Port-au-Prince, Haiti: living and working in chaos?
Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, Pascale Solages , Arnaud Dandoy & Sarah Chateau
est le directeur du programme Haïti au sein de l'organisation non-gouvernementale Global Initiative (GI-TOC). Il est également docteur en science politique de l'Université Paris-1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
est co-fondatrice et coordonnatrice générale de l'organisation féministe Nègès Mawon.
est co-directeur du Centre de recherche et d’échange sur la sécurité et la justice (CRESEJ), et actuellement responsable de la recherche et de la gestion des connaissances chez Avocats sans frontières. Il est docteur en criminologie (Université de Kent, Royaume-Uni)
est responsable opérationnelle MSF pour Haïti.
The Crash team was pleased to invite you to a conference-round table on Thursday February 6, with Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, Arnaud Dandoy, Pascale Solages and Sarah Chateau (MSF). This meeting was prepared and moderated by Judith Soussan.
Year after year, the situation in Haiti is described with the same words: “dramatic”, “worsening”, again and again. The grip of gangs on Port-au-Prince is now almost complete. In these areas, massive kidnappings, extortion, sexual violence, attacks, and violent confrontations with the police and citizen self-defense groups—often resulting in atrocities on both sides—are daily occurrences. Insecurity, which has become the norm, permeates every aspect of social life.
Against all odds, MSF has managed to maintain its operations in the Tabarre neighborhood and the Cité Soleil slum over the years, despite widespread turmoil and violence. This has been possible thanks to extensive networking and negotiations with various stakeholders, including gangs. Working with gangs and treating their wounded has earned MSF a degree of goodwill from them, but the greatest dangers we face today come from elsewhere. In November 2024, for instance, the grave incidents—execution of patients and threats against staff—that led to the suspension of MSF’s activities were perpetrated by police brigades and self-defense groups.
While MSF’s activities are resuming with caution, this conference is attempting to shed light on some facets of this context. After describing the recurring problems faced by MSF projects in this “ecosystem of violence”, we look at the actors involved - armed groups, police, self-defence brigades - their logic and motivations, the way they operate, their violent practices, how they evolve, and the possible circulation between them.
Romain Le Cour Grandmaison is director of the Haiti program at the non-governmental organization Global Initiative (GI-TOC). He also holds a doctorate in political science from the Université Paris-1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
Arnaud Dandoy is co-director of the Center for Research and Exchange on Security and Justice (CRESEJ), and currently in charge of research and knowledge management at Avocats sans frontières. He holds a doctorate in criminology from the University of Kent, UK.
Pascale Solages is co-founder and general coordinator of the feminist organization Nègès Mawon.
Sarah Chateau is MSF's program manager for Haiti.
A conference hosted by Judith Soussan.
To cite this content :
Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, Pascale Solages, Arnaud Dandoy, Sarah Chateau, “Port-au-Prince, Haiti: living and working in chaos?”, 6 février 2025, URL : https://msf-crash.org/en/conferences-debates/port-au-prince-haiti-living-and-working-chaos
If you would like to comment on this article, you can find us on social media or contact us here:
Contribute
Karel Marsalek
Opinion
Reconstruction : priorité aux choix des Haïtiens
03/16/2010Dans cette chronique d'Alternatives Internationales, Rony Brauman souligne que le séisme de Port-au-Prince de janvier 2010 est d'une ampleur sans précédent et qu'en dépit de la confusion initiale des secours, ceux-ci ont été bien orientés. Il estime que, quelle que soit la défaillance de l'Etat haïtien, c'est d'Haïti que devra être conduite la reconstruction.
Eliza Currando
Op-ed
Faiblesses du dispositif anti-choléra à Haïti
11/23/2010L'épidémie de choléra qui sévit depuis près d'un mois à Haïti met en évidence la faiblesse du dispositif international de réponse à des épisodes aigus de ce type. Les violences dirigées contre les soldats de la Minustah, accusés par la rumeur publique d'être les vecteurs de cette maladie infectieuse, nous rappellent que les épidémies attisent les peurs.
Andrew McConnell/Panos Pictures
Op-ed
Haiti Earthquake: What Priorities?
01/20/2010The earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince and neighboring areas has led to a worldwide surge of solidarity which we must fully appreciate because no country could face such a disaster on this scale alone.
Past events
Conference
Clinical trials, between science and financial and academic interests
10/08/2020 - 06:00 PM 08:00 PMThe Crash team was delighted to welcome Pierre Chirac, pharmacist and editor of the magazine Prescrire, for a conference on his analysis of the pharmaceutical industry's influence strategies and the special interests of university hospital researchers, their consequences on the reliability of drug information and the means now required to rectify a harmful situation. This meetting was prepared and moderated by Rony Brauman.
Conference
Territories: the illusion of identity
12/16/2019 - 06:00 PM 08:00 PMCan we talk about the specificities of the Middle East, Iran or the Mediterranean without reducing these territories to a culture or religion? On December 16, 2019, the CRASH team organised a conference-debate with Jean-François Bayart, a French political scientist who has devoted his work to the sociology of the State and identity illusions. This meeting, prepared with Claudine Vidal, was moderated by Elba Rahmouni.
Charles Habib
Conference
Screening - debate / La Ville Monde
11/07/2019 - 06:30 PM 08:30 PMMédecins Sans Frontières and Crash were pleased to invite you to a screening, followed by a debate, of the documentary film "La Ville Monde", directed by Antarès Bassis and produced by Les films du Balibari. The film, of which MSF is a partner, traces the trajectory of the La Linière camp in Grande-Synthe from its opening in March 2016 to the fire that destroyed it in April 2017. This event was prepared and moderated by Michaël Neuman.
Conference
Motivations for mass violence: different interpretations
10/03/2019 - 06:00 PM 08:00 PMWhat turns ordinary men into killers? The CRASH team invited you to a conference – debate with the sociologist and historian, Nicolas Mariot. This meeting, prepared with Claudine Vidal, was moderated by Elba Rahmouni.
Conference
Third-Worldism and Sans-Frontiérisme 1954-1988
04/11/2019 - 06:30 PM 08:30 PMEleanor Davey, historian of ideas and humanitarianism, senior lecturer at the Humanitarian and Conflict Research Institute, University of Manchester, discusses her book, Idealism Beyond Borders. The French Revolutionary Left and the Rise of Humanitarianism, 1954-1988, devoted to the intellectual history of sans-frontiérisme and Third-Worldism, in France, from the Algerian war to the early years of Médecins Sans Frontières. This conference was prepared and moderated by Michaël Neuman.
Eddy Van Wessel
Conference
Extreme violence: investigate, rescue, judge. Syria, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo
03/20/2019 - 02:00 PM 03/22/2019 - 05:00 PMTheaters of war, genocide, mass crimes, Syria, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are at the heart of the international symposium organized by the platform L’humanitaire dans la globalisation of the Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme (FMSH) and the Centre de Réflexion sur l'Action et les Savoirs Humanitaires (CRASH) of Médecins Sans Frontières. This symposium is part of the commemoration by these two institutions of the 25 years of the genocide of Rwandan Tutsis.