Finding a path to peace, stability, and development in Haiti

By Dirk Reinermann and Lilia Burunciuc

Less than an hour after landing in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Wednesday last week we were already at the National Emergency Operation Center of the Direction Générale de la Protection Civile discussing how the International Development Association (IDA) can help strengthen the country’s disaster risk management capacity. Remarkably, the center was launched in May 2024 despite the ongoing security and political crisis at the time, demonstrating the resilience of the IDA program implementation in Haiti. We witnessed similar results in other programs and during the field visit to the Southern Peninsula, where IDA projects are having a visible impact on the lives of the Haitian residents of that area.??

The World Bank's IDA is maintaining its steadfast commitment to Haiti as the country faces a far-reaching and multifaceted crisis. Like many other fragile and conflict-affected states, Haiti is contending with a deteriorating economy, food insecurity, political volatility, and natural disasters. Severe gang violence in the capital of Port au Prince is one manifestation of social and economic instability that has no easy solution. Under these conditions, IDA’s focus is on helping Haiti stabilize and break the crisis-fragility trap, a vicious cycle in which compounding crises fuel further insecurity.? ??

During our trip from August 28–30, 2024, we met with Prime Minister Gary Conille, cabinet ministers, senior government officials, development partners, Haitian people benefiting from IDA’s support, and other key stakeholders. The trip provided an opportunity to reaffirm World Bank support under the new transitional government and discuss how to maximize the impact of IDA investments in the country.? ?

Reaching millions with support for health, education, and food security?

The World Bank has provided the people of Haiti with critical support in health, education, food security, and to build resilience. These efforts have increased access to maternal and child health services for about 1.8 million people and enabled 3.5 children to be immunized.??

With the World Bank’s help, for example, the Mouline Health Center, devastated by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and an earthquake in 2021, has been refurbished and now serves about 4,000 patients. World Bank funding has also been used to provide conditional grants to over 100 schools, allocate textbooks and school kits to over 80,000 public school students a year, and prepare about 8 million warm school meals for children during the 2021–2022 school year. In addition, cash transfers of $300 each were delivered to almost 4,000 households.?

IDA will continue its support for Haiti’s core services, while working with the government to prioritize reforms for macroeconomic stability and to strengthen accountable, transparent, and inclusive governance.??

Four in 10 IDA dollars support countries facing fragility, conflict, and violence?

IDA’s concessional model enables it to provide critical support for Haiti and other countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV). Globally, IDA has increased its support for FCV countries by five-fold over the past decade. These commitments involve about 40 percent of total IDA resources and comprise more than half of all grants.?

Our work is strongly aligned with the World Bank’s FCV Strategy for 2020–2025, which recognizes that addressing the drivers of FCV is essential to reducing extreme poverty and making progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. IDA offers countries flexible, adaptive, and fit-for-purpose financing mechanisms and risk management tools, with targeted and tailored support to help chart new development paths.?

To achieve maximum impact, we partner with other organizations, such as United Nations agencies, the International Monetary Fund, other development banks, the European Union, bilateral partners, regional institutions, the private sector, and civil society.??

In Haiti, the World Bank is leveraging its status as a trusted development partner to facilitate the expansion of reforms through dialogue with the government and other critical stakeholders, including the private sector, academia, the media, and other nongovernmental actors.?? ?

Current commitments to Haiti??

By the end of April 2024, IDA invested $1.3 billion in Haiti, complemented by $53.7?million from trust funds. More than 80?percent of IDA-backed projects are implemented outside of the country's capital to ensure that funding reaches the poorest people.??

Our visit in August provided an opportunity to emphasize the need to complete the consultation process for the new country partnership strategy and how the FCV envelope can top Haiti’s IDA allocation. This could enable Haiti to benefit from additional funds to support its efforts to address the current crisis and the underlying drivers of conflict.? ??

By focusing on the results that matter most for the country, IDA support will help the government and the people of Haiti scale up efforts that will support a path to peace, stability and development.? ?