Claudette was born in 1946, in Cap-Haïtien in a well-to-do family. Her parents exported coffee and in addition her mother had a shop. Her father was a former MP, but withdrew from politics before Claudette was born. Claudette went to elementary and secondary schools run by nuns, studied diverse subjects, including medicine and pedagogy, in Spain, the US, Mexico and Haiti and she obtained a license in law and economics at the university in Port-au-Prince. In 1978 she was registered as a lawyer.
Career
In 1968-70 Werleigh worked as a medical technician and chemist in the US, in 1971-73 as a physiologist in Switzerland and in 1973-74 as an adult educator in Haiti. In 1970, she married George Werleigh, a professor of economics and a prominent figure in the social-democratic party PANPRA. The couple had two daughters. Werleigh engaged in social and educational work in a number of non governmental organizations in the fields of adult literacy and humanitarian relief. In 1975 she joined Catholic Emergency Aid for Haiti and was from 1976 to 1987 Secretary General in Haiti National Caritas, travelling all around the country. From 1983 to 1987 she was Caribbean Coordinator for Caritas International. In 1979, Werleigh founded ITECA one of Haiti's most important educational organizations. She helped found the League for women's empowerment, an organization of women seeking political and economic equality and promoting women's participation in politics. It was important to bridge the gulf separating different worlds, the poor and the affluent, women and power structures. Women were the backbone of society and had a great capacity for peace-making.
Political positions
From 1990 onwards Werleigh became active in public administration and politics in Haiti. From March to August 1990 she was Minister of Social Affairs as an independent in President Ertha Pascal-Trouillot's interim government. When Aristide became President, Werleigh joined Prime Minister Rene Preval's private cabinet in 1991 and was engaged in the Lavalas movement in support of the president. From July 1992 to October 1993, she was the executive director of the Washington office on Haiti, doing advocacy and lobbying. In 1993-95 she was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Religions in the Malval and Michel governments. She then served as Prime Minister for a hundred days in 1995-96. Her task was to strengthen the leadership of the country and organize democratic presidential elections. Claudette Werleigh appointed a cabinet with 17 ministers, including 4 women, and declared that her aim was political, social, cultural and economic justice She received financial support for energy, agriculture and road construction and improved relations with Cuba and Taiwan. She also tried to reduce Haiti's economic dependence and halted the privatization process. But then IMF held back loans, sparking a political crisis. Rene Preval was elected president with 88 per cent of the vote. It was the first peaceful change of president since Haiti became independent. Preval was an ally of Aristide and would have liked Claudette Werleigh to continue as prime minister. But the majority in parliament, which needed to approve the prime minister, had changed, so Werleigh withdrew and left the country.
Peaceworker
In 1999 she became the conflict transformation programme’s director of the Life and Peace Institute in Uppsala, Sweden. Claudette's work took her to conflict areas all over Latin America and several other countries in Asia, Africa, and to most countries in Western Europe. In 2007 she was elected Secretary General of Pax Christi International, a non governmental catholic peace movement working on a global scale on a wide variety of issues in the fields of human rights, security and disbarment, economic justice and ecology. Prior to this she was vice president and a member of the executive committee of Pax International, from 1992 to 2001. In 2010 she became a Peace Envoy in Pax Christi International.
