What is the purpose of the HRI?
Mission, focus, and success criteria
open all sectionsThe mission of the Haiti Regeneration Initiative is to assist in the long-term regeneration of Haiti. We use the term regeneration to encompass the sum of four immense challenges facing Haiti today, which though distinct, are tightly interlinked. These challenges are:
Achieving MDG7: Environmental Sustainability The natural environment of Haiti is already severely degraded, and the environmental pressures contributing to its vulnerability are ongoing. Achieving MDG7 will only be possible through an integrated and long-term approach that addresses both poverty and disaster vulnerability in an integrated manner.
- Post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction
- Economic and social development
- Environmental stabilization and restoration
- Building of resilience against future hurricanes, floods and earthquakes and economic shocks.
The focus of the HRI is on the identification, demonstration and national scale roll-out of practical and fully sustainable approaches to the regeneration challenge over the period 2012–2040.
HRI Component Structure and Mandates
The Haiti Regeneration Initiative has been under development since 2009 and has the benefit of a multi-level mandate from the Government of Haiti and the United Nations (UN).
The HRI mandate is currently comprised of a series of signed agreement between the UN and the Government of Haiti, whereby the UN is mandated to assist the government in humanitarian affairs, post-earthquake reconstruction and development. The latest of such agreements is the Haiti Interim Strategic Framework (ISF) Document, 2011. These agreements cover all parts of the government and all UN agencies active in Haiti, including the United Nations Environment Programme, which has been active in Haiti since 2008. UNEP created the initial concept of the HRI and continues to provide coordination, seed funding and support; the HRI will act as UNEP's primary framework for delivering its support to the Government of Haiti under the terms of the ISF and its successor agreements.
The HRI has grown from modest beginnings to a larger coordinated effort across four focused components. Each component and the projects therein operate with their own mandate and partners to fulfill the mandate of the greater HRI. The HRI mandate and the associated links and coordination mechanisms are constantly evolving as each component of the HRI is developed. Each HRI component has an ongoing priority of strengthening its mandate and consolidating its synergies with the Government of Haiti.
Click on each component to learn more about its individual purpose and mandate.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS
A solution incubator and promoter
Sustainable Development Solutions has evolved from the work of UNEP and its partners since January 2009. The level and type of mandate varies by solution: in the most advanced cases (such as biogas and improved charcoal stoves) the solutions presented are part of a very specific, Government-owned formal national strategy that was developed with UNEP support. In other cases (such as mango production, processing and export or portable solar photovoltaics), the solution is one small part of a larger Government-owned strategy or master plan. In some isolated cases UNEP is catalyzing the introduction of completely new solutions to existing challenges noted in Government and UN diagnostics and master plans. The government counterparts for SDS are solution specific and include the Ministries of Public Works, Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Natural Resources.
THE PORT-À-PIMENT MILLENNIUM VILLAGE PROJECT
A 10 year development and applied research programme within a specific watershed in the South Department
The Port-à-Piment Millennium Village Project has been under development since 2009 and will be launched in late 2011 in the watershed of Port-à-Piment in the South Department of Haiti. The main government counterparts for the Port-à-Piment MVP are the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation and the mayors of the communes of Port-à-Piment, Côteaux and Chardonnières.
THE CÔTE SUD INITIATIVE
A 20 year development programme for the South Department
The Côte Sud Initiative was launched in January 2011 in Camp Perrin by the Government of Haiti, represented by the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, Natural Resources, Planning and External Cooperation, and Environment and Tourism, as well as the office of the South Department Directorate and the Mayors of the Communes of the South Department. There are many government counterparts for the CSI, however the focal points for coordination are the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation and the South Department Directorate.
HAITI 2040
A research and policy support think tank
Haiti 2040 is in the early development stage and is planned for launch in Q1 2012. The main government counterpart is yet to be confirmed.
Each and every of the many projects that comprise the HRI has a distinct mandate and government linkage specific to the project's scope and needs. An example is the Haiti Southwest Sustainable Development Project, which is the largest project currently supporting the CSI; the project was approved by the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, the Haiti Recovery Fund Board and the Ministry of Planning, and was also signed off by the Prime Minister – Minister of Planning in January 2010. The majority of the projects within the HRI are designed to span 2-5 years and can take up to one year to develop from initial concepts through to proposals, followed by government approval, funding and mobilization. Project-specific mandates will be accessible through project documents as they are added to the website.
