Fanmi Lavalas Government Plan
Foundations
Policies
State Management
The
Major Axis
Major
Results Expected
Objective 2004
The Program's Foundations
The economic and social program of Organization Fanmi
Lavalas for the five-year term 2001-2006, is recorded
in the global policy defined in Investir
dans l'Humain and takes into account the recent
assessment of the socio-political and economic situation.
Objectives
Thus, in the context of this program, the Organization
is pursuing the following specific objectives:
a) to promote economic growth and more participation
in development in order to improve the average per capita
income of US $300 per year and to make it possible to
double it over the next decade;
b) to reinforce the private sector, promoters and social
movements that are trying to revitalize the social and
economic fabric and induce them to invest in the creation
of a number of economic activities that would be development
hubs for job creation;
c) to dynamize the peaceful struggle of the disadvantaged
minorities who are ceaselessly requesting: justice,
transparance, and participation.
The Major Axis
In order to reach these objectives, the Organization
has selected five major courses of action which are:
a) The execution of infrastructure works in the very
short term, covering and opening up the 565 existing
communal sections in order to allow the population's
effective participation in the country's economic and
social development. This supposes a long term, stable
and viable organization of the following sectors: Energy,
transportation (roads, airports, seaports, transportation
services...), telecommunications (urban, regional and
international telephone service...);
b) The pursuit of efforts to revive the national production
for the five years to come giving priority to growth
in the areas of: agriculture, exports, import substitution
industries, and crafts. Decisive action will be undertaken
in order to promote micro finances and the various types
of cooperatives and make them the levers of such growth;
c) The pursuit and implementation of the National Education
Plan, with three very specific objectives to be reached
by 2004, they are: a functional fundamental school in
each communal section, universal schooling and a significant
reduction of the adult illiteracy rate;
d) National health coverage through the expansion of
the health center network and reinforcement of primary
health care. The objective here is to have a functional
body in each communal section by 2004, with effective
involvement of the population in the decision-making
process;
e) The reorganization of the judicial system in the
framework of the fight against impunity, the concept
of reparation, as well as the extension of law enforcement
services to all social categories, especially those
living in rural areas. The development of these major
axis with the participation of all Haitian citizens,
as well as Haiti's friends shall be mostly primarily
based on the valorization and management of all of the
country's resources. This will also send out a positive
signal for taking the road to decentralization.
The Approach Selected
The Organization has opted for an approach based above
all on the human capital and the long term pay off of
economic actions and will rely on a stable and lasting
partnership between the representatives of the Central
State, the local assemblies concerned and all of the
economic and social groups interested and involved in
the development process. It will also work at reinforcing
a state under the rule of law, a strategy oriented and
regulatory state, that will guarantee the adoption and
application of "open and lasting policies."
The Private Sector's Role
The Organization has reserved a prime role for the
private sector in the development of the above mentioned
major courses of action. The term "private sector" includes
large, midsize and small commercial and industrial concerns,
including cooperatives and all lucrative activities
of the informal sector that require develop initiatives
of which some are already underway and others are to
be undertaken to include the young and marginalized
social groups. For this purpose, Organization Fanmi
Lavalas has retained two additional courses of action
at the level of the development of the productive sectors:
a) To incite the formal private sector to invest more
of its own resources for creating a large number of
businesses in order to generate massive employment;
b) To provide direct support to the informal private
sector through public investment programs aimed at their
structuring and reinforcement so as to promote small
and medium sized businesses.
Collective Welfare
All of the Organization's efforts will result in an
economic environment favorable to the development of
income producing activities, the modernizing of the
state machinery, and the implementation of a production
revival policy, by integrating the instruments as a
whole, notably the mobilization of resources from regulated
and organized savings and credit funds, as well as foreign
assistance, or within the framework of an integrated
master scheme targeting collective welfare.
The Global Strategies
Organization Fanmi Lavalas' Plan of Action for the
five year term 2001-2006 is part of the global policy
defined in its policy guide and takes into account the
recent assessment of the socio-political and economic
situation. The plan's strategy is to engage in actions
that will immediately impact the population's concerns
in the short term as well as structural reform measures
whose results will be seen and/or quantified in the
mid and long terms. For this purpose, the plan of action
the Organization intends to apply focuses on:
a) The pursuit of budget consolidation efforts in reinforcing
the encashment capacities of internal savings, notably
through the development of micro-finance, private capital
and external funds.
b) The improvement of the business environment aimed
at a lasting development of private enterprise and partnerships.
This will be achieved with targeted groups, private
economic and social agents, such as farmers, cooperatives,
labor unions, etc.
c) The reinforcement of the State's ability to ensure
the security of lives and property;
d) The organization and management of basic utilities
and means of communication;
e) The effective decentralization of national investments,
both public and private, as well as that of decision-making
and management agencies.
f) The implementation of social safety nets beginning
with the most disadvantaged and vulnerable age groups
within the population;
g) The reduction of the physical environment's deterioration.
The Economic and Social Development Strategy
The first two years will be especially marked by a
national effort towards funding, political stability,
credible institutions, the reinforcement of the state's
authority, a drastic reduction of crime and acts of
infringement on private property, and help restore trust
at the level of the various economic agents, thus creating
the necessary conditions for investment.
Policies
Economic Policy
The economic policy Organization Fanmi Lavalas intends
to apply revolves around a number of measures to be
implemented in order to correct the imbalances noted
in product markets, budget, currency and the external
sector, but mostly, to reach the key objective which
is to reduce the country's level of poverty. In this
perspective, the economic reforms will be oriented in
the framework of Fanmi Lavalas' global policy aimed
at increasing the average income of Haitians to a level
above the poverty line. The simultaneous implementation
of social safety nets or emergency social funds from
the creation of a generalized social contribution will
guarantee a more equitable distribution of the wealth
generated by growth to the benefit of the underprivileged.
The results expected from this policy are the following:
- An increase of more than 4% the real gross national
product for an average annual growth of 2% of the
population.
- A reduction of the inflation rate from 16% to less
than 10% so as to guarantee the purchasing power of
households.
- A reduction of the unemployment rate by the creation
of 500,000 steady jobs to provide a substantial income
to a good portion of the population thus allowing
them to satisfy the basic needs of consumption of
goods and services.
- A stabilization of the exchange rate and the increase
of hard currency reserves to support the financing
of at least three months of imports.
To reach the objectives defined in its program, Fanmi
Lavalas intends to implement administrative and institutional
reforms, while also using the traditional tools of economic
policy such as the budget, fiscal laws and currency.
In order to concretize the key objectives defined in
the framework of its economic and social program. Organization
Fanmi Lavalas depends on the availability of funds apt
to be disbursed. In this view the actions to be undertaken
in the area of taxation will allow:
1. To earmark sufficient and stable resources to guarantee
national coverage of the state's responsibilities;
2. To attract Haitian (both local and from the 10th
department) and foreign capital through tax incentives
and a new investment code.
Social Policy
The poor quality of life of the Haitian population
bears witness to the great poverty is plagued with.
If one refers to the variables of deprivation used to
calculate the global index of human poverty (IGP) such
as: the illiteracy rate, the percentage of people expected
to die before reaching the age of 40, nonaccess to healthcare
and potable water and the percentage of children under
five who are malnourished. Haiti is really one of the
poorest countries in the world. However, for Fanmi Lavalas,
poverty is not a stigma and the poor are not necessarily
the cause of their poorness. Quite to the contrary,
they are able to transform their misery into well-being,
inasmuch as shortcuts, bridges or openings are clearly
indicated to them. The Organization's policy in social
matters gives the greatest priority to satisfying the
needs of those most deprived in the way of basic education
and health care. Thus, with 2006 as a horizon, it intends
to increase the rate of schooling and literacy, to lower
the rate of mother-child mortality, to curb demographic
growth and raise life expectancy. The Organization will
also address the needs pertaining to demographic growth,
the status of women, social security, culture, sports,
etc.
Population Policy
The Organization's policy will aim at increasing life
expectancy at birth, promoting desired impregnation
in lieu and place of suffered impregnation and to guarantee
the responsible exercise of the right to reproduce.
For this purpose, the Organization will intervene in
the following areas:
- the protection of life
- reproductive health
- the right to reproduce
- migration
Social Security Policy
Over the next five years, the actions to be implemented
by the Organization in this area will allow to:
- Ensure the efficiency of the health insurance coverage
system of public employees entrusted to the private
sector;
- Bridge the gap between the State's social protection
system and that of the private sector;
- Create a generalized contribution;
- Prepare a Master plan of the National Office of
Old Age Insurance (ONA) and of the Labor and Maternity
Insurance Office (OFATMA);
- Reorganize the available safety nets and social
funds of the Caisse d'Action Sociale (CAS) and of
the Economic and Social Assistance Fund (FAES).
Gender and Childhood Policy
Fanmi Lavalas will work towards the legal, material
and intellectual advancement of Haitian women, the country's
main pillars. Indeed, the strategies defined in this
program all take into account the fundamental role of
women in the fight against poverty, their weight in
the formal sector, their low salaries, their family
burdens and others. The Organization will target especially,
but not exclusively, women from the underprivileged
populations, in its actions to reduce sexual violence
and exploitation, infectious diseases, illiteracy and
dilution by credit. The Organization will place the
greatest priority on issues pertaining to childhood.
It will also take the necessary measures to gradually
implement the already ratified Convention of Children's
Rights. Very special importance will be placed on the
thorny issue of domestic child labor.
Youth and Sports Policy
The Organization is convinced that the youth of communes
and communal sections have enormous organizational and
motivational skills that can be easily mobilized. It
will encourage them to improve the structure of their
associations, create new ones where needed, and to adopt
a mode of operation governed by modern rules. These
organizations that are to be implemented throughout
the country will become places where the young will
find it easier to learn in teams about the exercise
of responsibility, the practice of democracy and the
sense of solidarity. In partnership with the Haitian
Olympic Committee, the National Sports Federations,
the Leagues of Sport Clubs, the business private sector
and the international sports organization and high level
sports will receive the Organization's undivided attention.
The Organization will work in order to bring a marked
improvement to young people's economic and social status.
The underemployment that affects them is one of the
most crucial issues faced by Haitian society. In partnership
with the territorial assemblies, the private sector,
and the associative world, the Organization will implement
a plan for the insertion of young people from under
privileged areas in active life.
Cultural Policy
The country's patrimony, constituted by various sites,
historic monuments and places that have acquired their
value from 1804 to date, contribute to the cultural
enrichment of humanity. In spite of its low rate of
literacy, Haiti is one of the most dynamic French-speaking
countries in the area of book production. The country's
two languages as well as vodou constitute strong signs
of this people's ability to break its chains and reach
the heights of creation. Given its importance, this
sector will receive the Organization's undivided attention.
The Organization's policy in this sector revolves around
the following axis:
1. The redefinition of the mission and objectives of
autonomous agencies;
2. The conservation, protection and valorization of
the patrimony and cultural traditions;
3. The improvement of the quality of the plastic and
performing arts;
4. The democratization of the new information technology;
5. The support of creation and regulation of the art
market;
6. The production of audiovisual materials and literacy
broadcasts.
Policy Towards Labor Unions
In most cases, Haitian laborers do not belong to a
syndicated organization. Today, however, many salaried
employees are desirous to fully exercise their right
to syndicate through existing or future labor unions.
For Organization Fanmi Lavalas, the freedom to syndicate
is a principle that cannot be submitted to any prior
constraint. The laborer has no requirement to request
from his employer to join a labor union or to create
one with a group of colleagues or comrades. He is the
sole master of his choice of affiliation or non-affiliation
with a labor union. For the Organization, exercising
this constitutional right should not have any consequence
whatsoever on the laborer's job security.
Specific Policies
Reintegration of Haitians Living Abroad
In order to aspire to an intelligent and harmonious
development, the country needs the contribution of all
its children, those living abroad as well as those living
on the native soil. Fanmi Lavalas in its fight against
all forms of injustice or exclusion towards Haitians
living here or elsewhere, who have contributed and are
still contributing to the construction of the Haiti
of peace and freedom so hoped for, has already indicated
in its Livre Blanc (White Book), the path it means to
take to solve this serious problem is indeed contrary
to all logic that a country keeps on denying its own
children who, in addition, are its first donors. The
Tenth Department is an inexhaustible source of wealth
for Haiti. All Haitians are convinced of this. The citizens
living abroad constitute one of the major pillars of
a modern society bearer of progress, ingeniousness,
wealth and peace. All values that the citizens of the
Tenth Department are ready to promote with those who
have remained at home or returned to the country.
Diplomatic Policy
There is a need to affirm a responsible diplomacy,
linked to a modern, active and serious foreign policy,
apt to adjust to the new international movement, to
defend more than ever the nation's prestige, dignity
and interests.
External Cooperation Policy
The international cooperation policy is designed in
the sense of safekeeping national interests in a perfect
compatibility with the global policy of national development.
The major guidelines for negotiating foreign aid granted
in the form of loans or donations in a bilateral or
multilateral framework, must be defined on this basis.
In the short term, the action will consist of a general
reorganization of the assistance provided in order to
bring out the facilitation or modalities for the quickest
and most appropriate use of the monies available.
Policy for Cooperating with Non-governmental Agencies
The efforts deployed by NGOs in the areas of health,
education, and community development are valuable. Organization
Fanmi Lavalas will do its best to create the conditions
favorable to the valorization and coordination of their
activities. For this purpose, parallel to the renovation
of the legal framework, Fanmi Lavalas will organize
periodic round tables, both nationally and locally,
in order to find a synergy between the projects of the
public sector and those of the NGO sector according
to the development objectives retained. The programs
will thus be executed according to certain partnership
formulas.
State Management and Decentralization
State Management
The start of real modernization and efficient management
of public affairs must necessarily go through the restoration
of the state's authority and a reconciliation between
citizens and the State.
A strong state requires a strong justice system and
strong law enforcement, capable of respecting the rules
of democracy and enforcing respect for these rules.
The affirmation of the State's authority will consist
of passing on the power's political will to the administrative
system.
This State must therefore consciously ensure the economy's
orientation, the provision and control of basic services
in order to prioritize general interests. To do so,
the Organization will make sure that within the administrations,
authority will be exercised by men and women with a
sense of collective interests, justice and responsibility
in the management of state affairs.
To reconcile citizens and the State, the Lavalas Organization
takes on the task of creating a balance between missions
of public power and public service vested in the State
by the Constitution. During the next five years, the
Organization is committed to:
a) Redefining the State's structures to bring them
closer to the citizens, making them more receptive to
civil society and more accessible to investors.
b) Increasing the efficiency of the state machinery.
Decentralization
For Fanmi Lavalas, decentralization lies in providing
the territorial assemblies with a number of real decision-making
powers in their financial management through the transfer
of skills to be practiced in a pre-established legal
framework implemented at the national level. The autonomy
of the territorial assemblies must be reinforced and
deepened in the framework of the renovated rules of
the game. As seen by the Organization, decentralization
must go through:
a) an in depth change in the financial relations between
the State and the local assemblies, meaning the departments,
the communes and the communal sections;
b) the implementation of a system of financial assistance
to the local assemblies;
The management of public finances requires in depth
knowledge of financial and administrative management
to which every state must subscribe. The Organization
will provide management training by way of work meetings,
workshops, short or lengthy seminars. It is indeed important
to establish habits of sound and transparent management
where there can be no major disbursements without a
clear demonstration of options or justifications of
the least expenditure.
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