PORT-au PRINCE, 1 FEBRUARY 2010: Following a period of preparation that involved securing equipment and setting up systems of recruitment and payment, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Cash-for-Work initiative in Haiti is expanding rapidly. The number of workers doubled over the weekend to 31.885 and is expected to double by the end of the week.
– Expansion at first was constrained by the need to coordinate with local authorities and ensure that systems were in place for things like payments and for the transparent and accountable management of the finances, said UNDP Country Director Eric Overvest.
Another challenge was obtaining the boots, gloves, shovels, pickaxes, wheelbarrows and trucks needed to remove the waste, added Cash-for-Work Programme Manager Abdullah Al-Laham. -At the end of the programme, all this material will be given to the poor and vulnerable to help sustain their livelihoods.
Al-Laham said UNDP is in the process of partnering with 15 national and international non-governmental organizations to facilitate the expansion of the programme into other areas of the city. These organizations are being selected through a call for proposals and a vetting of qualifications and will be announced before the end of the week.
The programme, co-ordinated by the UNDP as part of its Emergency Relief and Recovery Framework, is working to put 100.000 workers on the street as quickly as possible, ideally doubling that further as conditions and funds allow. The workers are paid 180 gourdes, or roughly 4.50 US dollar for six hours’ labour.
