencies. that all components, civilian, military and po- Despite the success of some actions and the lice work closely together in a variety of issues. will to cooperate showed by some NGOs, there As a matt er of fact, the Joint Operations Task are several organizations that work indepen- Force (JOTC) is a unique body, created in Janu- dently and aside from the UN system. Concerns ary of 2010 just a few days aft er the earthquake, in regard to the maintenance of its neutral and

45 Renata Avelar Giannini impartial status have led them to isolate them- so we can come back. They want us there.”18 selves, sometimes even avoiding coordinate ac- MSF provides medical services to whom- tions with other civil society organizations that ever searches for it, independent of the charac- can be anyhow related to MINUSTAH. The lack ter of the victim, whether it is a gang member of coordination is one of the leading problems or innocent Haitian civilians. That is the base in Haiti, which promotes activities that may end of their neutrality and impartiality status and in the duplication of resources and low informa- what ultimately contribute to their personnel tion sharing. Another identifi ed problem is the and facilities security. It is forbidden to enter lack of interaction with Haitian community and any MSF facility with any type of arms or se- local groups which would allow a bett er assess- curity agents. ment of the population`s most pressing needs. On the other hand, other organizations such The character of the interviewed NGOs was as Avocats sans Frontièrs (ASF) work with pri- diverse, varying from independent and isolated vate security agents to provide their own securi- NGOs such as AVSI, to those that work closely ty. In fact, private security is a growing business together with the military on several grounds, in Haiti and it is widely used by several NGOs such as World Vision and the Brazilian NGO on the ground. Others request MINUSTAH`s Viva Rio. Others are in between this spectrum, protection, and the police and military are sent such as Doctors without Borders (MSF), which out to escort some particular activity or even to despite being completely unrelated to MINUS- protect the organization`s facilities, as World TAH, maintain coordinated actions with other Vision has done several times. civil society organizations and have more than However, there are still those that work in co- once provided services for victims brought by operation with the military and develop joint ac- MINUSTAH`s components. Along the same tivities as a ways to bett er att end the local popu- lines is the Red Cross who disassociates its ac- lation. One of these organizations is the Brazilian tions from any of those implemented by MI- NGO Viva Rio, whose activities resemble those NUSTAH; however it coordinates its actions implemented in Brazilian slums. Viva Rio has with other UN agencies and NGOs, att empting brought the community development approach to avoid duplication of eff orts. implemented in the slums of Rio and adapted to Of all international NGO interviewed, MSF the poor and peacekeeping reality of Haiti and and the Red Cross were the most organized ones since 2004 it has been trying to replicate the posi- with diff erent locations all over Haiti intended tive results. to bett er att end the community. Particularly in Its main areas of action and expertise are regard to MSF they provide free medical servi- that of reducing armed violence through so- ces in diff erent neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince cial and cultural activities, such as the hip hop as well as in other Haitian cities, including in and capoeira groups that target young people, some red zones, considered dangerous by the as well as the empowerment of women and military. When asked about their security the youth groups. The NGO is established in a or- response was “We provide service for the commu- ange zone, that not so long ago was considered nity and it is their interest that we stay unharmed by MINUSTAH`s offi cial as a red one and has so we can perform our job. However if the security accomplished peace agreement between rival situation becomes extreme, then we have to leave. It groups through confl ict mediation. Besides the happened before, but the good part is that the com- mentioned activities, Viva Rio also has a func- munity att empts to improve the security of the zone 18 Excerpt obtained from an interview with a MSF representative on June, 26th, 2011. 46 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community tioning school and a clinic with a pilot project in how the number of reported rape cases had the treatment of cholera. increased dramatically aft er the earthquake. Nonetheless it is surprising to note the level As discussed earlier, data regarding SGBV is of integration it has achieved with the Brazilian generally considered a problematic one, not military component which is located in the same only because each organization has its own area. In fact, the NGO takes advantage of the way of reporting (having thus diff erent con- military expertise, and had several young Hai- ceptual framework to defi ne what is SGBV), tians trained by the Brazilian batt alions in fi rst but also because the increase in reported cas- aid response in case of disasters as well as in es does not necessarily mean there has been confl ict mediation. The batt alions, on their part, an increase in the number of cases. develop several social projects with the NGOs, That is the position adopted by almost all or- such as the Clean Block project, amongst o- ganizations that were interviewed. MSF in par- thers, and the partnership is considered to have ticular was emphatic, arguing that publishing an important impact in the social and security SGBV data is controversial as it makes offi cial a status of the targeted neighborhood. number that may not be actual, leading to mis- interpretations. Civil Society and SGBV MSF basically deals with the medical treat- The several reports regarding the reality of ment and psychological follow-up of victims. Haitian women, has placed the issue as a top The treatment is of course free and some of its priority for grants. While some would think medical centers are specifi cally established to that there is an exaggeration and that SGBV is treat victims of all types of GBV. Most organi- an external issue that has been exported to Hai- zations though are dedicated to advocacy as a ti, others fi rmly reaffi rm the inferior status of ways of calling att ention to the GBV problem, women in Haitian society, one that ends up be- such as many of the several Haitian organiza- ing refl ected in the recurrence of GBV particu- tions dedicated to the matt er, such as SOFA, larly within the family structure. KAYFAMN and MOUPHED. These organiza- It is defi nitely true that most NGOs were tions are also engaged in accompanying victims emphatic in condemning women`s conditions to medical centers where they can get a medical and the situation of violence they are confront certifi cate verifying they have been abused as in Haiti. However, there are some important well as to police station so that they can seek diff erences in regard to what they consider the justice. nature of the problem and how they approach However, it is not that easy. Concertation the issue. Nationale (a platform formed by NGOs, UN In 2010, the International Amnesty in part- agencies and Haitian Ministries) have empha- nership with Madres released a report “Aft er- sized that the main challenge is to break the shocks: Women speak out against sexual violence in injustice cycle. In order to be able to seek jus- Haiti’s camps”19 which emphasized the vulner- tice, women need to go to specialized medical able condition of women within IDP camps, center that are able to provide them with the going even so far as calling the situation of certifi cate that att est they have been abused or rape as an epidemic. The report also con- violated. The main problem is that there aren`t tained important sensible data that showed many of these centers, consequently women end up not pursuing justice due to long dis- 19 International Amnesty, “Aft ershocks: Women speak out against sexual violence in Haiti`s camps”, January 6th, 2011. Available at: tance and lack of transportation to centers or Htt p://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/haiti-sexual- violence-against-women-increasing-2011-01-06 . Access: 10/01/2011. even due to fi nancial reasons as some of these 47 Renata Avelar Giannini centers end up charging for the service. and the reporting system, amongst others. Even if they do manage to obtain the certifi - There is another important diff erence cate they will have a hard time fi ling a formal though, noted particularly amongst Haitian complaint on the aggressor as the Haitian po- organizations and those strongly fi rmed on lice is under-prepared in terms of both person- neutrality and impartiality principles. These nel capability, in addition to the insuffi cient organizations tend to put MINUSTAH, partic- structures and facilities available for prosecut- ularly the thousands of men from the military ing criminals. The Justice system is also fragile and police components, as part of the problem. and in many cases, fi nancial arrangements are Many organizations claim that peacekeep- sett led instead of using legal justice, which may ers tend to maintain sexual contact with local not be the best solution for victims. women; many of them are underage and pro- ASF has been working on this latt er issue. Al- vide sex in exchange for food or money. There though they have only recently started dealing are also those that have allegedly reported vio- with SGVB victims, they perform an important lations committ ed by peacekeepers against the job in improving Haiti`s Justice system and pro- local population. viding legal defense lawyers for free. We were It is certainly true that there are a number of informed that it was only recently that they cases in which peacekeepers have crossed the started dealing with victims, as previously they lines and abused, violated or perpetuated pros- mostly dealt with the perpetrators. The reason titution practices with locals. These are hideous is a paradoxical one: once women do manage to acts and ought to be fi rmly condemned. How- fi le formal complaints, it is possible that the per- ever, it is also necessary to carefully examine the petrator becomes a victim of the system, being facts and separate those that have abused their thrown in prisons without judgment or mini- peacekeeper status from those that have off ered mum humane conditions. their support to reconstruct the country. In the As it can be observed from the few examples current situation and on the heat of the debate above, the NGO world is a varied one, ranging it is hard to disagree with the horrifi c nature of from those dedicated to taking victims to medi- these acts, however, one ought also to keep in cal centers to those that perform an important mind a strategic framework of all involved ac- advocacy job to advance women`s rights in Hai- tors and consider who might be benefi ting from ti. However, clashes and divergences amongst negative reputation that such accusations cause these organizations were also observed, which for the image and work of the UN. impairs any att empt for joint action. These later paragraphs do not intend to free These divergences are mainly the result of or defend peacekeepers from the hideous acts a competing agenda and thus competing re- that some of them have committ ed but to add sources. Consequently some organizations end critical and constructive thought to the analysis up playing against one another in their search of the complicated issue of sexual gender based for funds. That is a normal consequence of the violence and other types of violence committ ed current fund-raising scenario that most NGOs against the local population. One conclusion are subjected to. However, as briefl y described, is certain, that a more careful selection process they also disagree in some conceptual instances and training procedure is essential for peace- such as the nature of the SGVB problem in Haiti keepers.

48 Final Report Field work in Haiti / In the crossroads: Haiti, MINUSTAH and the international community

CONCLUSION

his report has not only att empted to keeping operations - the UN is still in need of show how diff erent actors on the fi eld extra resources20. In most cases, member coun- Tdeal with sexual violence, but also how try contributions do not reach the approved they relate with each other to promote coordi- budget and military strength, posing yet an- nated actions on the fi eld. In light of the UN´s other challenge to the enforcement of minimum new focus on gender, peace and security, most standards. of the interviewees, particularly within MINUS- Despite these shortcomings, a lot has been TAH, are still behind in achieving these goals, accomplished. Since 2000, the organization has and few coordinated actions have taken place approved a series of resolutions that att empt to up to now. However, despite the availability of promote gender balance in intervening and in- the UN`s gender policies and limited training tervened societies and to implement measures in gender and SGBV for the security and mili- to improve the UN`s capacity to address wo- tary forces, there is a lack of pro-active policies men and girls vulnerability in order to respond coming from the UN to enforce its policies and to sexual violence in confl ict and post confl ict guarantee minimum standards, particularly for situations. Guidelines, workshops and limited the police and military components. It was in- training are also provided; furthermore, a new teresting to come to the conclusion that beyond UN agency dedicated to the matt er was created analyzing the work done by the military compo- to address these issues. UN-Women is a brand- nent in regard to SGVB, the RESDAL research new UN invention and despite the current urge mission served another end- that of increasing for more fi nancial resources, the agency is cen- awareness of SGBV and gender approaches in a tralizing all gender issues and att empting to peace operation. promote transversal gender approaches in dif- It is hard to identify who the culprit may be. ferent areas. The UN, as an international organization, de- Nonetheless, centralizing eff orts should not pends on the member countries to be able to ac- result in independent actions. The fact of the complish its goals. In the current scenario - in matt er is that a number of organizations on the which more than 98,000 uniformed personnel are deployed throughout 16 diff erent peace- 20 Available at: htt p://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/resources/sta- tistics/factsheet.shtml. Access on: 10/01/2011 49 Renata Avelar Giannini

fi eld, being part of the UN or not, fi ght over to surpass accomplishments and oft en the inter- scarce resources leading to competitive patt erns national community fi nds itself at a crossroads. of behavior that undermine joint and coordina- While millions of dollars have not managed to ted actions. In the absence of coordination, one improve the overall situation, there is a real risk holistic approach cannot be implemented and of aid dependency, while the government is still resources are wasted. weak and the population develops growing anti There is still a need for a top-down initiative sentiment and requests foreigners to leave. that would combine all UN eff orts including the It is in these kinds of situations that sexual military, the police and the civilian component. violence and other forms of gender based vio- While the military and the police lack adequate lence take its worst form. It is perpetuated by training in gender and further clarifi cation re- a system of impunity and on a limited cultural garding their mandates, the civilians ought to consideration that is used as a justifi cation for have a more centralized agenda, possibly in the these hideous acts, seen as normal in certain so- hands of the high-rank civilians as a way to be- cieties. A key problem is that many of those ac- tt er coordinate actions and promote more holis- tors responsible for addressing, preventing and tic approaches. responding to SGBV end up accepting this ar- The same is true for civil society organiza- gument that is at odds with the average human tions. Although it is not possible to interfere in being´s sense of morality. what all of them have been doing, an assess- Consequently, not only must actions be de- ment of their areas of responsibility and main signed to promote women´s empowerment and actions should be made available and constan- increase their security. There is also a need to tly updated. raise awareness regarding culture, gender and In places like Haiti, the Democratic Republic of sexual violence, so that the boundaries between Congo and others contexts characterized by con- them are drawn and culture is not used to jus- fl ict or post confl ict situations, challenges seem tify ineffi cient policies and lack of concern.

50 SOURCES

• International Amnesty, “Aft ershocks: Women speak out against sexual violence in Haiti`s camps”, January 6th, 2011. Available at: Htt p://www.am- nesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/haiti-sexual-violence-against-wom- en-increasing-2011-01-06 . Access: 10/01/2011.

• Pratt , Marion and Werchick, Leah. Sexual Terrorism: Rape as a Weapon of War in EasternDemocratic Republic of Congo: An assessment of programmatic responses to sexual violence inNorth Kivu, South Kivu, Maniema, and Orientale Provinces. USAID, 2004

• Razzak Razza, “Bangladesh police in Haiti”, Blitz, May, 26th, 2010. Avail- able at: Htt p://www.weeklyblitz.net/755/bangladesh-police-in-haiti. Access: 08/20/2011.

• RESDAL, Newslett er: Observatorio de la Mujer en Operaciones de Paz, Buenos Aires: RESDAL, August 2011. Available at: Htt p://www.un.org/en/peace- keeping/missions/minustah/facts.shtml. Access on: 09/19/2011.

• UN OCHA Research Meeting, “Use of Sexual Violence in armed confl icts: Indentifying gaps in Research to inform more eff ective interventions”, June 26th, 2008.

• UN News Center, UN hails decision by India to send 125 female police offi - cer for peacekeeping, 2006. Available at: Htt p://www.un.org/apps/news/story. asp?NewsID=19696&Cr=Liberia&Cr1 . Access: 08/20/2011.

• UN, Resolution 1325, Security Council 2000.

• UN, Resolution 1820, Security Council 2008

• UN, Resolution 1888, Security Council 2009.

• UN, Resolution 1889, Security Council 2009.

• UN, Resolution 1960, Security Council 2010.