Haiti: short and long-term development issues

This deliberately brief document was prepared by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) at the request of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti. Its primary purpose is to help nurture the domestic debate on long-term development issues. More specifically, while Haitians prepare to engage in an inclusive national dialogue which centers on the upcoming electoral process, the country's long-term development prospects cannot be absent from such a dialogue. On the contrary, it is difficult to have progress without having a broad understanding among the important stakeholders on how to begin to overcome some of the main challenges that Haiti faces today. Most of those challenges fall in the realm of economic and social development. In this regard, a second purpose of the document is to offer the Government of Haiti a framework for a medium term prospective development strategy for Haiti. The document outlines some of the major issues that warrant further discussion, and points in the direction of possible policy orientations.