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#233: From HOL: Report of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti (fwd)
From: Max Blanchet <MaxBlanchet@worldnet.att.net>
Partial Report of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti
Economic and Social Council
United Nations E/1999/103
Economic and Social Council
Distr.: General
2 July 1999
Original: English
Substantive session of 1999
Geneva, 530 July 1999
Agenda item 7
Coordination, programme and other questions
Report of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti
Note by the Secretary-General
In accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1999/4, the
Secretary-General has the honour to transmit herewith to the Council,
for its consideration, the report of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti.
Report of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti
Contents
I. Introduction
II. General economic and national context
III. Role of the United Nations system
IV. Adequacy, coherence, effectiveness and coordination of the
international community's assistance to Haiti
A. Adequacy of assistance
B. Coherence of assistance
C. Effectiveness of assistance
D. Coordination of assistance
V. Supplementary observations
VI. Recommendations
A. Need for a long-term programme of support for Haiti
B. Need for national stability
C. Need for a secure domestic environment
D. Need for a synthesis report on United Nations activities in Haiti
I. Introduction
1. In its resolution 1999/4 of 7 May 1999, the Economic and Social
Council decided to create an Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti to submit
recommendations to the Council, at its substantive session of 1999, on
how to ensure that the assistance of the international community in
supporting the Government of Haiti to achieve sustainable development is
adequate, coherent, well coordinated and effective.
2. In the same resolution, the Council decided that the Ad Hoc Advisory
Group was to be composed of five Council members designated by the
President of the Council on the basis of equitable geographical
distribution and in consultation with regional groups and the Government
of Haiti. Following those consultations, the Council approved the
members of the Advisory Group as follows:
Makarim Wibisono (Indonesia), Asian Group (Chairman of the Advisory
Group)
Janis Priedkalns (Latvia), Eastern European Group
Anund Briyay Neewoor (Mauritius), African Group
Gelson Fonseca Jr. (Brazil), Latin American and Caribbean Group
Michel Dubal (Canada), Western European and other States Group
At some of the meetings of the Advisory Group, Mr. Fonseca was
represented by Enio Cordeiro, Minister Plenipotentiary, Permanent
Mission of Brazil to the United Nations.
3. Haitian authorities were consulted by the Advisory Group at all
stages in the preparation of the present report. In accordance with
Council resolution 1999/4, operative paragraph 2, the Advisory Group
sought to maintain a constant dialogue with the official representatives
of Haiti and to involve them in all its activities.
4. The first meeting of the Advisory Group was convened on Thursday, 13
May 1999. The Chairman of the Advisory Group, Makarim Wibisono, convened
and chaired a series of meetings and briefing sessions aimed at
gathering information from various sources and for considering the most
appropriate way for the Council to contribute to the ongoing efforts
towards promoting sustainable development in Haiti.
5. On 28 May 1999, the Group held its first briefing with officials from
the World Bank; the United Nations Development Programme; and the
Department of Political Affairs, the Department of Peacekeeping
Operations, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and
the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations
Secretariat.
6. A meeting was held on 7 June 1999 with the following representatives
of the United Nations in Haiti: Julian Harston, representative of the
Secretary-General in Haiti and head of the United Nations Civilian
Police Mission in Haiti (MIPONUH), Colin Granderson, executive head of
the International Civilian Mission in Haiti (MICIVIH), a joint
Organization of American States (OAS)/United Nations mission, and Oscar
Fernández-Taranco, United Nations resident coordinator in Haiti and
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative as
well as deputy representative of the Secretary-General.
7. On 15 July 1999, the Chairman of the Advisory Group convened a
working lunch for its members, together with representatives of "Friends
of Haiti" group of countries, namely Argentina, Canada, Chile, France,
the United States of America and Venezuela. The discussions involved an
exchange of views on the developments in Haiti and the future of the
United Nations presence in that country.
8. Following an invitation of the World Bank, which is mandated to
coordinate donor assistance to Haiti, the Advisory Group went to
Washington, D.C., on 18 June 1999 to take part in an informal Haiti
donors meeting. The meeting, organized by the Bank, consisted of a
series of presentations by the various stakeholders of development
assistance, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the European Union, the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA). A UNDP representative also
attended.
9. From 27 to 29 June 1999, the Advisory Group paid a visit to Haiti,
organized by the office of the representative of the Secretary-General,
with the help of the Haitian Government. The visit included:
(a) A meeting with the President of Haiti, René Préval; a working
session with the Prime Minister, Jacques Edouard Alexis, and Fred
Joseph, Minister of the Economy and Finance; and working sessions with
the Secretary of State for Public Security, Robert Manuel, as well as
other authorities in Haiti;
(b) Meetings with the Haitian political leaders and members of a broad
spectrum of civil society;
(c) Meetings with the "Friends of Haiti" group of countries;
(d) Heads of the United Nations agencies involved in Haiti.
10. The Advisory Group wishes to express its deep gratitude to all the
entities at the multilateral and bilateral levels involved in assisting
Haiti in completing its task, in particular the World Bank, the office
of the representative of the Secretary-General in Haiti, and the office
of the resident coordinator in Haiti. The latter, besides providing a
continuos and multifaceted help, prepared a brief which constituted an
important input for the present report. The Advisory Group also wishes
to thank the Department of Economic and Social Affairs for its
unstinting support.
II. General economic and national context
11. As noted in the last report of the Secretary-General to the Security
Council on the situation in Haiti (S/1999/579), the country has been
slowly recovering from its most recent political crisis since April
1997. In March 1999, a new Prime Minister was appointed, and in April
1999 a new transitional Government was formed. A new Provisional
Electoral Council has also been created, and has started work on
preparations for legislative and local elections, which are expected to
take place by December 1999, with a new Parliament scheduled to be in
place by 11 January 2000. Legislative elections will be followed by
Presidential elections, which are planned for November 2000.
12. The Secretary-General has characterized as encouraging the steps
taken so far by the Haitian political leadership in its efforts to
resolve the protracted political crisis through elections, and has
called on all Haitian political leaders to participate constructively in
the electoral process to ensure its success. In recognition of the fact
that the forthcoming legislative and local elections are the only viable
way to resolve the present crisis, the transition Government, in its
recently issued plan of action, announced plans to work closely with the
Provisional Electoral Council to ensure free, fair and transparent
elections, and to seek to revive the interest in participation of the
Haitian population in the democratization process. For their part, the
donor community and the United Nations system have pledged to actively
support the electoral process through direct financial, logistical and
technical support, on the provision that the Government takes adequate
measures to ensure security and transparency. This support is being
provided in conjunction with the role of political facilitation being
played by the "Friends of Haiti" Group of Ambassadors, the
representative of the Secretary-General, and a number of personalities,
including the former President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias.
13. Haiti continues to be a least developed country, the only one in the
western hemisphere. Its indicators on situational development compare
poorly at both regional and interregional levels. Haiti's annual per
capita income of US$ 250 is significantly below the average of US$ 3,320
for Latin America and the Caribbean region. Based on its assessment in
March 1998 of poverty in Haiti, the World Bank estimates that about 80
per cent of the approximately two thirds of the population that live in
the rural areas are poor, with about two thirds of those considered to
be extremely poor. In addition to the low gross domestic product (GDP)
per capita, Haiti also has serious wealth distribution issues to
address. It is estimated that about 4 per cent of the population own 66
per cent of the country's entire resources, 16 per cent own 14 per cent,
70 per cent own barely 20 per cent, while 10 per cent of the population
is considered to be entirely destitute.
14. Despite these negative social indicators, trends in overall economic
performance since the return from exile of the constitutional Government
in 1994 show some positive achievements. The latest IMF economic
performance review mission conducted in March 1999 highlighted some of
these achievements.
15. The current IMF-monitored economic programme put in place in
November 1998 as a follow-up to the 1997/98 programme is designed to
maintain macroeconomic stability and make further progress in the area
of structural reform while the political situation settles, and while a
possible new enhanced structural adjustment facility programme is being
considered. The 1998/99 programme was formulated taking into
consideration the negative effects of hurricane Georges. It aims to
promote output growth, contain inflation and central government budget
deficits, strengthen international reserves and continue support for
structural reforms in the public enterprise sector. The programme also
takes into account and endorses donor-supported sectoral policies to
improve efficiency in the areas of education, health, justice,
infrastructure rehabilitation and maintenance.
16. These relatively positive trends must however be viewed within the
framework of enormous development challenges, particularly the need to
combat extreme mass poverty while uniting the country around a shared,
positive and long-term vision of its future. This challenge is
compounded by the protracted political crisis that has further eroded
the authority of the State and its already diminished capacity to
deliver basic social services to the population. At another level, the
challenge is that of managing the development process to ensure that
immediate national and international actions to alleviate extreme and
massive poverty do not lose sight of the need to build strong national
governance institutions in the medium and long term.
17. Beyond the fundamental requirement to reinstate and significantly
improve upon the basic functions of the State and the institutions of
government, the World Bank poverty assessment report (1998) also
recommended a number of measures that would need to be taken to ensure
sustainable economic and social development in Haiti. These include (a)
strengthening macroeconomic stability and reducing distortions so as to
encourage private sector investment; (b) improving the quality of
government spending in order to invest in basic social services and
raise the level of human capital; and (c) rationalizing the assistance
provided by external donors.
18. The mandate of the newly formed transitional Government, installed
in April 1999, is limited to facilitating the organization of the
upcoming general elections and identifying short- and medium-term
priorities that a subsequent government could start to address on a more
sustainable basis. Given the present situation in which the Government
is called upon to operate, its actions at the time can only be of a
short-term nature, with its first priority being given to organizing
free and fair elections as soon as possible to help guarantee
institutional stability. Its action in the above-mentioned sectors will
thus consist of short-term projects and policy reflections to identify
viable approaches for subsequent governments.
III. Role of the United Nations system
19. The United Nations system in Haiti is made up of:
(a) Two missions, MIPONUH, in charge of the civilian police, and
MICIVIH, a human rights observation mission. These missions report
through the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of
Political Affairs, respectively, to the Security Council and the General
Assembly;
(b) Seven agencies (UNDP, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Food Programme
(WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), the Pan American Health Organization/World Health
Organization), who report through their respective governing bodies and
the Economic and Social Council to the General Assembly;
(c) The Bretton Woods institutions (World Bank and IMF).
In addition, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is
permanently associated with all United Nations system activities in
Haiti.
20. Unlike the bilateral and other multilateral institutions represented
in Haiti, the United Nations agencies have a degree of flexibility that
has enable d them to work closely with both the Government and NGOs in
assisting the population at the grass-roots level, both during and after
the embargo that followed the 1991 military coup. The areas of
assistance include the following:
(a) Good governance, including support to the democratization process,
police mentoring, judicial system reform, human rights, state
modernization and reforms, decentralization, participatory local
governance and electoral support;
(b) Universal health care, including the fight against human
immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and
population issues;
(c) Disaster prevention, preparedness and management;
(d) Promoting productive employment;
(e) Basic education for all;
(f) Protection and restoration of the environment;
(g) Food security;
(h) Cultural development and tourism;
(i) Culture of peace and migration;
(j) Support for coordination mechanisms of Governments, donors, and the
United Nations system.
21. Excluding the World Bank and IMF, the United Nations system's
disbursements in Haiti in support of socio-economic development
objectives stand at US$ 127.8 million since the return of the
constitutional Government. During this period, UNDP has been the largest
United Nations system donor, with US$ 54 million disbursed between 1995
and 1998. Since 1998, however, UNDP disbursements have greatly
diminished, due in part to an overall drop in UNDP resources at the
central level. Other important United Nations system donors include WFP,
WHO and UNICEF, with disbursements of more than US$ 10 million each
between 1995 and 1998.
22. At a meeting held in April 1999 chaired by the resident coordinator,
who also acts as the UNDP resident representative and deputy
representative of the Secretary-General, it was agreed that progress
achieved in the field of inter-agency coordination be further
consolidated through the preparation of a common country assessment by
the end of 1999. This is a key step under the Secretary-General's reform
programme as it will lead to the formulation of a United Nations
development assistance framework in 2000, as well as harmonized
programming cycles by 2002. It should also complement the World Bank's
country development framework. Thanks to the common country assessment,
the United Nations agencies will have the elements necessary to define a
long-term United Nations development assistance programme for Haiti, and
to further harmonize and integrate their operations.
23. In response to the more urgent requirements for disaster
preparedness, regular meetings of the disaster management team have been
held in order to prepare for the hurricane season. In 1999, such
activities by the United Nations system in Haiti will benefit from a
newly approved UNDP-financed technical assistance project, which in
collaboration with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs will reinforce the capacity of the Haitian authorities to
prevent and manage disasters.
IV. Adequacy, coherence, effectiveness and coordination of the
international community's assistance to Haiti
A. Adequacy of assistance
24. The international community, including the United Nations system,
responded to the return of the constitutional Government from exile at
the end of 1994 with a resumption of official development assistance,
beginning in 1995. The total volume of aid, however, has been dropping
quite significantly. Ongoing programmes are currently limited to levels
formulated and approved before the June 1997 electoral controversy and
subsequent resignation of the Government. As shown in table 1, total
bilateral and multilateral assistance to Haiti has dropped by about 35
per cent between 1995 and 1998. Far from signifying a deliberate
decision by donors to reduce aid to Haiti, this drop is directly linked
to absorptive capacity constraints and non-approval of available loans
by the Haitian Parliament. As of December 1998, IDB and the World Bank
alone has a combined total of over US$ 570 million worth of new
programmes and projects awaiting approval by the Haitian Parliament or
finalization by the formulation missions. As a result of the discords
between the executive and legislative branches, these new programmes
have still not been approved and will not be until a new parliament is
in place. Many other partners are in a similar situation, which has had
a very negative impact on the rate of resource flows to Haiti. It is
hoped that the upcoming elections will provide the institutional
framework required to ensure that aid flows to Haiti can again become
adequate.
25. Although Haiti's foreign assistance needs are enormous, it should be
said that despite this significant drop, Haiti is still a major
recipient of development assistance, with a per capita aid of $74 in
1995, $57 in 1996 and $47 in 1997, compared to an average $12 per capita
for the developing world at large.
B. Coherence of assistance
26. On the whole, it can be said that external assistance to Haiti since
the return of the constitutional Government has sought to respond to
national development needs identified by the Government and the
international community. The framework within which most of these needs
were identified at the time was the emergency recovery programme to
which donors pledged funds. So far, the areas of concentration of
foreign assistance have addressed the priority areas contained in this
programme, as well as in other jointly formulated bilateral and
multilateral programmes. However, the aid policies of some partners have
required them to work directly at the grass-roots level, using
international NGOs as executing agents. While this approach has helped
achieve significant results at this level ...