Marc-Elie Nelson, the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor (MAST), during a meeting with the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Bank, and Swiss Cooperation, reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening the Haitian government's leadership in implementing the Adaptive Social Protection for Increased Resilience (PSARA) program, better known as Klere Chimen.

This meeting was held in the presence of technical staff from the MAST Program Studies Unit and representatives of partner institutions, including Ms. Lauren Landis, WFP Country Director; Sergot Jacob, WFP Policy Advisor; Ms. Nina Astfalk, Head of Swiss Cooperation in Haiti; Lukas Luscher, Deputy Head of the Latin America Section; and Dieter Loosli, Human Resources Officer for Haiti. Ms. Anne-Lucie Lefebvre, World Bank Country Manager for Haiti.

Held earlier this week, this meeting comes at an important stage in the collaboration between institutions regarding the transition of the program to direct implementation by the Ministry.

At the heart of the discussions were the consolidation of the achievements of the Klere Chimen program, the gradual transfer of responsibilities to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MAST), the strengthening of national capacities, and the prospects for expanding the program to all ten departments of the country.

In his remarks, the Minister commended the ongoing commitment of the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Bank, and the Swiss Cooperation to the Haitian government. He particularly emphasized the complementary nature of the funding, notably the support from the Swiss Cooperation, which complements the World Bank's financing through the PSARA program.

According to Marc-Elie Nelson, this approach constitutes a model of partnership under national leadership, emphasizing that "the stakes go beyond the success of a particular project." He stated that Klere Chimen must now serve as a lever for consolidating the national social protection system, particularly through strengthening institutional capacities, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor's Information System (SIMAST), payment mechanisms, beneficiary management, and the coordination of interventions.

Nelson welcomes the prospect of the direct implementation of Klere Chimen. However, this transition must be gradual, structured, and secure. The Minister particularly emphasizes the need to accompany the transfer of responsibilities with a genuine transfer of capacities. "Transferring responsibilities without transferring capacities undermines the sustainability of public action," the Minister stated.

The experience gained through the program has enabled the development of several operational mechanisms, particularly in the areas of cash transfers, targeting, payments, beneficiary management, complaints handling, and monitoring and evaluation. For the Ministry, these achievements constitute an important foundation for the continuation of the program and its potential expansion. Furthermore, it emphasizes that no transition should occur at the expense of vulnerable households. The continuity of services and transfers must be maintained to avoid any disruption in support for beneficiaries. To this end, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MAST) encourages the development of a joint roadmap specifying the responsibilities to be transferred, the capacities to be strengthened, the technical assistance needs, the deadlines, and the monitoring mechanisms.

Beyond the transition of Klere Chimen, discussions focused on the need to gradually move beyond a logic of isolated projects towards a more harmonized, coherent, and sustainable national social protection system.

Minister Marc-Elie Nelson believes that the National Policy for Social Protection and Promotion (PNPPS) should serve as the strategic framework for bringing together and harmonizing the various interventions in the sector. The preliminary plan currently being developed should draw inspiration from the experience of Klere Chimen and the model of complementarity between the World Bank, Swiss Cooperation, and the WFP, under the institutional leadership of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MAST). "Partner funding must gradually contribute to a unified national architecture,”" he stated. This approach aims to avoid the proliferation of parallel mechanisms and to ensure that external investments contribute directly to the sustainable strengthening of Haitian institutions.

In this context, SIMAST is expected to play a central role. The Government is working to make it the single social registry of the Haitian State, through a draft decree currently being prepared. The draft order establishing the DTSI-MAST (Directorate of Information Systems and Statistics - Ministry of Social Affairs) should also contribute to strengthening the technical and institutional anchoring of the Ministry's information systems. Furthermore, the adoption of alternative data collection methods should allow for a rapid expansion of SIMAST's coverage, particularly in hard-to-reach areas and emergency situations.

Following the meeting, the Minister reiterated his desire to continue the dialogue with the three partners around a common agenda: expansion of Klere Chimen, institutionalization of SIMAST, harmonization of targeting, adaptive social protection, and consolidation of national coordination mechanisms. "Every investment made today must contribute to making the national social protection system stronger tomorrow," concluded Marc-Elie Nelson.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-47781-haiti-s-mast-and-the-wb-work-together-to-strengthen-the-resilience-of-vulnerable-populations.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-47419-launch-of-the-psara-klere-chimen-project-in-the-southern-department.html

HL/ HaitiLibre