Playing digital catch-up: Finding opportunities for Haiti

Haiti is behind the rest of the world in the digital revolution. Internet coverage remains limited and expensive. Just four percent of households have access, and fewer than 1% of Haitians have mobile Internet.

E-Voting – improving the election process?

The participation rate in Haitian elections is low. In last October’s election, less than one-quarter of eligible voters participated.

Skills Training and Civics Education to Make ‘Better’ Citizens

Nations have a short opportunity during which they can impart skills to any child, to prepare him or her for adulthood.

Building Haiti’s Defenses Against Natural Disasters

Over the past 21 years, Haiti has been hit by 40 cyclones, thunderstorms and heavy rains. Each year on average two events cause flooding and landslides with serious consequences for people and their livelihoods.

A Menu of Options to Improve Public Services in Haiti

Many proposals have been made in the past ten years to make Haiti’s public sector more effective. In spite of these efforts, public services remain in a critical state.

Democracy and Governance

There are various initiatives that could be undertaken to try to strengthen Haiti’s democracy and governance.

One approach would be to enhance the decentralization of powers from the central government. To strengthen the public service sector, salaries could be increased, or a performance payment program introduced. Focusing on e-government initiatives could involve creating an electronic registry of births, or digitizing other government services as explored in broadband research.

Elections are currently very expensive. Money and time could be saved by creating an e-voting system – which also has the possibility of improving participation rates. Haiti’s military was disbanded in 1995. Creating a Haitian Armed Forces could improve the response to natural disasters. And teaching civics and skills to children would mean educating the next generation on democracy, how government works and other functions of the state.

Continue to check back for future research releases related to Democracy and Governance.

Cost Benefit Analysis of Modernizing Civil Registries in Haiti - Using technology to register births

Written by Moïse Celicourt, Economics Professor at the University Notre Dame of Haiti (UNDH), this paper focuses on digitization of birth registration. Nearly 30% of children aged under four do not have a certificate of birth registration. This deprives children of fundamental rights and risks condemning them to exclusion.

Benefits of Government Digitization and Improved Mobile Access in Haiti

Written by Dr. Pantelis Koutroumpis, Research Fellow at Imperial College Business School, this paper says what Haiti really needs is a holistic National Broadband Plan with targets for coverage, capacity, and competition. In its absence, Dr. Koutroumpis proposes improving the infrastructure that powers Haiti’s Internet, along with the government’s processes.

Analysis on the Feasibility of E-voting in Haiti

Analysis by Pierre Michel Chéry, Executive Director of Xtra Consult finds that the benefits of implementing an electronic voting system would be 5.3 times higher than the costs.

Education Solutions: Vocational and Civics

Research by Georgetown University Professor George Psacharopolous looks at what could be achieved in Haiti with a focus on civic education and vocational training.

Implement Existing Laws on Decentralization in Haiti

Written by Dr. Tarah Télusma Thelusme, Statistics Department Manager at the Public Investment Unit at the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation, this research focuses on the implementation of existing laws on decentralization.

Cost benefit analysis of a wage increase and the introduction of a performance-based payroll program in the public service

Economist Riphard Serent from Quisqueya University and Center for International and Diplomatic Studies focuses on ways to raise public sector performance by paying public servants more across-the-board, or introducing performance-based pay.

Setting up an armed force

Economist-Planner and Project Analyst Rudy Joseph at the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation has conducted a benefit-cost analysis of the re-introduction of a patrol force. This force will be given the mission of defending the territory, protecting sensitive environmental areas, and responding to natural disasters.