Haiti Democracy Project

www.haitipolicy.org

Fanmi Lavalas Government Plan

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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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