Created by the 2005 decree on the management of the environment, the National System of Environmental Assessments is about to be launched through the operationalization of the National Bureau of Environmental Assessments (BNEE).

Under the leadership of the Ministry of the Environment, this office will ensure the consideration of standards and good environmental and social practices; planning and implementation of projects, programs, plans and policies initiated in Haiti.

The operationalization of the BNEE is no longer an option but a necessity for the Haitian State. Its implementation is particularly worrying that over 50% of the territory is composed of sloping areas with high risk of water erosion, which causes the whole country an annual soil loss valued at approximately 37 million metric tons.

It is in this context that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Francophone Institute for Sustainable Development (IFDD) is wrapping up a series of training courses for more than a hundred Haitian executives in Assessment.

Through these high-level training, the practice of environmental assessment is established as a systematic process, constituting the core of the implementation of sustainable development implementation in Haiti. It pursues, moreover, the objective of bringing the initiators and project managers, of policies and plans, to become more aware and manage both positive and negative impacts of their initiatives on natural resources and affected social groups. . As part of this training a field visit took place in Rivière Grise, organized by the UNDP Haiti in support of Ministry of Environment.

Among the trainees, included thirty teachers from 18 local academic institutions (including 20% women) and about forty executives in the public service. They have a mission to increase the pool of technical skills in the field.

Note that the participants in these courses have taken the initiative to create a Haitian network of environmental assessment practitioners in order to ormalize the support that will be provided to BNEE and better contribute to the promotion of the environmental assessment on the national territory.

Currently BNEE enjoys UNDP support for its implementation, but will require additional funding to achieve fully assume its responsibilities. The BNEE will also require political mobilization, to promote the adoption of its legal framework to the next legislature.

HL/ HaitiLibre