ECONOMIC SECURITY IN HAITI

Map:  Haiti.  Credit:  CIA World Factbook.

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

Fast Facts on the U.S. Government's Work in Haiti: Economic Security
Fact Sheet
Office of the Haiti Special Coordinator
January 22, 2013
 
The Challenge


Even before the earthquake, Haiti faced significant challenges to economic security. Its economy is primarily driven by informal micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which generate up to 80 percent of new jobs. However, informal MSMEs have difficulties accessing financing from formal institutions, thus limiting their ability to grow. The wide-scale damage caused by the earthquake further exacerbated the situation, disrupting businesses and destroying stores and other infrastructure. Estimates indicate that 40 percent of the Haitian population is unemployed.

USG Strategy

Economic security is predicated on people having secure livelihoods. The U.S. Government is helping the Haitian government in its goal of creating jobs, with a corresponding increase in household incomes, savings, and other assets―resulting in increased economic security. To achieve this goal, the U.S. Government is:
Helping the Government of Haiti to attract foreign direct investment;
Supporting value chains related to foreign direct investment and U.S. Government investments, such as energy, health, and housing;
Working with local financial institutions and investment opportunities to increase access to finance; and
Supporting efforts to increase tax and customs revenue generation. Since 2008, U.S. trade preferences for Haiti have contributed to the creation of 8,000 apparel sector jobs.
Accomplishments

The U.S. Department of Treasury is providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Finance to improve budgeting, tax collection, and debt management in the public sector. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is carrying out the private-sector U.S. Government strategy by creating jobs in targeted sectors and increasing access to capital from formal sources to stimulate growth and job opportunities. So far, we have:
Provided support valued at more than $12million to more than 30 microfinance institutions to increase lending to underserved populations and MSMEs in several sectors.
Contributed to more than 15,000 agricultural loans for farmers to improve crop production and agricultural cooperatives to access markets directly. Crops include mango, cocoa, plantain, corn, rice, and beans.
Partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to launch the first mobile money service in Haiti. After reaching 5 million transactions as of June 2012, the initiative is now focused on facilitating mobile money use by various stakeholders, including the Government of Haiti and the private sector, in order to ensure sustainability.
Supported a business plan competition, leveraging private investments and using a grant matching mechanism of up to $200,000 for each competition winner to enable the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to scale up their entrepreneurial ideas. Through this competition 22 SMEs received Technical Assistance, of which four were selected to receive matching funds to expand their operations. These businesses will create more than 240 additional jobs.
Finalized four new Development Credit Authority (DCA) guarantees, which will stimulate up to $30 million in loans by local commercial banks, microfinance institutions and credit unions. The guarantees will exist over a nine-year period and contribute to rebuilding the private sector by increasing local lending to MSMEs and out-of-reach populations.
　

U.S. GOVERNMENT INVESTS IN HAITI

Map:  Haiti.  Credit:  CIA World Factbook.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

U.S. Government Investments in Haiti's Rebuilding and Renewal
Fact Sheet
Office of the Haiti Special Coordinator
January 11, 2013

In early 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made Haiti a foreign policy priority and committed to working to change the way we partnered with Haiti. For more than three and a half years, the U.S. Government (USG) has worked closely to be a good partner to the government and people of Haiti. After the devastating earthquake of 2010, the U.S. worked to support the Government of Haiti (GOH) and meet the most immediate life saving and life sustaining needs on the ground. For some time the U.S. pursued two tracks of engagement and has ensured that they complement one another: the first to address immediate humanitarian and emergency aid needs; and the second to continue to pursue a strategy to promote long-term sustainable development in Haiti.

Below is a high-level overview of some of the U.S. contributions to help Haiti on a path to economic prosperity and political stability.

Government Stability and Capacity Building: The United States and other donors supported the Government of Haiti’s free and fair presidential and legislative elections in late 2010 and early 2011. These elections paved the way for the complete re-establishment of all three branches of government. The U.S. provided capacity building support, including the provision of experts to work within the Government of Haiti and the provision of temporary office space. As a result, the Government of Haiti has been able to lead more effectively in many areas of governance, including efforts to: combat crime; prepare for emergency responses to Hurricanes Tomas, Tropical Storms Isaac and Sandy; collect taxes; increase transparency; alleviate housing shortages; promote foreign direct investments; and expand basic services for Haitians, including in education and health services.

Energy: Only 12 percent of the population has regular legal access to electricity. The Martelly Administration has made access to energy one of its priorities and views it as a necessary step in Haiti’s economic development.
The U.S. Government, through USAID, is funding the services of an experienced management firm to help improve the commercial and operational sustainability of Haiti's electric utility EDH. The firm is working with the utility to expand active customers by a third. Progress to date shows significant improvements in the utility’s financial performance and service delivery, having added over 20,000 households and business as active customers.
The USG is helping to improve the reliability of electricity in Port-au-Prince through renovation of five electricity sub-stations. The project is expected to be complete by the end of February 2013.
The USG commissioned a 10 mega-watt power plant in the north, contributing to reliable power for the tenants of the Caracol Industrial Park as well as houses around the park. The first households in the northern town of Caracol, which never had electricity before, were connected to the grid of the power plant in October 2012, designed to provide reliable power to residences and industry.
The USG also launched a competitive tender in December 2012 [available online at www.FBO.gov] to design, build, and operate Haiti’s first industrial scale solar facility. This is part of an ongoing effort to work with Haitian partners to harness renewable energy opportunities.

Housing: The United States has worked to address immediate shelter needs, including the removal of rubble to make space for shelter, as well as the construction of permanent housing settlements.
To date, the Government of Haiti, the international community, private firms, and individual households have removed approximately 7.4 million cubic meters of rubble, or 74 percent of the rubble created by the earthquake. The USG has removed one third of this total. USAID-funded programs helped some 65,700 households (roughly 328,000 individuals) find safer housing through the construction of temporary shelters (29,000), rental vouchers, and housing repairs (6,000).
The United States is currently constructing two new settlements, with construction underway of 750 homes in the north near Caracol and 156 homes near Port-au-Prince in the Saint Marc region. The next five settlements of approximately 1,250 houses, where all engineering designs, environmental studies and water tests have been completed and tenders are due to be launched shortly, will be developed together with a diverse set of partners such as the Qatar Haiti Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the American Red Cross, enabling the United States to leverage resources for greater impact.
Business and agricultural loans: Eighty percent of the credit available in Haiti is used by only ten percent of the borrowers.
The United States has partnered with Haiti’s existing banks, credit unions, and other lenders to provide credit guarantees and help design new ways to lend to entrepreneurs and farmers.
The United States has supported efforts to computerize data and processes for loan officers, in order to support approximately $21.7 million in loans disbursed to over 6,500 businesses.
Agriculture: With more than 60 percent of Haitians reliant on agriculture for income, the United States has expanded its support in the sector through its global food security initiative, Feed the Future.
To date the United States has worked with more than 9,700 farmers, introducing improved seeds, fertilizer, and technologies.
2012 results include a 58 percent increase in rice yields, 341 percent increase in corn, 100 percent increase in bean yields, and 21 percent increase in plantain yields. Our goal is to increase incomes for 100,000 farmers in three geographical focus regions over five years.
Additionally, Feed the Future just launched the bean planting season at a cost of another $1 million, which will provide farmers with seeds and other inputs.
Transformation of Haiti’s North: The United States is partnering with the Government of Haiti, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the private sector to create access to jobs, housing, electrification, transportation, and agricultural development in Haiti’s north. These types of investments, when married with the entrepreneurial spirit of the Haitian people, are helping to catalyze growth in the region. As part of this partnership, by 2015, the United States will have helped create:
New housing settlements for over 13,000 people complete with electricity, water, social services, and job opportunities nearby;
15,000 new formal jobs at the Caracol Industrial Park, one of the Caribbean’s largest industrial parks, which is projected to grow to 20,000 jobs by 2016;
Reliable electricity to up to 100,000 people and businesses that currently have none; and,
Rehabilitated health clinics and reference hospitals in regional towns.
The first tenant of the Caracol Industrial Park, Sae-A, one of the largest garment manufacturers in the world, already has 1,300 employees, most of them women who have never had a formal sector job before. Many are graduates of a new, nearby vocational training center that the USG built and supports. Sae-A is on track to reach the goal of creating 20,000 jobs by 2016. A second tenant, a Haitian company, has moved in September of 2012 and a third tenant is due to start operations shortly. Additionally, a new U.S.-funded power plant opened this year to serve the industrial park and surrounding communities. Nine buildings, including factories, warehouses, and offices, have been built. At least twelve new buildings are scheduled for completion in 2013, more than doubling the industrial park’s capacity.

Health Services: Prior to the earthquake, the United States was providing access to health care for approximately 50 percent of the Haitian population; after the earthquake, the United States has been able to maintain this level of care. The United States provides a basic package of health services (primarily maternal and child health) and more sophisticated HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services.
The Haitian Ministry of Health and Population is working to achieve a sustainable network of health facilities. To help them realize this goal, the United States entered into the Health Partnership Framework with the Haitian government, which promotes sustainability by emphasizing country ownership and leadership, and includes a five-year plan that encompasses contributions of the government, civil society, the private sector, and other donors.
The United States supports 251 primary care and 52 secondary care sites nationwide.
The United States increased the number of eligible patients on anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment from 60 percent in March 2012 to 65 percent in June 2012. We are working with the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria to reach universal coverage of ARVs for all eligible patients by June 2015.
The United States recently convened the two largest umbrella networks of disabled people organizations to coordinate a single national strategy and move forward with plans to strengthen local advocacy groups. In addition, work is underway to establish four to six disabled service centers nationwide and to build government capacity to promote inclusion of people with disabilities in policy and legislation.
Through June 2012, the United States provided expertise and more than $95 million during the emergency phase of the cholera response.
Education: President Martelly has identified free and universal education as one of the key priorities of his administration.
Since January 2010, the United States has constructed more than 600 semi-permanent furnished classrooms and provided teaching and learning kits enabling more than 60,000 children and 1,200 teachers to return to school.
Over the next two years, the United States will partner with the Haitian Ministry of Education to develop and test an instructional model in over 300 schools, reaching 28,000 students, and training 900 teachers.
Improving Access to Justice and Legal Assistance: The rule of law, as supported by justice and security institutions, is a basic foundation of citizen security and economic growth. The United States is committed to supporting a responsive, just, and effective Government in Haiti. Our efforts include:
Supporting the formation of the Superior Judicial Council (CSJP), a new body which will provide oversight of the judiciary – a major step towards judicial independence in Haiti;
Providing legal assistance to over 2,700 individuals in Cite Soleil, Martissant, Saint-Marc, and Petit-Goave since October 2011;
Renovating corrections facilities; and
Providing equipment and technical assistance to reduce pre-trial detention and improve case management in targeted jurisdictions.
Strengthening the Security Sector: The Haitian National Police (HNP) is Haiti’s sole indigenous security force. Improving and expanding the capacity of the HNP is critical to the Government of Haiti’s ability to maintain public order and protect vulnerable populations.
The United States is supporting the recruitment and training of new officers, bolstering the counternarcotics unit, and providing communications equipment.
The UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) also helps promote a secure and stable environment in Haiti. U.S. support includes 100 UN police officers, 10 corrections officers, and nine military officers seconded to MINUSTAH.
Protecting Human Rights and Vulnerable Populations: Increasing protection of human rights and vulnerable populations is key to U.S. assistance in Haiti. The United States is funding a number of initiatives to provide services to victims of abuse, and empower vulnerable populations. Efforts include:
Supporting economic opportunities for women and survivors of sexual violence through microcredit and short-term jobs programs; and
Providing job skills training, health services, and reintegration and repatriation assistance to Haitian migrants.

U.S. GOVERNMENT RELIEF FOR HAITI

Map Credit:  CIA World Factbook.
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARMENT

Fast Facts on the U.S. Government's Work in Haiti: FundingFact Sheet
Office of the Haiti Special Coordinator
October 22, 2012

Following the tragic January 12, 2010, earthquake, the U.S. government (USG) has committed over $3.6 billion toward relief, recovery, and reconstruction, of which $2.3 billion has been disbursed as of June 30, 2012.
Relief Assistance:
The USG committed $1.3 billion in humanitarian relief assistance (rapid, life-saving emergency assistance). This support includes funding provided to fight the October 2010 cholera outbreak. USG relief assistance supported the deployment of search-and-rescue teams, provided emergency food assistance and safe drinking water, installed latrines and water systems, provided emergency shelter, re-established medical supply chains, restocked medical supply inventories, and helped to treat and prevent cholera.
Reconstruction and Development Assistance:
The USG has also committed $2.3 billion in reconstruction and development assistance to support recovery and long-term reconstruction activities in key development pillars identified in the five-year USG Haiti strategy. The USG implemented recovery activities in order to bridge the gap from emergency assistance to reconstruction, including rubble removal and shelter solution activities; construction of semi-permanent classrooms to allow students to return to school; support and technical assistance for the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission; and funding for Haitian debt relief. Reconstruction activities require in-depth exchanges with new partners and Government of Haiti (GOH) officials to design and implement projects toward a more stable and economically viable Haiti. Reconstruction assistance supports new post-earthquake initiatives, as well as projects that began prior to the earthquake, and continues to support Haiti’s economic recovery. To promote sustainable, long-term development, the USG has initiated construction of permanent houses in Haiti’s north and near Port-au-Prince, reconstructed the Ennery Bridge, initiated energy activities for the new Caracol Industrial Park, encouraged public-private partnerships to raise revenues for farmers, pioneered mobile banking, supported food security activities to increase crop yields, provided a basic health package to beneficiaries, increased physical access for disabled students and teachers, and supported first- and second- round presidential elections.
How the USG Provides Assistance

The majority of USG funds in the first year following the earthquake were used to respond quickly to emergencies and humanitarian crises. Funding to respond to crises worldwide is pre-contracted or provided to traditional partners to respond quickly to save lives.

Since the earthquake, the USG, through USAID, has worked directly or through sub-awards with over 400 Haitian non-governmental organizations and firms, and hundreds of local vendors. Moving forward, the USG is increasing local contracting as reconstruction programs continue to be designed and awarded. The USG will work specifically to build the capacity of Haitian organizations to receive direct funding for implementing USG projects and will provide technical assistance directly to the GOH, local governments, and Haiti’s Parliament to build government capacity.

The USG is also funding new and innovative projects and encouraging Haitian entrepreneurship through USAID’s new Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) program and a new Leveraging Effective Application of Direct (LEAD) Investments Program which facilitates investments. USAID’s DIV program offers funding to new projects that have potential to address Haiti’s significant challenges and substantively improve development outcomes. The DIV Haiti initiative will invest in innovations tailored to the Haitian context, measure their impact, and scale up those that are successful. The LEAD program will partner with Haitian businesses and U.S.-based investors to increase the development impact of remittances.

U.S.-HAITI RELATIONS

Map Credit:  U.S. State Department
FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
U.S. Relations With Haiti
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
Fact Sheet
June 7, 2012
U.S. policy toward Haiti is designed to foster economic growth, enhance government capacity, and strengthen democracy; help alleviate poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition; promote respect for human rights; counter illegal migration and drug trafficking; and assist in the reconstruction of the country after the January 2010 earthquake. The U.S. also supports and facilitates bilateral trade and investment along with legal migration and travel. U.S. policy goals are met through direct bilateral action and by working with the international community. The Haitian diaspora is a potentially powerful ally in the effort to strengthen U.S. policy initiatives in Haiti.

Maintaining good relations with and fostering democracy in Haiti are important for many reasons, not least of which is the country's geographical proximity to the continental United States. In addition to the many Haitians who receive visas to immigrate into the U.S. (averaging over 15,000 annually in FY 2007-2011), there is a flow of illegal migrants. Over 100,000 undocumented Haitian migrants were intercepted at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard in the past two decades, particularly during the 1991-94 period of illegal military rule when more than 67,000 migrants were interdicted. Since the return of the legitimate government in 1994, the interdiction of illegal migrants by U.S. Coast Guard vessels has decreased dramatically, averaging fewer than 1,500 annually. The prospect remains, however, for the renewal of higher flows of illegal migrants, particularly under conditions of political unrest or further economic downturn.

In January 2010, the U.S. granted temporary protected status (TPS) for 18 months to Haitians living illegally in the U.S. During that period, they were allowed to live and work in the U.S. upon submission and approval of a TPS application. On May 17, 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced an extension and re-designation of TPS for Haiti. The extension will allow Haitians who have already been granted TPS following the earthquake to re-register and remain in the United States through January 22, 2013. In addition, DHS re-designated Haiti for TPS--meaning that Haitian nationals who have continuously resided in the United States since January 12, 2011, may now also be eligible to apply for TPS and will be allowed to stay in the United States through January 22, 2013. The extension and re-designation of TPS became effective July 23, 2011.

U.S. Assistance to Haiti
Political insecurity, embargo and debt policies, and the failure of Haiti's government to invest in developing the country's natural and human resources have contributed significantly to the country's current state of underdevelopment. U.S. efforts to strengthen democracy and help build the foundation for economic growth aim to rectify this condition. The U.S. has been Haiti's largest donor since 1973. Following the January 2010 earthquake, the U.S. Government, working with the Government of Haiti and the United Nations system, executed what became the largest international humanitarian response to a natural disaster in U.S. history.

Haiti’s recovery is a strategic imperative for the United States. The U.S. Government’s development strategy focuses on stimulating economic activity and enhancing the delivery of basic services in designated development corridors, or areas of the country, while engaging the private sector in the reconstruction process. Consistent with the Haitian Government's action plan, the U.S. Government’s reconstruction and long-term development plan seeks to support new and diverse economic opportunities outside of Port-au-Prince using focused and catalytic investments in housing, energy, agriculture, health, security, and national and local governance. The U.S. Government strategy consists of investments in four focus areas or "pillars" critical to achieving economic growth and stability: infrastructure and energy; food and economic security; health and other basic services; and governance and rule of law. For more information on the strategy, seehttp://www.state.gov/s/hsc/rpt/index.htm.

Bilateral Economic Relations
The U.S. remains Haiti's largest trading partner. Many Haitian entrepreneurs conduct business in English, and U.S. currency circulates freely in Haiti. A number of U.S. firms, including commercial banks, telecommunications, airlines, oil and agribusiness companies, and U.S.-owned assembly plants are present in Haiti.

Opportunities for U.S. businesses include the development and trade of raw and processed agricultural products; medical supplies and equipment; rebuilding and modernizing Haiti's infrastructure (particularly relevant in the wake of the January 2010 earthquake); developing tourism and allied sectors--including arts and crafts; and improving capacity in waste disposal, transportation, energy, telecommunications, and export assembly operations.

Benefits for both Haitian and American importers and exporters are available under the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act--which provides for duty-free export of many Haitian products assembled from U.S. components or materials--the successor program to the Caribbean Basin Initiative. The Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act provides additional duty-free preferences for qualifying apparel/textiles products and automotive wire harnesses.

The U.S. and Haiti have a bilateral agreement on investment guarantees that permits the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation to offer programs in Haiti. The Haitian Government encourages the inflow of new capital and technological innovations and has made a commitment to improving the business environment and attracting foreign investors. Its Center of Investment Facilitation (CFI) aims to facilitate and promote local investment by reducing administrative delays, streamlining the creation of enterprises, and facilitating the provision of inducements. For more information on the CFI, see http://www.cfihaiti.net/j10/index.php/en/.
Additional information on business opportunities in Haiti can be found at www.export.gov under opportunities, market research, Country Commercial Guides.

Haiti's Membership in International Organizations
Haiti and the United States belong to a number of the same international organizations, including the United Nations, Organization of American States (OAS), International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization. The United States has taken a leading role in organizing international involvement with Haiti. The United States works closely with the OAS, particularly through the Secretary General's "Friends of Haiti" group, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and individual countries to achieve policy goals.