Urbayiti – Urban governance and resilient cities

This is combined with structural operations which aim to strengthen the resilience of cities, following on from existing actions, including those financed by the 10th EDF or humanitarian actions in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

The Urbayiti programme is working at three levels:

• National, for strategic, institutional and normative actions;
• Departmental (South and Grand Anse) and metropolitan (Metropolitan Area of Port-au-Prince), for strategic and training actions and studies;
• Local (Port-au-Prince, Jérémie, Les Cayes, Dame-Marie and Beaumont), for infrastructure and services and capacity building actions, job creation and social engineering.

Its cross-cutting nature means that the urban planning processes involve a number of institutional actors, including:

• The Technical Secretariat of the Interministerial Committee for Territorial Development;
• The Ministry of the Interior and Local Authorities (MICT);
• The Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communication (MTPTC);
• The Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation (MPCE);
• The Ministry of the Environment (MDE);
• The Municipalities of Port-au-Prince, Les Cayes, Jérémie, Dame-Marie and Beaumont;
• The National Directorate of Water Supply and Sanitation (DINEPA);
• The National Federation of Mayors of Haiti.

Expertise France supports the coordination of the programme, in order to ensure that operations are consistent, and handle the continuous monitoring-evaluation of the programme and the management of knowledge concerning urban development in Haiti.

In terms of communication, the programme’s communication strategy is built to inform and highlight the Haitian Government’s aim of conducting a urban process integrating a large number of national and local institutions.

Expertise France supports urban management at local level and the implementation of municipal operations targeting economic development (public spaces, informal trade, etc.).

The actions conducted by Expertise France support the Ministry of the Interior and Local Authorities and the municipalities of Port-au-Prince, Les Cayes, Jérémie, Dame-Marie and Beaumont, and focus on 2 areas of operation.

1) Strengthening urban governance:

• Supporting coordination mechanisms between local authorities and the Ministry of the Interior;
• Assisting in the implementation of programmes to modernise municipal administrations and support tax mobilisation;
• Building the technical and financial capacities of Port-au-Prince, Jérémie and Les Cayes;
• Preparing plans for the development, beautification and expansion of cities for Port-au-Prince, Les Cayes, Jérémie, Dame-Marie and Beaumont ;
• Strengthening public action towards citizens and actions for solid waste management.

2) Conducting urban development operations 

Actions include support to Municipalities for feasibility studies and the control and supervision of development operations: public spaces, markets and facilities, urban sewerage systems, renovation of infrastructures.

After the earthquake in the summer of 2021, the four cities of the South and Grande Anse part of the project's intervention zones, which were initially highly exposed to natural risks, saw new needs emerge in terms of rebuilding public infrastructure.

In response, the project will carry out development operations that will strengthen the city councils both technically and concretely, and also enable them to gain legitimacy and be the central actor in their territory, at the heart of urban governance.