Haiti—Parliamentary Strengthening Program (PSP)

Given the Government of Haiti’s commitment to democratic reform and broad-based economic recovery, it is imperative that its elected officials be provided with technical and logistical support that allows them to fulfill their act as effective legislators and policymakers. Moreover, supporting the legislature is critical to improving its legitimacy and providing the political space and stability needed to undertake difficult tasks, including long-term legislative planning and constitutional reform. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Parliamentary Strengthening Program (PSP) program helped to develop Haiti’s parliamentary institutional capacity, promoted transparency in legislative processes, and facilitated representation through technical assistance, training, staffing, and materials. Program activities focused on representation, lawmaking, oversight and accountability, and management and infrastructure.

Sample Activities

• Assist Haiti’s legislatures in providing information to the public and receiving input from citizens during the legislative process through media coverage of parliament, public hearings and meetings, parliamentary public relations strategies, and enhancement of the parliament website.
• Help members and staff improve how legislation is analyzed, debated, and passed by enhancing committee and commission deliberations, research skills and facilities, participatory legislative drafting, and support for constitutional review.
• Improve legislative oversight, particularly in budget formulation and implementation, by strengthening budget processes and emphasizing the role of committees, and implementing question hour.
• Assist legislatures with human resource improvements, information communications technology systems development and management, hardware and software improvements, archiving and legislative records management, internal budget planning and management, and review of rules and procedures.

Select Results

• Furnished all major departments of both chambers with computer hardware and office equipment.
• Connected 260 local area network users and more than 100 wireless users among Parliament staff and members to the internet and an internal network for more efficient day-to-day operations.
• Developed Parliament’s institutional framework to include improved internal rules and codes of ethics to govern legislative functions.
• Helped Parliament to draft a new five-year strategic development plan.
• Created in-house mini-research libraries to inform the policy-making process.
• Civil society and the public at large contributed to the drafting process of more than 20 priority laws through 23 program-supported public hearings and 14 program-supported public forums.