This Report on Supplemental Assistance for Haiti is provided in response to Senate Report 113-195 accompanying S. 2499, incorporated by reference into the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the U.S. Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2015 (Div. J, P.L. 113-235), and calls for the Secretary of State to continue to submit the report on supplemental assistance for Haiti described in section 1003(b) of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010 (P.L. 111-212) every 180 days until such funds are expended, as recommended in the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO)’s “Haiti Reconstruction” report (GAO-13-558). This report provides an update to the June 2016 submission of obligations, expenditures, and program outputs and outcomes funded by supplemental appropriations within the Post-Earthquake U.S. Government Haiti Strategy Toward Renewal and Economic Opportunity and includes an update on activity through September 2016.
Since January 2010, the U.S. government has committed $3.2 billion and disbursed $2.5 billion for reconstruction and development activities in Haiti. This amount includes the $918 million in emergency supplemental funding appropriated by Congress after the January 2010 earthquake.
Haiti (Fiscal Year 2010 Supplemental) Data as of September 30, 2016
| $ in thousands for all items (except total) |
TOTAL Actual |
TOTAL Obligations |
Total Disbursements |
TOTAL % of Disbursements from Actual |
| Economic Support Fund (ESF) |
763.0 |
756.4 |
652.8 |
86% |
| International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) |
144.6 |
144.6 |
123.0 |
85% |
| Admin & Evaluation |
9.9 |
9.9 |
9.5 |
96% |
| Total |
918 Million |
911 Million |
785 Million |
85% |
Terms
Obligations: For the purposes of the USAID spending reflected in this chart, obligations consist of legally-binding agreements that place funds into grants and contracts with implementing partners. Transfers of USAID funds to other entities such as the Multi-Donor Trust Fund are considered fully obligated and disbursed.
Obligations: For the purposes of INL spending reflected in this chart, obligations consist of legally-binding agreements. Transfers of INL funds to other entities are considered fully obligated, expended, and disbursed.
Disbursements: Payments that liquidate obligations; i.e., usually payments made to USG implementing partners as work is done.
Infrastructure and Energy: The U.S. government provided housing solutions for more than 328,000 individuals and supported efforts with other donors that resulted in nearly 94 percent of people in displaced persons camps finding alternative housing arrangements. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) shifted away from building new settlements, with 906 homes constructed at two locations and 426 homes constructed in partnership with other donors at two other locations (the number of sites was reduced with the termination of USAID’s work at one location due to technical and operational issues). In support of the Government of Haiti’s revised housing strategy, USAID assistance continues to focus on improving existing communities and leveraging the ability of low-income Haitian households to build and improve their homes by accessing domestic credit markets. USAID continues to work in both formal and informal neighborhoods by supporting the capacity development of the Government of Haiti to manage these neighborhoods and conduct training to promote practices for better quality housing construction. USAID’s innovative housing finance program has engaged a number of private sector actors including financing institutions and property developers. Loans have been issued for improvements, expansion, and new housing work.
By request of the Haitian government, port assistance was redirected from constructing a new port at Fort Liberte to rehabilitating the port at Cap-Haitien to meet the near- to medium-term demand for port services in the northern part of Haiti. The U.S. government in collaboration with the Government of Haiti developed the procurement documents for a USAID-funded design/build port contract and a Government of Haiti public-private partnership transaction contract for operation and maintenance of the improved port. The USAID procurement process is in the pre-qualification stage. A contract award is planned for August 2017 with an anticipated 30 month design/build period. The Government of Haiti has completed the competitive pre-qualification process and the three pre-qualified entities are preparing their bids. The Government of Haiti projects it will award a contract for port operation and maintenance in May 2017. USAID awarded contracts for customs and regulatory reforms and implementation is proceeding. For the utility in the north, reliable electricity continues to be provided to the tenants of the Caracol Industrial Park and five surrounding communities in which electricity bill collection rates exceed 95 percent.
Food and Economic Security: The Feed the Future/North (FtF/N) project is being implemented and successfully increasing the incomes of thousands of Haitian farmers. Two droughts, a major flood, and management problems, however, have hindered the implementation of this project. In addition to FtF/N, four new agricultural projects – including two small activities with local
partners – in the west and Saint Marc corridors have started as follow-ons to the previous FtF/West program, which officially ended in February 2015. Through U.S government agricultural programs, the combined effect of increased yields, better resource management, and the strengthening of markets has had a significant positive impact on food security by doubling farmers’ incomes and improving their livelihoods. The FtF projects have introduced improved seeds, fertilizer, and innovative technologies to more than 100,000 farmers. These activities have increased yields in four focus crops – rice, corn, beans, and plantains – and have increased exports for mango and cacao. The introduction of new technology coupled with appropriate inputs and the rehabilitation of irrigation canals allow farmers to double or triple yields of the focus crops. USAID has planted more than five million fruit and forest tree seedlings, built close to 400 greenhouses, and constructed gabions to increase water infiltration. Greenhouses were introduced to allow farmers to generate income and keep from destroying the environment by alleviating the need to cut down trees for farming.
The U.S. government strategy is helping achieve the Haitian government’s goal of creating jobs and increasing household income levels, savings, and other assets, resulting in increased economic security. The matching grant program for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is doing very well. A total of 48 grants were awarded through September 2016, leveraging more than $10 million in private sector investment for $6.2 million of USAID funds. To date, this grant program has created more than 12,000 new jobs. Through the local enterprise and value chain enhancement program, the U.S. government is also providing technical assistance and business development services to help SMEs become more competitive and better able to manage their assets. This includes technical assistance in both product quality and management. This program is actively working with 599 SMEs and has created more than 2,689 jobs. As previously mentioned, the utility in the north supported by the U.S. government in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank and the Haitian government, continues to supply reliable power to the tenants of the Caracol Industrial Park and five surrounding communities; so far, the park has created 10,000 jobs. Commercial banks have increased their lending to SMEs, using USAID’s Development Credit Authority guarantee program. These programs are working to help Haiti’s private sector; an essential contributor to the country’s long-term economic development and vitality.
Health and Other Basic Services: Progress continues toward rebuilding Haiti’s health infrastructure. The Government of Haiti awarded a design-build contract for the Haiti State University Hospital, funded through a $15 million contribution from each donor: the U.S. government, Agence Francaise de Development, and the Government of Haiti. USAID funded $20 million for the construction of the National Campus of Health Sciences. Work on this facility is substantially complete. Construction began on the remainder of the health infrastructure portfolio with a number of the smaller clinic upgrades already completed. Sustainability of major capital investments continues to be a focus of discussions with the Ministry of Health. The disabled population continues to be a major focus of the U.S. government strategy.
Governance and Rule of Law: Haiti’s largest-ever class of 1,475 police cadets graduated from basic training in May 2016. The Haitian National Police (HNP) determined the police school facilities were inadequate to support classes of this size consistently. The current class was reduced, and approximately 965 cadets are expected to graduate in March 2017. Upon graduation, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) will have supported more than 5,665 new HNP officers since the earthquake, and the HNP will reach its five year target of 15,000 officers. The police are matching force growth with strong leadership. The interim government appointed Haiti’s only graduate of the FBI academy as HNP Director General in April, and he was confirmed by parliament for a three-year term in August. As the first career officer to rise to this rank from entry level, he appointed several U.S. trained officers to leadership positions. Six of the 13 senior officers INL supported since 2010 in the executive-level Inter-American Defense College training program now head key police units, including regional departments, corrections, the presidential guard, and strategic planning. The HNP lacks administrative and operational capacities and resources to become self-sustaining. Haiti must address rule of law challenges in its corrections and justice sectors. The Haitian government will need to build upon policing successes and focus on improving prison conditions and adopting systemic legal reforms to address pre trial detention.
The Haitian-led community police “youth explorer” outreach program, mentored by INL-funded rotations of New York City Police officers, produced in its first year several candidates who competed to become police cadets in 2015 2016. INL prioritizes gender equality in all of its programs.
The HNP promotes women to higher positions and seeks placements for women in elite units. INL completed two prisons in 2016, a 250-bed women’s prison in Cabaret in January, and a 300-bed prison in Fort Liberte in August. INL will complete construction of one additional prison in 2017 and is helping the UN complete a fourth. The HNP trained and assigned 183 members of the most recent graduating cadet class to bolster the understaffed corrections department to help it open and operate new facilities. In December 2015, Haiti achieved its first prosecution of a government official under its 2014 anti-corruption law, resulting in a conviction, prison sentence, and fines. Two cases that began in March 2016 concluded in April and May with Haiti’s first convictions under the 2014 anti trafficking-in-persons law. Judges in all three cases credited U.S. (INL- and USAID-provided) mentoring with assisting the successful adjudications.
One of the core principles of the U.S. government’s Haiti strategy is that assistance will be Haitian-led to build the country’s capacity. The U.S. government has involved Haitian civil society organizations in identifying priorities and in conceptualizing, designing, and implementing its programs, while keeping communities apprised of progress and changes in activity timelines. Such engagement is critical to ensuring local ownership, sustainability of activities, and transparent distribution of resources. USAID began the consultative process for developing a Country Development Cooperation Strategy for 2018-2023. USAID Haiti held individual strategic consultations with 15 Haitian government ministries and six donor agencies; two consultative strategic fora with an estimated 230 civil society leaders and/or implementing partners; and a diaspora roundtable with an estimated 30 representatives from key diaspora organizations. These consultations are in addition to the civil society and Haitian representatives consulted for the Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Assessment; the Gender Assessment; the Youth Assessment; the Biodiversity and Tropical Forestry Assessment; the Political Economy Analysis; the Public Financial Management Capacity Assessment; and the Private Sector Landscape Analysis (forthcoming).