May 31, 2022
The Board of Directors of the World Bank approved on Thursday a grant of US$120 million for the Resilient Connectivity and Urban Transport Accessibility Project in Haiti. The Board also approved additional funding of US$11 million for the Risk Management and Climate Resilience Project. The infrastructure project will improve rural connectivity in the southern peninsula and improve climate-resilient urban mobility in Cap-Haitien, while building institutional capacity in the urban transport sector. The disaster risk management project will increase the emergency response and evacuation capacity of selected municipalities in high climate risk areas.
“The combined effects of exposure to seismic hazards and extreme weather events, and the high level of environmental degradation, are key drivers of fragility, partly responsible for reversing the meager socio-economic progress of the last decade,” said Laurent Msellati, the World Bank’s Chief of Operations in Haiti . “Supporting disaster risk management and investing in resilient road infrastructure are key to harnessing the country’s post-earthquake reconstruction and helping to eradicate extreme poverty and achieve sustainable inclusive growth . »
Urban transport in Haiti is a major limiting factor for access to economic activities, development and economic growth. Congestion levels are severe in several large cities, mainly due to a combination of poor road infrastructure conditions, sub-optimal use of public space, frequent weather-related disruptions and a unregulated public transport that contribute to limiting accessibility and creating long travel times.
Furthermore, while recent efforts to improve the road network have strengthened inter-urban connectivity, 50% of the national territory remains poorly connected and some regions are totally isolated for days during the rainy season which is often accompanied by storms and storms. major hurricanes. Transport infrastructure in the southern peninsula has been affected by frequent and severe climate change events. The recent earthquake of August 2021 damaged more than 850 km of primary and secondary roads in the southern region, resulting in damages in the transport sector to the tune of 160 million dollars and leaving more than 450,000 people isolated.
The Resilient Connectivity and Urban Transport Accessibility Project will strengthen the overall resilience of the road network in the Southern Peninsula by funding road improvements and institutional activities to improve climate resilience. It will improve mobility along selected corridors in Cap-Haitien through a low-carbon urban mobility model by expanding the conditions for safe non-motorized mobility, strengthening the resilience of urban infrastructure to climate change and environmental phenomena. extreme weather and improving the operations of the public transportation system. The project will also support the modernization and professionalization of public transport services in the targeted regions.
As climate change is expected to increase the frequency, intensity and impacts of extreme weather events, an effective early warning system to warn citizens to prepare and be ready to evacuate in the event of extreme weather events could reduce the impact of these shocks. Between 1972 and 2022, Haiti has been hit by more than 110 disasters, and the upcoming hurricane season in the Caribbean region is expected to be above average with likely 14 to 21 named storms, including 3 to 6 major hurricanes.
The additional funding for the Risk Management and Climate Resilience Project will fill the funding gap caused by the reallocation of funds to support the post-earthquake emergency response. It will provide funding for the implementation of essential activities such as strengthening the response capacity of the General Directorate of Civil Protection to future disasters and the construction of emergency shelters to help protect vulnerable communities.