(2016-07) Report of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti (E/2016/79)

United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) • 2016 • 11 pages

Summary — ECOSOC advisory group report on Haiti's 2016 electoral crisis and deteriorating economy, with rising inflation, drought affecting 3.6 million people, a cholera resurgence and structural obstacles to development.

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Key Findings

Growth fell from 4 per cent in 2013 to around 1 per cent in 2015 as drought, reduced investment and political uncertainty took hold, with core inflation above 10 per cent, the gourde down almost 25 per cent over the year, and some agricultural prices up as much as 40 per cent. Drought aggravated by El Niño affected 3.6 million people, over a third of the population, while about two thirds of Haitians lived below the poverty line, 63 per cent of resources were controlled by 20 per cent of the population, and an estimated 300,000 children were not enrolled in school. Cholera registered 36,045 cases in 2015, 24 per cent more than in 2014, with 11,000 cases in the first quarter of 2016. The electricity utility drained about $150 million per year in subsidies, and the 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan was only 27 per cent funded at $53 million of $193.8 million requested.

Full Description

The twelfth report of the ECOSOC Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti was prepared without the customary country visit, elections scheduled for 24 April 2016 having been cancelled amid political uncertainty and a presidential rerun set for 9 October 2016. Drawing on a May 2016 Washington visit and a July videoconference with the United Nations country team and civil society, the Group documents a difficult economic transition: growth falling to around 1 per cent in 2015, core inflation above 10 per cent, a nearly 25 per cent depreciation of the gourde, shrinking Petrocaribe financing and donor grants expected below $500 million in 2016. It reviews structural weaknesses in administrative capacity, the regressive tax system, losses at the electricity utility, agriculture, the concentrated private sector, tourism and health, including a cholera epidemic that registered 36,045 cases in 2015. The report covers United Nations planning for a possible MINUSTAH reconfiguration and the Sustainable Development Framework 2017-2021, and urges humanitarian funding, resumption of the electoral process and protection of aid coordination mechanisms.

Topics

Geography

Time Coverage

2015 — 2016

Keywords

E/2016/79, ECOSOC, Ad Hoc Advisory Group, electoral crisis 2016, drought, El Nino, cholera, gourde depreciation, Petrocaribe, electricity subsidies, aid effectiveness, MINUSTAH transition, series:ecosoc-adhoc-haiti

Entities

Economic and Social Council; Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti; MINUSTAH; International Monetary Fund; World Bank; Inter-American Development Bank; Pan American Health Organization; Organization of American States; Électricité d'Haïti; UNDP; UNICEF; UN-Women; UN-Habitat; Provisional Electoral Council; Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation

Notes

UN document E/2016/79 via ReliefWeb; ayitistats wave B; ECOSOC Ad Hoc Advisory Group report series (full, per user)