From 24 November to 23 December 2014 Anne Lange stayed in Port-au-Prince, Haiti with the purpose of conducting interviews with staff of the UN peacekeeping operation in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and UN agencies fielded in Haiti, the diplomatic corps, and international and local NGOs.
Anne researches the complex relationship between UN peacekeeping operations and their stakeholders on the local as well as international level. The broad range of actors providing and supporting peacekeeping activities often disagree on the best course of action. As a consequence, peacekeeping operations tend to face diverging pressures from different stakeholders. Bringing joint decision-making processes to a successful conclusion is inherently difficult under these conditions. In her PhD project Anne seeks to learn about the processes and strategies involved in handling and reconciling such contradictions.
Haiti is a valuable data site as UN missions have been fielded to the small Caribbean country for more than 20 years and a large number of bi- and multilateral donors as well as civil society organizations are active there. Furthermore, Anne chose a particularly interesting time for her data collection: Haiti is currently preparing for presidential, legislative, municipal, and local elections that have been long overdue amidst the political crisis. She was able to closely observe those important developments and gain valuable insights into Haitian affairs.
In March and April 2015, Anne will return to Port-au-Prince for a second round of interviews.
Anne Lange