Contacts: Lee Morrison (202)-458-8741 Lmorrison1@worldbank.org Alejandra Viveros (202)-473-4306
Aviveros@worldbank.org
WASHINGTON, December 20, 2004-- The World Bank has signed two grants for a total of US$1.36 million to support a national solid waste management strategy and community managed rural water supply and sanitation in Haiti. The projects are part of a US$6.4 million grant program approved by the World Bank in September 2004 and developed in coordination with the Government of Haiti and other development partners.
A US$855,000 grant for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation will assist the Service National de l’Eau Potable (SNEP) to develop a national strategy for rural water supply and sanitation in close coordination with other governmental entities and non-governmental organizations. In addition, it will finance the construction and rehabilitation of selected water supply systems as well as sanitary systems in schools in the Southern Department. These projects will be designed in close cooperation with local communities and will test innovative approaches for operation and maintenance to improve system sustainability. They also include a hygiene education component. According to WHO estimates for 2000, only 51% of rural households in Haiti had access to a basic minimum of clean water, while only 23% had adequate sanitary facilities.
A US$500,000 grant will support preparation of a National Solid Waste Management Strategy to be overseen by Haiti’s Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications. The Strategy will build consensus among central and local government, the private sector, civil society, and key donors. It will include recommendations for institutional reform and strengthening, public awareness, and private sector participation. The project will also aid in solid waste collection in particularly poor areas of Port-au-Prince. Solid waste services are now woefully inadequate in Haiti’s urban areas, where uncollected waste contributes to flooding and the spread of diseases. The government needs a National Strategy to help coordinate efforts and identify key priorities, as well as urgent improvements to waste collection in poorer, under-serviced neighborhoods.
“These grants will help meet the urgent basic social and infrastructure needs of some of the most vulnerable populations in Haiti,” said Caroline Anstey, Country Director for the Caribbean. “They are part of a larger grant program designed in close collaboration with the Government of Haiti and international partners which aims to have a quick impact on the ground and support government efforts to launch reforms and strengthen institutions.”
The World Bank’s Low-Income Countries Under Stress (LICUS) Trust Fund established in January 2004 is providing the grant financing for these activities. The trust fund was designed to support low-income countries with severe conflict and institutional problems to implement the reforms necessary for re-engagement with the international community and to address urgent social needs through a coordinated multi-donor approach.
The US$6.4 million trust fund program in Haiti is a key instrument in the Bank’s overall strategy of restoring credibility in institutions and delivering hope to the population by helping the Government deliver quick wins—in the provision of basic services and job creation—and launch reforms that promote longer-term good governance and institutional development. In Haiti, the Trust Fund is also financing school feeding activities, economic governance reforms, partnerships for education, a labor intensive basic rehabilitation program, a disaster management pilot, and communications activities.
The grant projects have been prepared on the basis of the Government of Haiti’s two-year transitional program, identified in the Interim Cooperation Framework (ICF). The ICF was prepared through a joint international effort led by the Government of Haiti with the coordination support of the World Bank, UNDP, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the European Union. The preparation of the ICF included the participation of 26 bilateral and multilateral agencies, UN agencies, civil society and the private sector.
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