Public Consultations: Step by Step. Regulatory and Legal Frameworks Applicable in Haiti

The guide treats a consultation as a process and not a single event. It reports, citing studies, that most community complaints about a project, strategy or policy relate to missing or insufficient consultation, and it recommends an information and dialogue stage before the formal consultation. It sets out four keys for effective consultations: know the context; inform, dialogue and map stakeholders; plan; and manage the three phases of the consultation. Further keys cover virtual consultations, which the guide says COVID-19 made necessary.

Chapter 3 covers Haiti. It states that Haiti has no legally recognized indigenous population, has not ratified ILO Convention 169 and has no legislation on indigenous consultation. The provisions it finds are the environmental management decree of January 26, 2006, which provides for public hearings on projects subject to environmental assessment, and Article 217 of the 1987 Constitution as amended. It found no specific legislation for other sectors and notes that regional and local regulations are not included. The guide adds that local practice should be used alongside international good practice, and that IDB-financed operations must also follow the Bank's operational policies.