Five years after Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake, many Haitians feel international efforts to help the country recover from the disaster failed to meet their goals, particularly local ownership of development gains.
One of these critics is journalist and public relations consultant Gotson Pierre, whose advice to the global development community is precisely to “go local” and involve the population in all aid programs.
Devex caught up with Pierre during his recent visit to Brussels, where the reporter — named one of last year’s 100 “information heroes” by the media freedom organization Reporters Without Borders for his post-disaster work — was invited by Coordination Europe-Haiti, a coalition of 15 European nongovernmental organizations that advocates increased involvement in support of good governance and civil society in Haiti, to discuss the results of Europe’s aid involvement in the country with European Union officials.