Thursday the Ministries of Planning, Social Affairs and Labor, of the Status of Women and the Office of the National Authorizing Officer of the European Development Fund (EDF) launched in partnership with the European Union (EU), the Program of strengthening of Haitian Civil Society Organizations (PROSCH).

Funded by the European Union to the tune of 5 million euros over four years, the main objective of this Program is to promote the rooting of democracy in Haiti through a growing, egalitarian and effective participation of civil society in the decision-making processes in the political, economic and social life of the country.

Launching PROSCH, the EDF National Authorizing Officer, Charles Jean-Jacques, declared, "Civil society organizations are a real strength for democracy in Haiti. With this Program we want, on the one hand, to consolidate the achievements of our previous PARSCH program and, on the other hand, to give civil society organizations the means to structure themselves by increasing their capacity to participate actively in democratic life in the country."

EU Ambassador in Haiti, Vincent Degert, said "Civil Society aims to exercise an active democratic watch on the action of public authorities and act as a force of proposal in favor of concrete and useful solutions to public policies. To achieve its missions, it must assert itself as a credible interlocutor of the State, which implies to be structured and professionalize more. I am delighted that thanks to the cooperation between Haiti and the European Union, we can contribute to it and thus contribute to the building of a more inclusive, open and effective governance."

In addition, thanks to PROSCH, the operating environment of the Haitian Civil Society will be improved with a revision of the legal framework and strengthened mechanisms for dialogue between civil society organizations and state structures.

Among the planned activities, let us note the creation of a common working framework between the state actors directly involved in the management and the functioning of the civil society organizations, the creation of a database on the Civil Society, the promotion of new legislative initiatives, the support for the regular functioning of existing dialogue-concertation mechanisms, while strengthening the capacity for analysis and monitoring of public policies and the budget. Actions to develop new partnerships and set up and structure networks will also be deployed.

HL/ HaitiLibre