Haiti has launched a multimillion-dollar programme aimed at reducing poverty in the French-speaking Caribbean Community country.
Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe said the plan will help better coordinate actions by different ministerial departments and institutions, non-government organisations and international donors in order to have greater impact and reach more effectively the most vulnerable.
“There are international organisations and donors, such as the World Bank, that are intervening, but there was a lack of coordination in the different actions being undertaken,” Lamothe told the Haitian news website, HCNN.
“Now we have a common strategy through which we want to put everyone together behind one plan, which is the Action Plan for the Reduction of Poverty in Haiti,” said Lamothe.
The plan is estimated to cost U$800 million over a three-year period and Prime Minister Lamothe said it is part of the country’s efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in terms of reducing poverty, improving education, among other MDGs.
Two years ago, the Michel Martelly Government set up an ambitious social assistance programme which has already reached several million people through cash transfers to poor families, hot meals, community restaurants, food kits, tuition-free education for poor kids, among other initiatives.
The programme is mainly funded by funds generated by the Venezuelan-sponsored PetroCaribe oil deal.
