Haiti is to receive US$45 million in grant funding from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) between 2022 and 2026.
That’s according to CDB Vice-President of Operations Isaac Solomon while addressing the United Nations Economic and Social Council’s Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti today.
Following the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, a new country strategy for Haiti has been under development; Solomon emphasized: “The Bank will seek to strengthen its capacity for greater adaptability and effectiveness considering Haiti’s distinct challenges.”
Haiti continues to face severe challenges since a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the country in January 2010, leaving more than 200,000 Haitians dead and causing billions of dollars in damage. Since then, the country continued to have more minor earthquakes and severe floods each year.
The CDB vice-president assured that the Bank would remain engaged with its Haiti Country Office to preserve hard-won development gains and build resilience. The office, established in 2018, is the only CDB operational post apart from its headquarters in Barbados.
The Bank is also seeking to scale up donor coordination. “Each donor should concentrate on its areas of strength and where it can have maximum impact. Responding quickly and in a coordinated manner, with harmonized processes will be very important for optimizing our resources and realizing greater benefits for all,” said the CDB vice president.
In addition, the Bank will seek to increase collaboration with humanitarian organizations, non-governmental and civil society organizations, and local actors. It will also ramp up private sector support to foster resilience in ways not covered by traditional humanitarian and development response, particularly at the micro-level and in the informal sector.
While addressing the Advisory Group, Solomon stressed that the Bank is exploring innovative instruments to extend financing facilities, grow multilateral finance and build a more robust financial ecosystem for the region, bringing benefits to Haiti.
He noted that the CDB aims to increase access to concessional finance, given the multiple vulnerabilities faced by Haiti and the rest of the region.
Since Haiti joined the CDB in 2007, the Bank has allocated grants totaling US$209 million for interventions in education and training, community-driven development and agriculture, environment, and disaster risk management, as well as sustainable energy.
The Caribbean Development Bank is a regional financial institution established in 1970 to contribute to the harmonious economic growth and development of its Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs). In addition to the 19 BMCs, the CDB’s membership includes four regional, non-borrowing members (Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela) and five non-regional, non-borrowing members (Canada, China, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom). CDB’s total assets as of December 31, 2020, stood at US$3.64 billion.
 between 2022 and 2026.){kind=link}