Haitian women’s organizations mounted sustained pressure campaigns in April and May 2024 demanding genuine inclusion in the transitional governing structures that were being established following Henry’s resignation, arguing that the formation of the Transitional Presidential Council and the selection of a prime minister had once again proceeded without meaningful women’s leadership. They insisted that the pattern of political transitions excluding women from decision-making had to end.
The demands were specific: guaranteed representation of women in the Transitional Presidential Council, women’s inclusion in key ministerial portfolios including security and justice, and the establishment of a gender unit within the transitional government with real authority and resources. Women’s advocates argued that these demands were not special pleading but recognition that Haiti’s governance failures had been produced partly by a political culture of masculine competition that excluded half the population from leadership.
Some progress was achieved. Several women were included in the council’s structure, and women’s advocates secured commitments on specific portfolio inclusions. But advocates noted that representation in formal structures was only meaningful if accompanied by genuine power and resources, and that past experience of women’s formal inclusion in Haitian governance had not always translated into real influence over decisions.
The women’s inclusion advocacy during the transitional period reflected the broader maturation of Haiti’s feminist movement, which had developed significant organizational capacity through years of crisis and had learned to translate advocacy demands into specific institutional commitments. The movement’s persistence through the most difficult circumstances had built the credibility and relationships needed to be taken seriously at moments of political transition.