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MINUSTAH: The Earthquake In Haiti

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The murder of bystanders, sexual abuse, the spread of a deadly, infectious disease; These are all things MINUSTAH has been accused of. All of which have led the Haitian populace to distrust the UN mission. If MINUSTAH has any hope of leaving a positive footprint in Haiti, these concerns must be addressed.
On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck about 16 miles west of Port Au-prince. In its wake, hundreds of thousands of building were destroyed, at least 50,000 people were killed and at least 1.5 million people were displaced. In response, the U.S. sent 16,000 military personnel to help with the aid delivery process and other actors from the international community, including nonprofits, nation-states, and inter-governmental organizations …show more content…

In October 2014, Nepalese U.N. soldiers stationed 45 miles north of Port Au-Prince were indirectly responsible for causing an outbreak of an infectious and deadly disease by not disposing of waste in a sufficiently sanitary manner. The U.N. made sure they disposed their waste far away enough to meet international regulations but they did not take notice that the area where they disposed their waste was prone to flooding into a major river. Locals would bath, drink and wash their food from this contaminated river. Over 9,000 Haitians have died from Cholera as a result of U.N. negligence and over 10 million have contracted the disease. Needless to say, the Cholera outbreak crippled an already devastated country and once locals learned MINUSTAH was involved, trust in their operational capacity …show more content…

has yet to make any significant improvement to the Haitian system of governance. From 2012 through 2014, Haiti was perceived as the most corrupt government in the Western Hemisphere according to data from Transparency International. Moreover, according to data from the World Bank’s Worldwide Government Indicators, Haiti has consistently scored in the bottom tenth percentile in rule of law, government effectiveness and control of corruption scores. In order for Haiti to become a stable government, anti-corruption measures must be taken. Moreover, their system of governance needs institutional changes. If Haitians continue to think that their political system is zero-sum, political violence is likely to

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