ARTICLE - FRANCE - HAITI DELEGATES

FRENCH MINISTRY TO BRING HAITIAN DELEGATES TO FRANCE
(Sacramento Bee) - By Ministry of the Interior of Haiti

Learning and sharing with French counterparts the goal of Haitian visits, planned to begin in April

PORT-AU-PRINCE - Following a series of meetings between Haiti's Minister of the Interior, Thierry Mayard-Paul and Jean Dussourd, Prefet Referent on Haiti to the French Ministry of the Interior, Mr. Dussourd will be organizing visits to France by Haitian delegations as a way to increase collaboration and information exchange.

"The proposal to bring Haitian delegates to France for learning and best practice, sharing accelerates our strategic goals for evaluating what is working in other countries," said Minister Mayard-Paul. "In this way, we can develop Haitian-branded programs based on the lessons from our counterparts, as we work towards decentralization and job creation."

Decentralization, a top priority for the Martelly administration, recently received a substantial boost based on customizing program models from other developing regions, including Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. "We developed a proprietary Haitian model for community-based decentralization, Katye Pam Poze, after evaluating successful experiences in numerous countries where development has proven elusive," said the minister.

Katye Pam Poze, which launched this month in the city of Jacmel, forms the cornerstone of President Martelly's National Decentralization Agenda. The program received enthusiastic support from all stakeholders, including local and central governments.

According to Minister Mayard-Paul who developed the program and is responsible for its implementation throughout Haiti, the Martelly administration is totally committed to the program and to decentralization as an accelerator for sustainable development and job generation. He adds that Katye Pam Poze has as its basis, the orderly transfer of government services and responsibilities to the local level and the promotion of strong community involvement.

"Decentralization is one of the most promising ways to improve the delivery of government services and to foster development and job creation at the local level," said Mr. Mayard-Paul. "It is also one of the most effective ways to insure that local governments as well as central government are held accountable to the citizens of Haiti. Ultimately, our administration seeks to bring decision-making closer to Haitian citizens."

Citing the five principles of decentralization, Mr. Mayard-Paul said he will work directly with community-based organizations, and that local elected authorities and the leadership of community-based organizations will be responsible for designing and planning the subprojects in an open and participatory manner. "The transfer of resources to the community for the implementation of subprojects is an imperative," he said. "Our expectation is that the community will be directly involved --and personally committed-- in the implementation of each subproject, and they must also become involved in the monitoring and the periodic evaluation of subprojects."

Both Minister Mayard-Paul and Prefet Dussourd are working to strengthen collaborative ties between Haiti and France through continued missions. As expressed by Mr. Mayard-Paul and Mr. Dussourd, both countries can learn from each other. "This is an opportunity to further strengthen municipalities," said Mr. Dussourd. "Working together, we can glean valuable insights from shared, participatory experiences, delegate to delegate, that will benefit the Haitian people and communities throughout the country."