Haiti: International Assistance Strategy for the Interim Government and Congressional Concerns

Publication Date: November 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: International relations

Type:

Coverage: Haiti

Abstract:

Haiti and its multilateral and bilateral donors developed an international assistance strategy, known as the Interim Cooperation Framework (ICF), to address Haiti's short-term needs between the collapse of the government of President JeanBertrand Aristide in February 2004 and the initial phase of a new government scheduled to be inaugurated in February 2006. The World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations, and the European Union co-sponsored the International Donors Conference on Haiti in Washington, D.C., on July 19-20, 2004. The objective of the conference was to garner international financial support for the ICF, which outlines Haiti's priority needs and programs for 2004-2006.

The Interim Cooperation Framework establishes priority needs and projects that fall under four broad categories, or "axes": political governance and national dialogue; economic governance and institutional development; economic recovery; and access to basic services. For each of these four strategic axes, the Framework provides a strategy, priority objectives, and monitoring indicators.

Many congressional concerns regarding Haitian development are addressed by the priorities and programs outlined in the Interim Cooperative Framework. The main congressional concerns expressed regarding the Donors Conference strategy is the rate at which funds are being disbursed and the effectiveness of the aid being provided. International organizations and governments pledged $1.085 billion, to be disbursed over a two and a half-year period, from July 2004 through September 2006, eight months into a new administration, if elections proceed according to schedule.

Initial disbursement was slow. According to the World Bank, however, the rate of disbursement began to improve after about six months. At just under the halfway point of the Donors Conference time-frame, a little less than half of the pledged funding had been disbursed, a tentative estimate of $500 million as of July 2005. Disbursement has been uneven among donors. The United States has disbursed about half of its pledged funds.

Some progress has been made toward the objectives outlined in the Interim Cooperation Framework, including voter registration, improvements in fiscal transparency, jobs creation, and broader access to clean water and other services.

Current law related to funding of U.S. assistance to Haiti includes P.L. 108-25, P.L. 108-199, P.L. 108-324, P.L. 108-447, and P.L. 109-13. Pending legislation related to funding of U.S. assistance to Haiti includes H.R. 611, H.R. 945, H.R. 1130, H.R. 1213/S. 704, H.R. 2601, H.R. 3057, and S. 600.

See also CRS Report RL32294, Haiti: Developments and U.S. Policy Since 1991 and Current Congressional Concerns, by Maureen Taft-Morales, and CRS Report RL32733, Latin America and the Caribbean: Issues for the 109th Congress, Mark P. Sullivan, Coordinator. This report will be updated as warranted.