In April 2016, Haïti Priorise held its tenth sector expert roundtable to discuss the best solutions for decentralization. Roundtable participants were asked to identify the strengths and weaknesses of current policy efforts and to propose actions they think should be prioritized as a means to improve decentralization in Haiti.

1. Decentralization
Research Ideas
Port-au-Prince
April 2016

2. Working with 30-50 economists including Nobel Laureates, 100+ sector experts,
government, donor organizations, civil society, development agencies, businesses,
youth, across rural and urban areas to identify, analyze and prioritize interventions
that will deliver greater benefit per gourde spent, helping move Haiti towards a
more prosperous long term future.

3. Copenhagen Consensus
Center organized roundtable
discussions with an aim to
figure out smarter solutions to
the most problematic issues
facing Haiti.
These roundtables are
one of several sources
for research ideas.

4. Research Ideas

5. Top Ideas;
(1 of 6)
• Increase the management and administrative capacity
of municipalities.
• Put-in-place a proper training system.
• Develop standard organizational charts for municipalities.
• Develop operating rules and regulations to promote the
stability of public institutions.
• Improve the remuneration of municipal officials and
employees.
• Assess the potential tax base for each municipality and
broaden the tax base of municipalities according to the
fiscal potential of each municipality.

6. Top Ideas;
(2 of 6)
• Put mechanisms in place to increase the social capital of
elected officials to promote transparency, outreach and
communication.
• Form local committees.
• Create institutional mechanisms (personnel, equipment and
materials) to facilitate communication between citizens and
the state and take steps to identify priorities through a
participatory planning exercise.
• Improve the tax mobilization in communities through
three mechanisms: (1) census of citizens, properties and
businesses; (2) participatory development of the
municipal budget; (3) raising awareness about the
services offered by the municipality.

7. Top Ideas;
(3 of 6)
• Budget transparency: Creating mechanisms digitized
and non-digitized (gazette, magazine, website, etc.) to
disclose the municipal budget, view reports, orders and
other relevant information for the population in
communities.
• Implement decentralization laws.
• Advocacy: awareness campaigns, conferences, mediated
interventions, seminars and workshops.
• Council interdepartmental training to implement the CEP and
manage the Fund Management and Development of Local
Communities.
• The preparation of textbooks on decentralization in
communities: one for local officials and another for citizens.
• Repatriate the budget for communities.

8. Top Ideas;
(4 of 6)
• Create community dialogue spaces that hold meetings
regularly.
• Create formal structures to strengthen the capacity of
local civil society.
• Extend the definition of territory:
• Define the contours of decentralization.
• Promote community dialogue around local democracy.
• Develop a teaching manual on decentralization and promote
its massive distribution across the country.
• Add a civics course in the national curriculum to
educate and sensitize the citizens about their rights and
duties.

9. Top Ideas;
(5 of 6)
• Redistribute power by creating an institution for tax
mobilization in municipalities (outside the DGI to avoid
concentration of the resources at the central government
level).
• Create a mechanism for debate and dialogue through
workshops, seminars and forums in communities on bills and
public policies to make the relationship between civil society
and lawmakers more harmonious.
• Establish a specialized course of study on the management of
decentralization at the public university.
• Implement inter-communal public service sharing programs
for schools, hospitals, waste management, etc.
• Put-in-place structures for the coordination of central and
local actors.

10. Top Ideas;
(6 of 6)
• Create a centralized digital library of training modules
for municipal administration and operating regulations
available in Creole and French.
• Reduce the cost of elections.
• Put-in-place contest "Chic Neighborhoods" for waste
management.
• Put-In-Place neighborhood committees systematized
• Share resources for basic infrastructure: water, sanitation,
energy, etc.
• A partnership with the Haitian National Police to take
appropriate measures to manage security area (e.g. an alarm
whistle system).

11. For more information www.HaitiPriorise.com