Earlier this week at the Montana Hotel, Paul Antoine Bien-Aimé, Minister of the Interior and Territorial Communities (MICT), officially opened a two-day workshop on financing local communities and local development, a joint initiative of the MICT and the National Federation of Haitian Mayors (FENAMH).

The ceremony took place in the presence of, among others, the Minister of National Education, the General Coordinator of the OMRH (Office of Municipal Resources and Human Resources), Xavier Michon, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Haiti, the Director General and the Director of Local Communities at the MICT, as well as representatives from various institutional partners, such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Interministerial Committee for Territorial Planning, the Presidents of FENAMH and the National Federation of Haitian Community Action Committees (FENACAH), and various stakeholders and managers from local communities. Representatives from across the country also participated in the launch of this exchange and reflection session.

This workshop aimed to address the obstacles to funding local authorities, which have not yet achieved the necessary financial and administrative autonomy to fulfill their primary responsibility of ensuring the availability of and access to basic services for local populations. It also served as an advocacy effort to develop the tools and define the best mechanisms for effective and efficient decentralization, through adequate and equitable funding for local authorities, for sustainable development and the well-being of citizens throughout the country.

During this workshop, Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aimé advocated, in particular, for the repatriation of the Local Government Management Fund (FGDCT) to local authorities. "Local authorities must be given control of the FGDCT. It's time for the Ministry of the Interior and local authorities to manage the funds of local authorities again !" declared the Minister, who noted that "90% of municipalities and 100% of communal sections depend on FGDCT allocations." This is a situation that concerns the Minister, who considers the extreme concentration of the country's public resources neither fair, nor efficient, nor sustainable, and intends to work with the relevant stakeholders to bring about a paradigm shift.

For his part, Mayor Anténor Denoil, President of FENAMH, advocated for effective decentralization as a development model for local authorities. He called on the central government to provide local authorities with the necessary resources to deliver basic services to the population, as guaranteed by the Constitution.

Speaking on this occasion, the Minister of National Education and Vocational Training (MENFP) emphasized that the underfunding of local authorities directly affects local populations, causing disparities, decline, and social inequalities.

Xavier Michon, the UNDP Resident Representative in Haiti, for his part, welcomed the commitment of the Ministry of the Interior and Territorial Communities (MICT) and the Federation of Haitian Municipalities (FENAMH) to making the financing of local authorities an institutional priority. According to Michon, this workshop is an opportunity to produce a realistic assessment and to implement effective mechanisms and tools for the effective financing of local authorities.

For the MICT, local financing is a key element for decentralization that is proportionate to the responsibilities of local authorities, and for opening access to sustainable development for local communities.

HL/ HaitiLibre