Haiti is the most impoverished nation in the Western hemisphere. According to the CIA World Factbook, 80 percent of the population lives under the poverty line, over 40 percent of the population is unemployed, only 62.1 percent of adults are literate and 17 percent of the population has access to an "improved" sanitation source (a toilet). And that was BEFORE the earthquake struck.

On Jan. 12, 2010, a bit past 5 p.m., a devastating 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. It lasted only 35 seconds but when the dust settled, 250,000 people were left dead, more than 250,000 homes in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince alone were demolished and one in six Haitians were displaced from their homes, according to the National Post.

Last week was the two-year anniversary, and unfortunately, only slight progress has been made in Haiti. Christian Science Monitor reported while two-thirds of Haitians have been moved out of refugee camps and resettled and more than 500,000 people still live in tent-cities in 758 camps across Haiti. Furthermore, only 50 percent of the rubble from the quake has yet to be removed. Haiti has definitely had many victories, however, the recovery effort is moving at a snails pace of what it could be. How can the international community help kickstart the country's recovery? Here are my five recommendations.

Firstly, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) in Haiti need to reflect on their goals and establish LONG-TERM goals that address infrastructure shortcomings and government development. According to the Encyclopedia of the Nations, Haiti only has 628 miles of paved roads; no railroad system and only 12 percent of Haitians have access to electricity. Last week, former Canadian Governor General Michaëlle Jean stated that Haiti "cannot build a sustainable economy on charity," and she was is very right. Haiti desperately needs infrastructure to build a sustainable economy, instead of depending on foreign aid.

Secondly, the Haitian government needs to renew the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, an independent national body that coordinated Haiti's 12,000 aid groups. The commission's tenure expired in October and it needs to be renewed in order to oversee cooperation between aid groups in Haiti. This is crucial, so the groups may work together versus working independent of one another.

Thirdly and closely related to the second recommendation, Haiti's NGO's need to work more closely with the Haitian government. It is understandable that many NGO's circumvented Haiti's corrupt and inefficient government. However, the government has lost the ability to supervise or provide any recommendations to the NGO's operating within Haiti. Many in the international community describe Haiti as an "NGO State" because the government has essentially lost control of the country to the NGO's. While it is good that charities are remaining vigilant in preventing corruption or squandering relief funds, they need to make sure their organizations are finding out what the governments needs are, and keep the government informed about their actions and long-term goals.

Fourthly, Haiti's government needs to create a government agency that can manage land registry. A major factor slowing Haiti's recovery is the government's inability to determine who owns land. According to the United Nations, 16,000 civil servants died in the 2010 earthquake and thousands of title deeds and land registry records were destroyed in fires or are buried under rubble.

Furthermore, with 250,000 Haitians dying in the quake, inheritance of land has become a major problem. Many Haitians are currently squatting in the ruins of their former homes, unable to prove that the home or the land it sits on, actually belongs to them. The UN reported that less than 5 percent of Haiti's land is officially accounted for. Land ownership and property rights are ESSENTIAL to rebuilding homes and businesses in Haiti. Foreign businesses, which could bring much needed investment and jobs to Haiti, would not even consider building in a country where they couldn't guarantee land records.

Lastly, relief efforts and reconstruction needs to occur outside of Port-au-Prince. The capital city has swelled into an urban slum since the earthquake, as millions of Haitians flood to the capital in search of work, only to end up living in an aid camp. The Haitian government and NGO's need to encourage economic development and housing reconstruction outside of the city in Haiti's smaller towns, where infrastructure and the economy are more stable than in the massive capital city.

With these recommendations, plus the continued support and generosity of the international community, I am very optimistic that Haiti can rebuild itself to an even better nation than it was before the earthquake.