Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

France’s bilateral cooperation actions have grown considerably since the departure of President Aristide, the conduct of free elections and the election of President Préval in 2006. From €12M in 2005, the volume reached €26M last year and exceeded €30M this year.

On 31 December 2007, France signed a framework partnership document (DCP) with the Haitian government. It defines French-Haitian cooperation priorities for the next five years.

French cooperation initiatives cover a large area. France is supporting institutions (police, legal system, decentralization), endeavouring to meet economic and social needs (transport infrastructures, agriculture, education, and health) and developing cultural ties between France and Haiti (support for artistic creation, French as a world language).

Support for the reconstruction of Haiti concerns the following sectors in particular: finance (a network between Haitian government officials and experts in financial administration, located in France and the DFA), the legal system (technical assistance), the process of deconcentration and decentralization (technical assistance with the Ministry of the Interior and Territorial Communities), health (support for the Health Ministry in its process of reorganization, decentralization, hospital reform and training of its agents), education (support for defining an “education for all” strategy) and agriculture (support for professional agricultural organizations and strengthening the governance of the Ministry of Agriculture).

Moreover, since 2004, Haiti has experienced an increase in commitments from the French Development Agency (AFD), with net subsidy commitments totalling €85M. Nine operations are under way to date, the most significant of which in terms of volume (€38.5M) is the 44km stretch of road between Hinche and Saint Raphaël, on the future road connecting Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haïtien. Other projects concern maternal and child health, the fight against infectious disease and reproductive health, access to potable water (in Port-au-Prince), the water chain (fight against floods, canal drainage, protection of potable water resources and sanitation and sewerage in the town of Jacmel and several small towns in the Sud-Est (South-East) department), irrigation infrastructures, making electrical service reliable (in Port-au-Prince), and micro-finance.

In the context of its assistance to the populations’ access to basic social services, France also supports about 60 small projects, concentrated in the Artibonite, Nord-Ouest (North-West) and Ouest (West) departments. In addition, NGOs are very present in Haiti and remain the leading recipients, excluding Africa, of French non-governmental cooperation.

Solidarity in face of the catastrophes of 2008

In 2008, France was fully engaged in the international surge of solidarity towards the people of Haiti, who were very deeply tested by hurricanes, by sending civil protection teams and humanitarian cargo on site. The Secretary of State for Cooperation and Francophonie, Alain Joyandet, was the first member of a foreign government to go to Haiti on 8 and 9 September.

He gave concrete proof of France’s solidarity with Haiti, which received special French aid of €4M, devoted to school cafeterias and the construction and renovation of schools, relying on high-intensity labour work programmes. In addition, France has shouldered the costs of up to €1.5M of the reconstruction of one of the bridges the Haitian government considers to be an economic priority: Montrouis Bridge on the coastal road linking Port-au-Prince and Gonaïves. The work, which began in January, ended in September 2009.

Moreover, French food assistance stood at €5.8M in 2008 and €3.5M in 2009. A portion of this amount would enable the WFP to pay its debts, in case a new food crisis should crop up.

Cultural cooperation

French cultural cooperation is based on the activities of the six Alliances Françaises set up in Haiti and the Institut français d’Haïti, the most popular establishment in the Haitian capital, the programming of which includes substantial operations, such as the annual “CulturElles” festival, to promote women’s place in society and Haitian art. In addition, support for artistic creation is demonstrated in the “Caraïbes en creation” (“the Caribbean in creation”) project, launched in Haiti in late June 2007, with two objectives: to encourage the development of contemporary artistic creation in the region of the Caribbean and showcasing this creation on the international scene, and to increase the integration of the DFA into their regional cultural environment.

Finally, in terms of the training of Haiti’s future elite, it is based on a policy awarding scholarships to students (pursuing Masters and Doctorate level studies in France) and training teachers (university partnerships in place, in particular with the University of the West Indies-Guyana, the Agrocampus in Rennes, the college of pharmacy in Caen, the medical school in Amiens, the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, INSA in Lyon and the University of Nantes).

More than 700 students attend the Lycée Français in Port-au-Prince.

Updated on 15.01.10