GEO Haiti 2010

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GEO HAITI • 2010 152 Table 33: International Environmental Protocols and Conventions signed by Haiti Date Titre 1996 Framework Convention on Climate Change 1996 Convention on Biological Diversity 1996 Convention on the Law of the Sea 1996 Convention to Combat Desertification 2000 Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety 2000 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer 2000 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants 2005 Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Source: Human Development Report 2007. 1.2. State Instruments for Environmental Management a) Legal Instruments Research and the compilation of documents have revealed the abundance of Haitian legislation on the environment. From the Constitution to government decrees and local bylaws, there are a number of texts which define the legal framework for effective environmental management in Haiti. Chapter II of Title IX of the Framework-Law of the Republic focuses on the environment although unfortunately, it is reduced and limited to the natural environment. The decrees and bylaws established on environmental management mainly concern the protection of natural resources, sanitation and urbanisation. It remains difficult to extract a set of standards or guidelines on environmental management as these laws were passed at different periods and in different circumstances. These were mentioned in the “Framework Decree on Environmental Management”, in the January 2006 issue of The Monitor. The vast majority of these, although still in force, date back to the 19 th century, even if the environment, economic and demographic conditions of the time are far different from those today. The coercive measures, often economic in nature, have not evolved and the objectives targeted by the laws are often no longer relevant to the Haitian reality. Most of these laws are therefore completely outdated or inapplicable, and should either be removed from the legislation or revised. However, the task of updating the legislation cannot be accomplished without the will to apply the law. Nowadays, most environmental laws are never applied. In addition, their nonapplication creates a lack of jurisprudence, an essential necessary element in the revision of the legislation. b) Instruments at the Institutional Level The 2006 Law on Environmental Management suggests a new system-based management which should be articulated along the lines of the National System of Environmental Management (SNGE). According to the SNGE, this responsibility should be shared by the various Ministries including the Ministry of Environment, the Government and Civil society through diverse political and participatory mechanisms. Traditionally, Ministries are the institutions intervening on the issue of environment conservation: the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR), the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Public Works. The MARNDR, until the Decree of 2006, was in charge of environmental policies (water, soils, forest, biodiversity), and the Ministry of Planning continues to be responsible for territorial management. The Ministry of the Interior and Local Governments (Collectivités
State of the Environment Report 2010 Territoriales), once in charge of national security, was responsible for enforcing the law against environmental infractions, carried out through the Army. Today, this ministry still participates in environmental management. There are also agents known as health officers and under the authority of the Ministry of Health, who are involved in this task. In 1979, the Institute for the Preservation of National Heritage (ISPAN), an autonomous agency, was created under the aegis of the Ministry of Tourism, and in 1988, the National Heritage Commission was founded with the Director of ISPAN as its President. Additionally, agencies, such as OPPJ and DRIPP, were allowed to administer particular development projects, under the supervision of the MARNDR. The establishment of the Ministry of Environment in 1994 added another stakeholder to the sector of environmental management in Haiti. It should be noted that more than 15 years later, this ministry still has no organic law which becomes an obstacle in the performing of its duties. The 2006 Framework Decree on Environmental Management of 2006, far from being an organic law, however establishes the responsibilities of this Ministry in relation to the other stakeholders in the sector. In addition to the MDE, there are other public participating institutions, such as the National Institute for Land Reform (INARA), the National Centre of Geo-Spatial Information (CNIGS), (formerly the Remote Detection and Geo-Spatial Information System Unit-UTSIG), as well as the Economic and Social Assistance Fund (FAES), which are the most long standing. Quite recently, the MDE set up a structure which should evolve into the National Environment and Vulnerability Observatory (ONEV). The environment management sector has also benefitted from the assistance of international cooperation agencies, NGO’s and citizen organizations, for example: • International Cooperation International cooperation is either bilateral or multilateral. In the first case, the cooperation agencies are under the authority of their respective embassies. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) are the primary aid agencies funding development initiatives in Haiti. International support is also provided by the many United Nations agencies operating in Haiti. The current United Nations Development Assistance Framework focuses on three priority areas namely: (i) Governance, with 26.52% of the funding; (ii) Sustainable Human Development with 65.05% and (iii) Environmental and Natural Hazard Management with 8.43%. The European Union, the Organisation of American States (OAS), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank are some of Haiti’s other multilateral partners. • Local and International NGO’s Haiti, just as other «Southern» countries, has been overtaken by many international NGO’s. Despite the existing legal framework designed to monitor these activities, it is impossible today to ascertain the number of NGO’s operating in Haiti. Also, many institutions function as NGO’s but are registered as associations or foundations in order to avoid legal complications. This has created a situation where it is difficult to know the purpose of many of these organisations, what they do or how they operate. • Citizen Organisations for the Protection of the Environment and Development The Haitian civil society’s participation in environmental governance began after the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship. A number of citizens had then formed various types of associations between 1985 and 1986, but almost all of these, created during a period of patriotic fervour, ceased to exist shortly after. On the environmental issue, only the Friends of Nature Federation is still in operation but it has been reduced to a few individual members. Nowadays, other associations have emerged and play an important role in the environmental governance of the country. They are active mainly in environmental education and community development, and on the protection of natural environments. 153
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GEO Haiti 2010

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