News Release
No. 113/04
July 14, 2004
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Government of Haiti |
World Bank |
Inter-American Development Bank |
United Nations |
European Commission |
HAITI’S RECOVERY NEEDS TOP $1.3 BILLION, NEW REPORT SHOWS
Washington, July 13, 2004 - The interim Government of
Haiti, the
European Commission, the Inter-American Development Bank, the United
Nations and the World Bank today released an assessment of Haiti’s social,
economic and political needs over the next 2 years determining that
total financing requirements top $1.3 billion. Given existing financing of
some $440 million, the assessment calls for $924 million to be raised to
fill the financing gap.
The needs assessment, entitled the Interim Cooperation Framework (ICF),
outlines the interim Government’s program for the next 2 years and will
form the basis for discussions and pledging at the forthcoming
International Donors Conference on Haiti to be held at the World Bank in
Washington on July 19 and 20, 2004.
From restoring electricity services to feeding disadvantaged children
and getting them back to school, the Interim Cooperation Framework covers
priorities in 20 sectors and 4 cross-cutting themes1.
Led by the interim government, in coordination with the European
Commission, the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations and
the World Bank, the ICF exercise involved over 200 national and
international experts from 26 bilateral and multilateral donors, UN
agencies, civil society and the private sector. The findings and
recommendations of the ICF were discussed at several workshops convened by
the interim Government of Haiti with the participation of political
parties, civil society organizations and local authorities at both the
national and the regional level - in Port-au-Prince, Les Cayes, Gonaives
and Cap Haitien. In preparation for the international donors conference
next week, Government officials and donors met on June 15 to review the
preliminary results of the assessment.
The interim Government’s priorities as outlined in the Interim
Cooperation Framework revolve around 4 strategic areas:
1. Strengthening political governance and promoting national dialogue;
2. Strengthening economic governance and institutional development;
3. Promoting economic recovery; and
4. Improving access to basic services.
Quick impact programs identified by the ICF to meet the country’s priority
needs over the next 2 months include the creation of 44,000 jobs, the
collection and disposal of 50 percent of garbage in urban areas, the
upgrading of 500 slum dwellings in Port-au-Prince and the doubling of
electricity services to 12 hours per day in Port au-Prince. These programs
are aimed at restoring stability and improving the quality of life
following the months of violence that earlier this year closed businesses,
prevented children from going to school, shut off power and water
services and left piles of garbage in the streets.
Over the next 2 years, in the social sector alone, the ICF outlines
programs to improve nutrition for over 440,000 poor children, immunize 80
percent of children under age one against diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis
(DPT3) in 15 key districts and rehabilitate 1,500 schools.
During the next year, while implementing the programs of the Interim
Cooperation Framework in partnership with the international community and
non-governmental organizations, the interim Government plans to resume the
preparation of a Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSP) through a participatory
process involving all sectors of Haitian society. The draft PRSP will be
presented to the new government resulting from the 2005 elections.
Financing Needs:
With an estimated per capita income of $361 in 2003, Haiti is the poorest
country in the Western Hemisphere. Half of the urban population has no
access to safe water, the incidence of HIV/AIDS is estimated at 5 percent
and the average Haitian can expect to live only 53 years. The effects of a
3-year economic embargo in the early 1990s, followed by years of
political upheaval, conflict and insecurity have hindered sustainable
economic and social progress and contributed to increased violence.
Against this backdrop, the Interim Cooperation Framework has paid
particular attention to the importance of putting in place the conditions
for free, credible and transparent elections; restoring law and order;
ensuring quick and visible improvements in basic services for the Haitian
people; building long-term institutional and human capacity; and
strengthening economic governance to ensure sustainable, accountable and
transparent development. Particular attention has also been paid to issues
of institutional strengthening, absorptive capacity, donor coordination
and the close monitoring of the ICF implementation and results — all
issues which have undermined aid efforts in the past.
The Interim Cooperation Framework estimates the overall needs for the 2- year period (July 2004-September 2006) for programs in the 20 priority
sectors to be US$1.37 billion. Not all of the identified needs require new
financing, however. Already in 2004, about $440 million is available from
donors’ and the government’s own resources — a signal of the interim
Government’s commitment to the program. At the July 19 and 20 conference,
donors will be looking to raise the additional $924 million needed to fill
the financing gap for the 2-year program.
To learn more about the Interim Cooperation Framework, visit
http://haiticci.undg.org.
To learn more about the conference, visit
http://www.worldbank.org/haitidonors2004.
1The sectors include: security, police and demobilization,
disarmament and reintegration; justice, penitentiaryinstitutions and
human rights; electoral process; economic governance; institutional
capacity building; regional, urban and local development and
decentralization; electricity; rapid job creation and micro-finance;
development of private sector development, small- and medium-enterprises
and small- and medium-industries; agriculture; roads and transportation;
protection and rehabilitation of the environment; water and sanitation;
health and nutrition; education, youth and sports; culture, media and
communications; food security; slum upgrading, solid waste management;
safety nets and social protection. Cross-cutting issues include crisis
prevention, human rights, gender and HIV/AIDS.
Contacts:
The World Bank
Lee Morrison
(202)-458-8741
Lmorrison1@worldbank.org
Inter-American Development Bank
Peter Bate
(202) 623-2609
PETERB@IADB.org
The United
Nations
Deborah DeYoung (202) 454-2107
DDeYoung@unicwash.org
European Commission
Anthony Gooch (202)-862-9523
anthony.gooch@cec.eu.int
