When using c2hs, you can use the inline header commands to define global variables: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ #c const int HSMYLIBRARY_SOME_VAR = C_MY_VAR; const char *HSMYLIBRARY_OTHER_VAR = C_OTHER_VAR; #endc ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ And then just bind them with foreign imports like any other variable: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ foreign import ccall "HSMYLIBRARY_SOME_VAR" someVar :: CInt foreign import ccall "HSMYLIBRARY_OTHER_VAR" otherVarPtr :: Ptr CChar otherVar :: String otherVar = unsafePerformIO (peekCString otherVarPtr) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------