Right to Water in Haiti

Several years ago, the RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law, Partners In Health and Zanmi Lasante began a unique collaboration to investigate the role of the United States in blocking loans to Haiti from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) which were slated to improve water and sanitation. The collaboration united experts in human rights, law, public health and healthcare and consisted of FOIA requests, exhaustive legal and document reviews, a public health study in one of the communities scheduled to receive a loan, and culminated in the release of a report documenting the connections between health, water and human rights in Haiti. The findings from this report include conclusive evidence that U.S. interference in the release of the IDB loans led to reduced access to clean water by citizens in Haiti and a clear violation of Haitians' human rights. In addition, the public health study confirms reduced access to water leading to poor health outcomes. Results from the investigation and study will be presented and highlight how high-level political obstruction results in disease and suffering of those persons whose rights should be protected by donor governments and international financial institutions. In addition, the unique human rights and public health approach will be described and updated to reflect current activities to improve access to water in Haiti.