Haiti - UNDP Cash for Work Program

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) employed nearly 400 Haitians in cash-for-work activities to jump start the local economy and facilitate the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance. By the end of the week, this programme will expand to include another 700 people working on rubble removal and the rehabilitation of essential social infrastructure, such as street repairs and electricity.
As the co-ordinator of the UN early recovery team, UNDP is also working with the Government of Haiti and other partners to assess damages and needs, devise plans for rebuilding, and begin these immediate responses.
The first phase of the cash-for-work programme will focus on Carrefour-Feuilles, a neighborhood just south of Port-au-Prince. The initiative will soon be rolled out in other earthquake-stricken locations, including Leogane and Jacmel. Once fully operational, the project will employ 220,000 people, indirectly benefitting around 1 million Haitians
Past UNDP cash-for-work programmes in Haiti have laid the groundwork for this current initiative. After the 2008 hurricanes that killed 800 people and left 165,000 families homeless in Haiti, UNDP worked closely with the Haitian Government on reconstruction efforts, particularly focusing cash-for-work initiatives and watershed rehabilitation.
The cash-for-work programme launched Tuesday builds on UNDPs Briquettes Project, a cash-for-work programme designed to combat climate change and reduce poverty. To speed up the rubble clearing process, UNDP, as a first step, used the resources and staff previously employed by the Briquettes Project. But UNDP is currently in the process of selecting the additional 700 people to be employed by the end of this week.

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• Haiti
• Quake
• Cash
• for
• Work
• UNDP
• UN
• Recovery