Background
A longstanding challenge in Haiti, the deficit of adequate, affordable housing was significantly exacerbated by the 2010 earthquake. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has played a critical role in the housing and settlements sector in Haiti both during the immediate response to the 2010 earthquake and now as Haiti works to rebuild. Having shifted gears from essential emergency relief to long-term development, USAID is now concentrating on finding solutions to barriers for adequate supply of affordable housing stock in the country. By collaborating with the Government of Haiti (GOH) and leveraging key partnerships, USAID is focusing on upgrading infrastructure in existing neighborhoods and increasing access to housing finance. This approach builds on Haitian citizens’ own efforts to secure improved housing and create settlements solutions themselves.
Key Challenges
Lack of Quality Housing Stock: Over the next 10 years, the GOH estimates that the country will require up to 500,000 additional housing units to make up for the pre-earthquake housing shortage, replace stock lost during the disaster, and accommodate the significant amount of expected urban growth.
**Unplanned urban growth: **Roughly 70 percent of Port-au-Prince’s pre-earthquake population lived in informal settlements. These neighborhoods lack access to basic services and are often located in high-risk zones. Working with the GOH and the communities themselves to better plan and upgrade these neighborhoods could immediately improve the lives of these households.
Lack of Government Capacity: The GOH continues to recover from the effects of the 2010 earthquake and improve weak institutions. USAID is working to increase the capacity of key Haitian government counterparts to manage and implement housing and settlements solutions.
Unclear Land Tenure: Unclear land tenure poses an ongoing challenge to formal housing development. In many cases, particularly in lower-income areas, land tenure is governed by a range of informal arrangements between renters and owners.
USAID Strategy & Activities
Knowing that the need for safe, low-cost housing far exceeds what donors can meet through new construction, USAID launched a new approach to tackle the problem. This strategy is working to create the conditions necessary for Haitians to secure improved housing and secure settlements solutions themselves and is designed to achieve greater cost efficiency and sustainability. The approach is guided by four key objectives:
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Improve the conditions of existing low-income neighborhoods through better urban planning and targeted infrastructure investments; -
Leverage low-income households’ ability to construct their own homes, by connecting them to more affordable housing finance tools or to serviced land on which they can build incrementally over time (sites and services); -
Strengthen local and national government institutions responsible for this sector; and, -
Help the private sector play a greater role in housing construction.
Neighborhood Upgrading: USAID is funding neighborhood upgrading, community development and Disaster Risk Reduction activities in several GOH-designated high-priority informal settlements, including the emerging city of Canaan. This work entails close coordination with national and local level GOH entities, as well as community residents, and will result in better-organized and better-serviced communities. Through urban planning and training in safe construction practices, the neighborhood upgrading program creates conditions for communities and commerce to thrive.
Housing Finance: By developing new means to access finance, USAID’s strategy promotes equitable expansion of the housing sector with financing tools designed for people with different levels of income. Toward that end, this pilot initiative is providing innovative house financing tools that help participating financial institutions better evaluate and find eligible borrowers. USAID is also targeting weaknesses on the supply side of the housing sector by building capacity among local developers to build affordable housing units and facilitate accessible homeownership.
**“Sites & Services”**Housing Program for Internally Displaced Persons: USAID is piloting several “Sites and Services” (S&S) projects in metropolitan Port-au-Prince to provide cost-effective housing opportunities for residents in remaining internally displaced persons camps. The project provides target families with access to government-owned land parcels, equipped with access to basic services (water networks, roads and electricity), where they can incrementally rebuild on their own. The GOH has prioritized the development of an S&S program as a key pillar of its National Housing strategy.
Government Strengthening: To enhance sustainability, USAID is also working to build the capacity of the GOH to manage the housing sector. The goal is to strengthen public sector capacity to plan, finance and implement policies and programs in the sector. Primary assistance, such as urban planning, is provided to the Unité de Construction de Logements et de Bâtiments Publics (Housing Construction and Public Buildings Unit), which oversees national housing policy for the GOH, and the Entreprise Publique de Promotion de Logements Sociaux (Public Enterprise for the Promotion of Public Housing), the Government’s lead organization on the management of social housing.
Key Accomplishments
USAID provided critical shelter support to Haitians in the immediate aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. As the Agency has pivoted toward sustainable, long-term housing solutions for Haiti, new projects are building on successes and lessons learned from early efforts. Key achievements include:
**Emergency Earthquake Response: **Shelter solutions for more than 328,000 people by providing transitional shelters, repairs to damaged houses, support to host families who housed displaced people, and rental vouchers.
Rehabilitation of Existing Neighborhoods: Through a $65 million investment to the multi-donor Haiti Reconstruction Fund, the U.S. government supported a comprehensive rehabilitation program of earthquake-affected neighborhoods, including the crushed neighborhood of Ravine Pintade, with roughly 11,000 households safely returned to their pre-earthquake communities and community upgrades affecting over 25,000 households.
Construction: Over 900 permanent homes constructed with running water, modern sanitation and electricity; finalizing construction of another 560 units.
Land Tenure: Pilot program to map land tenure, house ownership, and demographic data for more than 10,000 plots in the Delmas 32 and Carrefour-Feuille neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince.