New report highlights the importance of devolving decisions to local level in Haiti
A new report published by Progressio, in partnership with CAFOD, International HIV-AIDS Alliance, SCIAF and Tearfund, calls for the international community to encourage increased decision-making at local level (or “decentralisation”) in Haiti. Haitian civil society voices argue in the report that taking decisions at local level whenever possible is key to successfully tackling Haiti’s reconstruction and development challenges for the long term.
Two years on from the earthquake that caused damage and losses worth US$8 billion and left nearly 1.2 million people homeless, Haiti still faces huge challenges; but work is now taking place to try and deliver a long-lasting recovery.
Thinking local in Haiti: Civil society perspectives on decentralisation (1MB PDF) is based on interviews with 12 Haitian civil society organisations. It shows that there is a widely shared belief that decentralisation is essential for a viable and effective reconstruction process in the country.
The report proposes that a more decentralised approach could improve the accountability of government and reconstruction agencies to Haiti’s people. It also suggests that it could encourage greater participation in decision-making processes.
The report suggests that failure to implement decentralised approaches encourages trends such as over-migration into the capital city, Port-au-Prince. By contrast, increased investment and decision- making at provincial level would improve the availability of jobs and services across the country as a whole.
The report also outlines some practical recommendations for Haitian national and local government, multilateral agencies, donors, national and international NGOs and other relevant stakeholders interested in supporting reconstruction and development work in Haiti through the ‘shared project’ of decentralisation.
Download Thinking local in Haiti: Civil society perspectives on decentralisation (1MB PDF) published October 2012 by Progressio in partnership with CAFOD, International HIV-AIDS Alliance, SCIAF and Tearfund.
Photo: A meeting at the Henfrasa tent camp in Port-au-Prince, June 2010 (photo © Natasha Fillion/Progressio)
