Attachments
2021 session
23 July 2020–22 July 2021
Agenda item 12 (d)
Coordination, programme and other questions: long-term
programme of support for Haiti
Summary
The present report is submitted pursuant to Economic and Social Council resolution 2020/11, by which the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti was requested to submit a report on its work, with recommendations, as appropriate, to the Economic and Social Council for its consideration at its 2021 session. In fulfilment of its mandate, the Group held a series of virtual meetings with national authorities, representatives of international financial institutions and civil society, as well as representatives of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti and the United Nations country team. Some of the recommendations emerging from the discussions are reflected in the present report.
The Group acknowledges that Haiti continues to be affected by a complex situation, with poverty, social exclusion, economic inequalities, weak institutions, human rights violations, impunity and corruption being the causes of the current political crisis, while, at the same time, political fragility prevents the Government of Haiti from successfully setting the country on a sustainable development path. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, amid increasing insecurity, adds to the challenge, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and political and social tensions.
The Group is concerned about the dire humanitarian situation, with 4.4 million people, or 40 per cent of the country’s population, requiring humanitarian aid. The Group calls upon humanitarian, development and peace actors to ensure the complementarity of their actions to better reduce risks and vulnerabilities and, therefore, humanitarian needs, to help to address the root causes of the country’s deep poverty and lack of development and to promote long-term sustainable development.
The Group underscores that sustained support from the international community, including the United Nations, international financial institutions and the bilateral development partners of Haiti, is required to help the country to effectively respond to and build back better from COVID-19, as well as to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Group calls for such efforts to be well coordinated and coherent so that impact can be maximized to the benefit of the Haitian people.