22431: (Arthur) civil society organisations' declaration on the Interim Cooperation Fra (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

Haitian civil society organisations' declaration on the Interim Cooperation
Framework process - 14 June 2004

The undersigned organisations met in Port-au-Prince on 11 June 2004 to begin
to analyse the documents and proposals produced in the ongoing Interim
Cooperation Framework (ICF) process.

The drafting of an ICF, agreed at the 23 March Washington DC meeting and
confirmed at the meeting between the interim government of Haiti and the aid
donors on 22 April, aims, according to the official documentation, "to constitute
the basis of a national development programme covering our country's priority
needs in the short and medium term." More than 180 high level experts from
Haiti and abroad, divided up into 16 thematic groups, were brought together to
prepare documents addressing the state of play and to propose urgent
interventions. The final document will eventually be submitted for financing at a
conference to take place in Washington DC on 19 July which will decide the allocations
to be disbursed to various prioritised projects and programmes.

1. We note the following:

1.1 Despite the good technical aspect of certain documents produced, notably
in the fields of road infrastructure, the environment, and women's affairs,
too few government officials (Ministry of Women's Affairs, Secretary of State
for the Environment) opened up a distribution of the produced texts with a view
to creating a process of consultation and agreement.

1.2 The whole exercise is taking place in the context of an increasing loss
of sovereignty. The supervision of our country is taking place in the context
of a long-term military occupation. This unacceptable situation is the result
of a long process of the deterioration of our institutions and collapse of
State structures which has been accelerated by the application of
neo-liberal-inspired policies over the course of the last 25 years and by the instability
linked to an interminable political crisis.

1.3 The process of drafting the ICF is controlled by external actors with the
complicity of the current government in the framework of a technocratic
approach. This excludes all real participation of the majority and vulnerable
sectors of our country which have always been ignored in decision-making processes
concerning the country's future.

1.4 The ICF is going to become the interim government's programme for the
next two years but, up until now, the Alexandre/Latortue government (with the
exception of the Ministries of Agriculture and of Public Health) has not informed
the country of the main elements of its general policy that will define its
principal approach over the course of its remaining 18 month mandate. This lack
of information is all the more worrying in the context of the absence of a
Parliament. We draw everyone's attention to the fact that the next 18 months
constitute a decisive stage for our country's future, and for the viability of a
real process of national reconstruction.

1.5 The content of the draft documents and summaries that we looked at on 11
June 2004 reveal:
a) an absence of a national vision, and a vision dominated by formulas
inspired by neo-liberalism;
b) a complete silence on crucial aspects notably concerning economic policy
and the country's overall development model;
c) a technical approach which bases itself on prolonging the traditional
option of a dependent State which ignores the priority social needs of our
country's poor and majority sectors;
d) superficial solutions in response to the problem of the abject poverty
which effects two-thirds of our country's citizens. We note, for example, the ICF
process' weak linkage with the work of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers;
e) too little attention paid to the problems effecting producers from the
peasant sector which has traditionally been marginalized by the public investment
- the same goes for the proposals elaborated around the question of food
security;
f) no coherent vision linked to a preferential option in favour of a plan to
strengthen national production as called for by numerous sectors for years;
g) the decision to privatise the Electricity Company (EDH), the
Port-au-Prince Water Board (CAMEP), the Telephone Company (TÉLÉCO), the Airport Authority
(AAN) and the Port Authority (APN) with probably disastrous effects in a
country characterised by the weak purchasing power of more than 80% of users and
potential consumers;
h) insufficient attention paid in certain areas to the crucial questions of
reinforcing and strengthening the structure and capacity of the State. Many of
the recommended measures can even reinforce the process of weakening State
structures. At the same time, we realise we have a double responsibility to
dismantle the traditional oligarchic State and to build a completely different
State capable of shaping national development;
h) no specific convincing strategy taken into account by the various thematic
groups concerning the sectors called upon to play a key role in all serious
processes with national relevance: youth, women, shanty-town residents,
informal sector workers, older people, small and medium size enterprises, amongst
others.

2.- We are particularly alarmed by the fact that:

2.1 The ICF drafting process is taking place in a pseudo-colonial framework.

2.2  The ICF is developing without any concern for transparency. Significant
sums of money of around US$2million have been spent to gather together the ICF
experts for a short period of a few weeks, and next to nothing has been
allocated for a credible consultation process. The three so-called regional
consultation meetings planned to date don't really respect the bare minimum
requirements for a serious consultation (distribution of documents in advance, a
transparent and representative participation, publicising the progress reports,
etc.), and will take place in the framework of a limited and partial invitation.
These meetings (Gonaïves, Cayes, Cap-Haïtien) can in no way be considered as a
valid process of consultation.

2.3 The ICF constitutes an instrument which reinforces the structures and
forms of the existing power structure. It risks aggravating the suffering of the
most excluded and exploited sectors, accelerating the process of the
destruction of our nation, and putting a brake on the necessary ruptures that it is
imperative we make with the current system dominated by an oligarchic State and
economic structures based on financial speculation and the suffering of
chronically disarticulated sectors.

2.4 The proposals elaborated concern the short, medium, and perhaps the long
term. The range of these proposals requires that these choices be discussed
within a framework which takes into account the various sensitivities and the
needs of various sectors and areas of the country.

2.5 The ICF process ignores the multiple efforts to draft communal and local
plans that have taken place over the years, and which led to realistic
proposals and changes that were carried out (for example all that occurred in the
North-East concerning the experiments with decentralisation and the production of
durable local development plans).

3. Our proposals:

3.1 That the basic document produced by the ICF be widely distributed in
Creole to and by grassroots organisations and networks so that they are able to
make informed choices.

3.2 That an inter-sector group be set up charged with establishing oversight
and advocacy concerning the ICF and all drafting processes for political
policies which have an impact on the future of our country.  The analysis and
proposals of the ICF do not correspond to the positions of our organisations and
networks. We must finish with the practices of exclusion which are the root
cause of the fragility of our institutions, and which make it impossible to
implement on a firm base responsible decisions concerning our country's future.

3.3 That various sectors speak out publicly about the ICF and encourage a
real national debate on development options. We ask the Council of Wise People to
speak out publicly on the content and preparation of the ICF. The political
parties, and the decentralised local councils, also have a responsibility on
this matter.

3.4 That a process based on a participatory methodology is established with a
view to producing an alternative development plan. This plan must highlight
the priority of mobilising national resources and savings - including those
assets recovered within the framework of a serious campaign against corrupt - and
will be centred on the priority needs of the majority sectors of the nation.

3.5 That a process be started to relaunch the vitally important popular
movement, in particular by the creation of a space for debates and dialogue about
the redefinition of economic options and the reconfiguration of the political
and cultural institutions with the aim of a genuine re-birth of our nation.


Authorised by:

Marie Eveline Larrieux - SOFA (Solidarite Fanm Ayisyèn),
Camille Chalmers - PAPDA (Plate-forme haïtienne de plaidoyer pour un
Développement Alternatif),
Joseph Georges - SAKS (Sosyete Animasyon ak Kominikasyon Sosyal),

Signed by representatives of :
COZPAM, Plateforme des organisations communautaires de la zone métropolitaine
de Port-au-Prince, CRAD (Centre de Recherches Actions pour le Développement),
UNNOH (Union Nationale des Normaliens Haïtiens),
REFRAKA, MODEPS, RACPABA (Rezo Asosyasyon Kooperativ pou Kòmès ak Pwodwi
Agrikòl Ba Latibonit), KOREGA (Koodinasyon Oganizasyon Rejyonal Grandans), KIPEP
(Komite Inisyativ pou Pwomosyon Enterè Pèmanan Pèp Ayisyen), TÈT KOLE TI
PEYIZAN, CADOR, CHANDEL, RECOCARNO (Réseau des Coopératives Caféières de la Région
Nord), GTIH, FANM YO LA, Caisse populaire de Saint Gérard, APROSIFA (Asosyasyon
pou Promosyon Sante entegral Fanm), KAY FANM, FONDESSA (Fondation  pour le
développement de Dessalines), KROS (Kòdinasyon Rejyonal Oganizasyon Sidès),
OPCA, PAJ (Programme Alternatif de Justice), COOPCA (Federasyon kooperativ
Bèlans), ITEKA (Institi Tekonoloji ak Animasyon), ANDAH (Association Nationale des
Agro-professionnels Haïtiens), SEDREL, APKAB (Asosyasyon Pwodiktè Kooperativ
Kafe Bèlans), RAJES (Rasanbleman Jèn Savanette), POHDH (Plateforme des
organisations haïtiennes des Droits Humains), FANM SAJ, OGANIZASYON POPILÈ GRANMOUN,
AMEN / PEJEFE, SAJ VEYE YO, FANM DESIDE, KNFP (Konsèy Nasyonal Finansman Popilè),
UMHA (Union des médecins haïtiens), GHRAP (Groupe Haïtien de Recherches et
d'Actions Pédagogiques), VEDEK (Viv Espwa pou Devlopman Kapwouj), ENFOFANM, KLK
(Komite Leve Kanpe), RDP (Regroupman Demokratik Popilè).


(translated from French by Charles Arthur for the Haiti Support Group)


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