Overview
Under Loune's guidance, the CHR has engaged in a two-part campaign to insure the Haitian peopleís right to health: 1) to advocate for blocked funds to flow back to the Haitian government; and 2) to advocate for the money flowing into Haiti to be used within the human rights framework that has been employed at Zanmi Lasante. Specifically, the human rights-based approach entails calling upon donors and NGOs to partner with the government of Haiti to build its capacity to respond to its citizensí rights. Until this point the campaign has been primarily focused on the first phase of the campaign. In recent months CHR has begun to shift into the second phase of the campaign.

Blocked Funds
The CHR has undertaken a number of strategies to fulfill this mandate. The campaignís targets include International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and their member states, the US government, the Organization of American States (OAS), the European Union (EU), and relevant local and international NGOs.

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
Since November 2002, the CHR has been advocating for the release of $146 million in social sector loans that were approved, but not disbursed, by the IDB. The non-disbursement was due in large part to the US Executive Director intervening and asking that the loans not be released. Disbursement should have begun in January 2001.

In May 2003, the first steps to lift the IDB de facto sanctions took hold, beginning with one of the conditions for disbursement: the signing of a Staff Monitoring Agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Leading up to the signing of the agreement, Congressional members from the CHR delegation to Haiti met with the Treasury Secretary to advocate for the US to stop blocking this key step. That action set in motion the next steps toward reengagement and disbursement of loans to the Haitian government. In June, the Haitian government paid $32 million in arrears to the IDB, nearly depleting its foreign reserves. In the weeks leading up to the payment of the arrears, the CHR articulated the belief to the IDB, Members of Congress, and other multilateral partners the importance of the IDB to assume responsibility for the malfeasance and to further address it as well as correct it internally. In the end the Haitian government chose to deal with this precondition internally.

On 23 July, the IDB announced that it had reactivated its loan program in Haiti. Soon thereafter, the IDB released $35 million of an Investment Sector Loan that had been pending since 1998 and sent assurances that the social sector loans would be disbursed soon. However, as of November 2003, these social sector loans have not yet been released.

In recent months, the CHR has been in regular contact with the IDB. The dates of disbursement, as well as the preconditions for reengagement, change with each conversation. The IDB originally told the CHR that the loans would be disbursed soon after the July announcement of reengagement. In September, however, the CHR was told that the loans would be disbursed by the end of the month. In October the IDB said they would hopefully be disbursed by the end of November. At the beginning of November, however, the IDB finally said that they did not know when the loans would be disbursed.

In November, Loune and the CHR met with the president of the IDB to express our great concern over the IDBís ongoing human rights violations with respect to the Haitian people due to the withholding of the loans.

United States
The CHR has been sending key Members of Congress written updates on the status of the IFIsí engagement with Haiti, suggestions for advocacy, and information on the CHRís actions within the Haiti campaign.

European Union
The EU imposed formal sanctions against Haiti in January 2001. These sanctions are renewed each year. At the time of renewal in 2002, the CHR sent letters to the EU Foreign Ministers expressing concern that the member states were violating their obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) as it pertains to imposing sanctions upon other countries. The sanctions against Haiti have interfered with the Haitian governmentís ability to fulfill its human rights obligations.

Legal Strategy
We are researching the Cotonou process, which is the premise of the EUís sanctions, to investigate the human rights violations that occurred during the application of the Cotonou agreement with respect to Haiti. In December 2003, the CHR will send letters of advocacy citing these findings during the sanctions renewal process. We are also researching the possibility of filing petitions against EU member states with the European Commission for Human Rights.

Delegations to Haiti
In early August, CHR staff traveled to Haiti to research our developing US-based lawsuit against the IDB and its member states. The CHR with NGOs and government officials will advocate for the integration of a human rights-based approach into all development work done in Haiti. The government officials as well as a few NGOs were very open to exploring these possibilities. Following this delegation, another CHR staff member traveled to Haiti to participate in the Cange Health and Human Rights Symposium held at Zanmi Lasante to discuss the importance of other NGOs adopting the Cange model of working in partnership with government to build their infrastructure to more appropriately respond to peopleís rights.

Other International Advocacy
Over the past several months, the CHR has contacted the Special Rapporteurs for Haiti and the Right to Health to urge them to explore the international communityís role in contributing to health violations in Haiti. The CHR has also advocated to the Special Rapporteur for Haiti to explore the full spectrum of human rights in his investigations. We requested the Special Rapporteur on Health to use Haiti as a test case in his research on the link between the right to health and poverty reduction.

Media Outreach
The Haiti Support Group (HSG) has been focusing primarily on bringing awareness to the human rights situation in Haiti by targeting different audiences. The HSG will be working on articles about Loune and the Zanmi Lasanteís human rights approach which will be strategically placed to target different communities including medical, human rights education, legal, and mainstream audiences.

In September 2003, Loune was named one of MS. Magazineís Women of the Year. Loune was honored by the magazine for her courage and humanity. Past recipients include Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee. HSG members nominated Loune and advocated on her behalf. The award ceremony will be held on 8 December.

Human Rights Approach
One could consider the human rights approach the second phase of the CHRís strategy to help Loune achieve the respect for the right to health in Haiti. Once money begins to flow, it is crucial that its contribution to achieving the right to health be maximized. Zanmi Lasante has developed an important double-pronged method: working with the people so that they articulate and know from whom they are to demand their rights; and work with the government in a private/public partnership to create a capacity to respond to the rights-based demands of the people.

The CHR has begun a process to have NGOs operating in Haiti adopt this method. The CHR has contacted numerous NGOs in Haiti and/or US to explain Louneís approach and the importance of adopting it to create a human rights culture in Haiti (a place where citizens know their rights and make demands on government and where the government has a capacity to respond to those demands). We have also begun a campaign to have donors (e.g., multilaterals like the IDB) and the Haitian government to accept that this approach is an important way to make a lasting improvement in the human rights situation in Haiti. This work will greatly increase in 2004.

Leverage
The CHR has been working to release monies blocked by the IDB and to encourage reengagement of US and European bilateral aid as well that of the World Bank and IMF.

Synergy
The CHR is working with NGOs and government to develop approaches that can help to insure that once the money is flowing, it is maximized in terms of respect for human rights. The CHR has reached out to numerous organizations in its advocacy efforts.

Sustainability/Replicability/Lasting Effects
The entire strategy is based on facilitating money flow so that public health concerns can be address and to allow for the replication of Louneís private/public partnership throughout Haiti. By using a human rights approach, the goal is transforming and strengthening civil society ability to make demands and governmentís ability to respond to those demands.