Bridging international aidwork and local capacities in a protracted crisis. An explorative case study of the Manman Troll project in Port au Prince, Haiti

Master's thesis in Risk management and societal safety In recent years the concept of protracted crises has emerged. Countries in protracted crises are characterized by long-term crises conditions and leak the developmental and sustainable movement to get out of the crises. Haiti is one of these country who is additionally deeply dependent on foreign aid. To be able to develop, capacity building has become more relevant when NGOs enter humanitarian crises. Capacity building is the strengthening and empowering of people in crises through long-term effective programs and projects that will not harm the society in crises, but rather contribute to a sustainable development. By increasing peoples knowledge on topics like politics, human rights, gender issues and health, for example, as well as giving them the possibility to evolve, local communities can become strengthened and more self-aware. This process might trigger a long-term movement that can get a country out of a crisis. This thesis is an explorative study into the everyday practices of the women’s network Manman Troll at Project Haiti in Port au Prince, Haiti. The research is based on fieldwork in Haiti in March 2015. Empirical data has been gathered from the participants of the women’s network Manman Troll. The study intends to address the research problem: How international NGOs can support the strengthening of local capacities in a protracted crisis. Capacity building as the ends to trigger developmental change in humanitarian long-term crises has been used as a tool to measure the effects of Manman Troll on the participants’ lives. The degree of participation in the projects program, as well as learning opportunities, empowerment and sustainable development has been key elements throughout the thesis. Key findings from the research suggest that a stepwise approach towards building capacities in crises seems to have long-term sustainable effects on the programs participants. This also results in effects for the society in Haiti due to increased and shared knowledge about topics like human rights, gender-based violence, politics and health related issues. Furthermore, an NGO with roots in the Haitian society seems to meet the requirements to implement projects by being sensitive to societal problems like one could find in protracted crisis Haiti.