Faced with the security, political, and humanitarian crises that regularly affect the country, functional local institutions become an essential link in maintaining the connection between the State and its citizens.

On Friday, July 10, 2026, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP Haiti), with funding from the Peacebuilding Fund, held an official ceremony at the Cap-Haitien City Hall to hand over office equipment and solar power systems to twelve local institutions in Cap-Haitien and Les Cayes, as part of the State-Citizen Relations (SCR) Project.

The ceremony was attended by Michel Saint-Croix, Mayor of Cap-Haïtien; Nora Nadja Naji and Deborah Gribaudo, Representatives of the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office based in New York; and Sylvain Merlen, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Haiti. Representatives from the beneficiary institutions, as well as departmental and local authorities from Cap-Haïtien and Les Cayes, were present, including Jean Pierre Raynaud Phildor, Vice-Delegate of the Les Cayes district; Jean Renaud Joseph, representative of the Association of CASECs (Community Action Committees) of Les Cayes; Jean Renel Ferdinand, representative of the CASECs of Cap-Haïtien; and Serge Phanord, Departmental Director of the Office of Citizen Protection in the North.

The donation includes 12 laptops, 12 multifunction printers, 180 visitor chairs, 15 metal desks, 15 office chairs, 15 work tables, filing cabinets, fans, water coolers, and 12 complete solar power systems designed to improve working conditions for public employees, strengthen the continuity of administrative services, and facilitate access for the public.

The equipment benefits 8 Communal Section Administrative Council (CASEC) offices, the Vice-Delegations of the Cayes and Cap-Haitien districts, and the departmental offices of the Office of Citizen Protection (OPC) in the North and South. These decentralized institutions serve as the primary point of contact between the population and the State and play a crucial role in access to public services, local mediation, and citizen participation.

For the recipient institutions, this support addresses very real needs that are essential to their ability to fulfill their daily missions.

Beyond the equipment provided, the project pursues a broader objective: to sustainably strengthen the capacities of local institutions and improve the relationship between the State and its citizens.

The project supported workshops on transparency and accountability, participatory needs assessments of local institutions, training for territorial authorities, the creation of the Joint Committee on Transparency and Accountability (CMSTR), the establishment of a community-based monitoring and evaluation mechanism, and initiatives promoting greater openness of institutions to citizens, such as the open house week organized by the Cayes city hall.

HL/ HaitiLibre