Haiti Economic Governance Reform Operation

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The Economic Governance Reform Operation Project (EGRO) will support the Government's efforts to adopt measures that will increase the transparency of, and efficiency in the use of public resources, and external assistance with the increasing participation of the private sector, and civil society in decision-making, and the provision of services. It is thus a key component of the Bank's program of re-engagement in Haiti, as described in the Transitional Support Strategy (TSS). Technical assistance (TA) for the implementation of the economic governance reform supported by the EGRO will be provided by the Bank through a recently approved Low Income Countries under Stress (LICUS) grant, and a technical assistance IDA project. The EGRO supports reform measures in the following main areas: fiscal management, budget processes and financial control; public sector procurement; anti-corruption strategy; human resource management; efficiency and transparency in the management of public enterprises, and road maintenance; public-private partnerships, and governance in the education and health sectors; civil society monitoring of economic governance reforms; and, enhanced public information system. Nevertheless, in addition to the political, and security risks faced by the country, two critical risks are: 1) weak institutional capacity; and, 2) the short time framework for implementation of the reforms supported by the EGRO. Since the transition period may prove too short to allow for lasting reforms in the civil service, the donor community has responded with proposed significant technical assistance, and efforts to coordinate it effectively. And, by supporting capacity building efforts, the proposed operation would also contribute to increasing the national absorptive capacity and therefore a faster disbursement of badly needed external assistance.