USAID in Haiti: Priority partners and country systems

Two years after a massive earthquake ravaged Haiti, the U.S. Agency for International Development is reassessing its work and slowly starting to funnel aid through local institutions. What will be USAID’s focus in the coming year? We asked Elizabeth Hogan, director of USAID’s Haiti task team. What types of implementing partners does USAID most want to work with in Haiti now? Addressing the range of development challenges in Haiti requires that our partners have specific technical expertise, as well as the appropriate oversight and accounting systems for managing U.S. government funds. USAID seeks to bring new partners, including local organizations, small and disadvantaged businesses, and others who can offer innovative development solutions, to the table. As more of our reconstruction programs are designed and awarded, USAID plans to increase local contracting. The U.S. government is concentrating its resources on four main pillars to maximize impact: infrastructure/energy, food and economic security, health and education, as well as governance, rule of law and security. As programs are designed, solicitations and detailed scopes of work will be posted online at www.fbo.gov for contracting opportunities and www.grants.gov for grant opportunities. (Most of these funding opportunities are also featured on the Devex website, the editor.) Other USAID projects, such as the Leverage Effective Application of Direct Investments program implemented by the Pan American Development Foundation, and the Haiti Development Innovations Venture provide opportunities for those with technical expertise to approach USAID with business plans and scalable, innovative projects of their own design. LEAD will leverage USAID funds to partner with Haitian small and medium-sized enterprises and U.S.-based investors through business and social entrepreneurship, increasing the development impact of remittances. The project will provide matching grants to establish or strengthen SMEs in target areas and encourages the participation of Haitian diaspora members along with other U.S.-based investors who are familiar with the business environment in Haiti. USAID’s DIV will fund new projects that have the potential to rapidly increase the pace of development in Haiti. The focus is on innovation through technology, new business models, processes, or novel combinations of tried and true techniques. Based on proposals received, USAID will invest in carefully vetted innovations tailored to the Haitian context, measure the impact of these innovations, and scale up those which are successful. How swiftly is USAID going to shift toward funneling assistance through Haitian institutions? As part of the USAID Forward reform initiative, USAID is working to build local development leadership worldwide, including in Haiti — a process that will be phased in over the coming years. We will strengthen country systems and local organizations, and as financial and resource management capacity improves, USAID will increase its use of partner country systems. USAID is working alongside Haiti’s new government to support a shared vision for country-led development. A key component of the U.S. government’s strategy for assistance in Haiti is to strengthen the government of Haiti’s capacity to provide for its citizens. However, even before the earthquake, government capacity was limited, and the Haitian government lost an estimated 18 percent of its workforce, more than 95 percent of its ministry buildings, and decades of records in the earthquake. Therefore, transitioning to local systems will take time. There have been some concerns about delays in project selection, contract awards and payment — and fears that relying more on country systems will increase those problems. Are those fears valid? How ready are Haitian institutions to take the lead on these issues and pay international organizations promptly? USAID is increasingly channeling our development assistance through Haitian institutions and organizations in order to increase the country’s capacity to provide for its own citizens and reduce its reliance on outsiders. However, this will be a gradual process, and USAID will continue to engage with international partner organizations to implement programs and work with USAID to build local capacity. Working in partnership with the government of Haiti and Haitian civil society to raise living standards and achieve lasting results requires thorough planning to ensure that programs are well-designed and funding is well-managed. Using local systems may be more difficult to execute in the immediate term, but if USAID’s development efforts work around such systems rather than through them, we risk undermining the country’s ability to perform key functions and deliver essential services. While using more in-country partners may mean sacrificing some immediate development impact, the long-term impact and sustainability of development outcomes will be strengthened. A key part of the U.S. government’s strategy is to improve the capacity of local institutions in Haiti by providing them with opportunities to administer programs, while at the same time ensuring rigorous oversight of our support. Since the earthquake, we have worked directly or through subcontractors with about 500 Haitian firms, and USAID is increasing local contracting as more of our longer-term projects are designed and awarded. We are conducting due diligence before awarding money, and putting in place tracking and transparency measures to ensure that American taxpayer funds are spent well. To ensure Haitian firms understand USAID rules and regulations, we have authorized local certified public accounting firms so they can provide financial management services to local organizations. This will help potential Haitian partners put in place appropriate oversight and accounting systems to meet standards for managing U.S. government funds. It will take time for Haitian institutions to develop the full capacity to administer programs. However, training and technical assistance will allow the government of Haiti and Haitian civil society to take the lead in the coming years in implementing a Haitian-led vision for development in Haiti. Read more Haiti development news.