On May 23 at the Lycée Faustin Soulouque in Petit-Goâve, at the initiative of the Movement of Young Defenders for the Progress of Haiti (MOJEDEPH), the very popular young economist, Etzer Emile, gave a conference on commitment citizens in the development of the country in front of a diverse audience composed among others of young people, executives, lawyers, students, schoolchildren, religious, lawyers, teachers, political activists, police officers and people from Miragoâne...

The objective of the speaker was to explain in particular to the youth the causes of the underdevelopment of Haiti and the poverty of Haitians, by awakening his patriotic conscience and by encouraging him to engage in the work of national transformation.

Excerpts from Etzer Emile's conference :

Economist Etzer Émile explained "The misery, poverty and underdevelopment in Haiti are not accident. They are planned. They are the result of bad governance, corruption, the desire of a small group to enrich themselves to the detriment of the country, the absence of social and economic policies, the absence of production."

Stating "The economy of Haiti is no longer primarily agricultural. The country becomes an importing country. It has a closed economy controlled by a few men, an economy dependent on transfers. There is nothing supernatural about Haiti’s underdevelopment. It is the quality of individuals that generates the quality of policies implemented by leaders. And the quality of policies will give rise to the quality of life."

He further underlined "[...] Young people represent not the future but the present of Haiti. Now is the time to start working and putting in place the basic infrastructure. The standard of living of a people is linked to two factors : the level of training of the people and the quality of social and economic policies applied by the rulers. There must be a political agenda that addresses employment issues, the living conditions of the population, issues of wealth creation, the enjoyment of social and economic rights [...]

The number of jobs created and the improvement of people's living conditions is the best way to measure the performance of a government [...]

[...] Haiti’s problems remain the lack of work, income, a lack of money circulation and an employment policy.

The development of Haiti will go through the quality of training, education, commitment, involvement, awareness of youth and the development of an appropriate, decentralized national budget meeting the needs of the population.

[...] The development of Haiti will also pass through access to low interest rate credits, through the quality of our leaders : honest, competent, concerned about collective interests, the reduction of economic disparities between cities and investment in provincial towns." insisting "We need an economy based on production and competition"

Finally, he called on the youth to have "the competence, the honesty, the courage, the patriotism" so that they can participate in the work of national development by making good choices in the elections. Concluding "The development of Haiti will require the leadership of a new generation of men and women, the action of everyone."

HL/ HaitiLibre / Guyto Mathieu (Correspondent Petit-Goâve)