13 October 2022 – The Global Environment Facility-Least Developed Countries Fund has approved US$4.5 million to strengthen climate resilience in the drinking water sector in Haiti, with about 130,000 people in the southeast of the country directly benefit from more reliable access to clean drinking water and, in turn, improved health, livelihoods, and food security.
Under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment and the Potable Water Directorate and with the implementing support of the NGO Helvetas, the 5-year project will work together with communities, local organizations, and government institutions to promote sustainable drinking. -or climate water solutions at many levels.
About 1 in 3 Haitians do not have access to safe drinking water, with a large disparity in the availability of water services between urban and rural areas: in 2020, 62 percent of urban residents will have access of basic water services compared to 84 percent of rural residents.
Increased variability in rainfall leads to more frequent severe floods and droughts. This trend, combined with high rates of deforestation and unsustainable farming practices, has drastically altered Haiti’s natural landscape, reducing its capacity to capture water and recharge aquifers. on the island. More extreme weather driven by climate change exacerbates the pressure on drinking water resources and increases the risk of water-borne diseases such as cholera.
Lack of access to safe drinking water directly affects health, livelihoods, and cost of living for vulnerable communities. Women and children are disproportionately at risk of negative health-related effects due to higher exposure to contaminated water due to gender roles in the household.
“The Haitian government warmly welcomes the approval of this adaptation project, which will provide concrete benefits to some of our most vulnerable communities,” said the Minister of the Environment, James Cadet. “By increasing the climate resilience of the water sector, the project will advance several Sustainable Development Goals, including reducing hunger (SDG 2), ensuring healthy lives and well-being (SDG 3), clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), climate action (SDG 13), and life on earth (SDG 15). It will also support Haiti’s capacity to address climate change in the longer term as planned in the Haiti National Adaptation Plan.”
“In recent years, UNDP has worked closely with the government of Haiti, NGOs and civil society organizations, and other community actors to prepare for the effects of climate change, including strengthening the adaptive capacity of coastal communities and integration of risks into national development planning. We also support the development and implementation of a comprehensive National Adaptation Plan with guidance and strategies to reduce climate-related vulnerabilities and disaster risk,” said UNDP Resident Representative in Haiti, Nick Rene Hartmann. “This important project is another piece of the development puzzle, which addresses one of the country’s most pressing priorities: water.”
The project has three main goals: improving knowledge and awareness around the effects of climate change on drinking water in Haiti; strengthening policy, regulation, and institutional capacity for drinking water management; and promoting practices to increase the supply of drinking water.
At the national, regional, and local levels, the project will train water management personnel in evidence-based climate-resilient water resource management and land-use planning. Together with a project developed for the Green Climate Fund, which looks at integrating disaster risk reduction for water management, UNDP will be able to support Haiti in addressing the most urgent climate vulnerabilities.
Meanwhile, communities themselves will be equipped to more effectively plan their response to the impacts of climate change on drinking water, with the establishment of community groups intended to support inclusive, ongoing sustainable management of the resource. of water at the local level.
Specifically women – due to the disproportionate impact of lack of drinking water and poor quality water on their health – will be empowered to implement the land use and water management plans developed by the project.
Recognizing the role of environmental degradation in the problem – and the power of nature in adaptation solutions – the project will rehabilitate 700 hectares of land through agroforestry and reforest 3,840 hectares. The project will create incentives and capacity in communities to maintain restored ecosystems, which will ultimately result in the development and implementation of technological and financial packages for conservation and agroforestry that will be promoted through the Cash4Work program. In the case of agroforestry, the community can see important livelihood benefits.
Importantly, the project will also focus on integrating climate change considerations into regulatory and policy frameworks, improving water monitoring and modeling capacity, and better integrating sustainable water management with purpose of the country’s climate (Nationally Determined Contribution) and National Adaptation Plan.
The project is expected to be launched in early 2023.
Additional Editor’s Note
Between 1993 and 2012, Haiti experienced two droughts, 26 hurricanes and 31 floods (ten of which were directly attributed to hurricanes).
General trends in projected temperature and precipitation changes for Haiti in the 21st century indicate a warmer and drier climate. As temperature estimates become more certain, precipitation uncertainty increases with precipitation variability in terms of precipitation convergence and the intensity of precipitation events. These trends are expected to increase in intensity in the future.
The project targets vulnerable areas in the South-East Department of the country, specifically the catchment areas, recharge zones and springs of Cresson, Bodarie, Préchet, Cascade Pichon and K-Royer Drinking Water Supply Systems (SAEPs). The five SAEP targets were selected according to a methodology developed jointly between the Government of Haiti, UNDP Haiti and consultants, with criteria including community vulnerability to climate change; ecosystem vulnerability to climate change; number of potential beneficiaries; potential to build on past or ongoing projects; and potential for support and buy-in.
For More Details:
For more information, please contact Ruvens Ely Boyer | UNDP Communication Officer , Haiti ruvens-ely.boyer@undp.org UNDP or visit the project page here.
