Interim Haiti Recovery Commission Approves 18 New Projects at Third Board Meeting

New Projects Valued at US $777 Million, Demonstrate Continued Progress in Addressing Haiti's Recovery and Development Needs

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), co-chaired by Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and President Bill Clinton, today reaffirmed its goals and priorities for Haitian reconstruction and announced a new set of projects at its third Board meeting, held via conference call from Port-au-Prince. The IHRC Board approved 18 new projects, with a total value of $777 million, though some may be modified based on feedback from the board. This brings to 49 the total number of projects approved to date.

Specific new projects approved by the IHRC at today's Board meeting include:

• A $474 million Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)  project for reconstruction of the country's education sector. The project will enable 250,000 children to benefit from financial subsidies to attend school every year for the next four years.
• A $100 million IDB project which will support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by providing business development services and investment credits.
• A $10 million project from UNICEF to support the Haitian government and civil society in the fight against gender-based violence.
• A $25 million project from UNICEF to support a plan to assess the status of primary school facilities; improve available education infrastructure databases; clear debris from yellow and red-zoned schools; construct 200 semi-permanent learning facilities; assist in developing standards for permanent primary school construction; and build ten pilot primary schools.

The IHRC Board also reported on the significant progress achieved on several of the 29 projects approved at its last meeting on August 17, including:

• Groundbreaking of the Partners in Health National Health Referral Facility in Mirebalais, with a cornerstone-laying ceremony in September. The project has secured $11.8 million in pledges, an increase of some $1.8 million since it was approved in August.
• Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by France, the United States and Haiti for co-financing of the entire project cost for reconstruction of the State University Hospital of Haiti (HUEH). The MOU closes the funding gap of $35 million disclosed when the project was approved in August.
• Approval and full funding of the UN debris removal project in Port-au-Prince by the Haiti Recovery Fund (HRF) on September 24. The project is now ready for implementation.
• Approval of the Partial Credit Guarantee Fund for enterprise development approved by the HRF, with the transfer agreement ready for signature. The project will contribute to the rehabilitation of the Haitian productive sector.

"I am quite confident regarding the steadfast support and commitment of the international community to the reconstruction of Haiti," stated Jean-Max Bellerive, Prime Minister of Haiti and co-chair of the IHRC.  "Today's Board meeting has confirmed the invaluable collaboration among all actors involved in the process, and I am proud of the contributions of our Haitian counterparts to our work."  

"Today, our Commission has approved 18 projects valued at 777 million dollars that, among other outcomes, will provide school subsidies for 250,000 children, cash grants for the construction of 5,000 homes, and medical, psychological and legal services for up to 50,000 women and girls. Once fully-funded and implemented, the projects approved today are expected to improve the lives of more than one million people in Haiti as they recover from the devastating earthquake," said President Bill Clinton, co-chair of the IHRC.

The Commission also addressed a number of key legal and administrative matters that will be critical to its operations over the coming months. During the meeting, guidelines for implementing the Performance and Risk Management Framework were presented and adopted.

About the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission

The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) was created by presidential decree on April 21, 2010, in the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010. The mission of the IHRC is to undertake the expeditious planning, coordination, and implementation of development projects and priorities, including reviewing and approving projects and programs funded by bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs and the private sector. The IHRC is co-chaired by Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and President Bill Clinton and is guided by a Board, which includes Haitian and non-Haitian stakeholders in reconstruction efforts.

SOURCE Interim Haiti Recovery Commission