Haiti

Members of the Carter Center’s Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas (then called the Council of Freely-Elected Heads of Government) met in 1987 to discuss the electoral process in Haiti, after a presidential candidate was assassinated. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was among those who flew to Haiti to try to get the election back on track, but the military intervened to stop it from moving forward.

In 1990, Haiti invited the council to monitor the country’s first credible election in history. President Jean-Bertrande Aristide won, but a military coup overthrew him less than a year later. The Carter Center assisted the international community in efforts to restore constitutional government in Haiti.

After Haitian General Raoul Cédras, the military ruler, asked President Carter to help avoid a U.S. military invasion of Haiti in 1994, President Bill Clinton asked President Carter to lead a mission to the country. The team negotiated the departure of Haiti’s military leaders, paving the way for the restoration of Jean-Bertrande Aristide as president.

The negotiating team returned in early 1995 to assess the country’s progress, transfer authority from American-led forces to the United Nations, and offered warnings for the June 1995 elections. The Center visited during those 1995 elections, finding the process flawed and the results widely disputed. 

After the 2000 elections, the Center was asked to serve as an adviser to a Caribbean Community and Organization of American States mission, as it sought solutions on disputed election results, and to develop plans to strengthen Haiti’s democratic institutions. 

Although Latin America and the Caribbean spend relatively less on defense than most regions, concern about an arms race in Latin America prompted the Carter Center’s Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas to urge governments to pause before embarking on major arms purchases. A two-year moratorium on purchasing sophisticated weapons was signed in the late 90s by current and former heads of government, including Haiti President René Preval. 

The island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, remains the only island in the Caribbean with active malaria transmission. Malaria is more pervasive in Haiti, though it occurs in the Dominican Republic, too, predominantly along the Haitian border.

Our Work and Methods

Since 2008, the Center’s Hispaniola Initiative – a cross-border project – has helped both countries by bringing together their ministries of health to foster binational coordination for malaria control. This has included:

• Integrated activities and disease surveys
• Synchronized data systems
• Binational meetings
• Distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets
• Aligned protocols for malaria diagnostics and treatment

Impacts

• Malaria declined from 84,153 cases in 2010 to 38,591 confirmed cases in 2024, a decrease of more than 54%.
• More than 1.36 million bed nets have been distributed with the Center’s help to protect against mosquito bites.

How It Started

The island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, has accounted for approximately 90% of the lymphatic filariasis burden in the Western Hemisphere. 

Our Work and Methods

The Center’s Hispaniola Initiative, established in 2008, has worked with ministries of health in both countries to strengthen binational cooperation and provide assistance to eliminate the disease. This has included:

• Support for mass drug administration to interrupt transmission
• Integrated disease surveys
• Distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets
• Training for health staff 

Impacts

86% of the country’s districts have met the criteria to stop mass drug administration for the disease.

More than 1.36 million bed nets have been distributed with the Center’s help to protect against mosquito bites.

Neglected tropical diseases impact millions of people worldwide, not only physically, but also through stigma, isolation, and depression. In Haiti, where lymphatic filariasis remains widespread, these challenges weigh heavily on individuals, families, and communities.

Our Work and Methods

The Carter Center’s Global Mental Health team, along with the Center’s program to eliminate lymphatic filariasis on Hispaniola, piloted the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program in local “Hope Clubs” in Léogâne. These community support groups, founded by people living with disease themselves, provided a safe space to introduce practical skills for self-care, emotional resilience, and peer encouragement.

This pilot marked one of the first times an evidence-based self-management program — proven effective for conditions like diabetes and arthritis — was adapted for neglected tropical diseases. The initiative showed how mental health support can be embedded directly into existing community-led care, offering both dignity and hope.

Impacts

The initiative:

• Inspired expanded training for health workers in other countries, such as in Nigeria and Liberia.
• Was shared at leading global forums on neglected tropical diseases, including the Network for NGOs in Neglected Tropical Diseases and the World Health Organization
• Continues to inform collaborative efforts with international partners to better integrate mental health into neglected tropical disease care