The sustainable development section follows with areas of cooperation relating to agriculture, food and nutritional security, social protection, the environment, climate change and risk and disaster management. Policies and programs supported aim at ensuring territorial development allowing access to basic services for the population and providing decent employment opportunities in a preserved environment.

Actions developed with authorities are implemented through technical assistance, NGOs, and Member States ‘agencies. They are designed to ensure results that are directly beneficial to the population and with methodologies and tools supporting local and central authorities so as to improve their presence and services to populations. 

The Delegation's Infrastructure and Urban Development Team focuses on two main areas of intervention, improving national road infrastructure and promoting urban development in three main cities. 

In the transport/road sub-sector, the European Union worked on the National Road 3 (RN3), connecting the two main cities and ports, the capital Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien; which also contributed to improving communication and access to the central highlands for integration and development. Currently, the 103 km road between Port Au Prince and the town of Saint Raphael is completed. The European Union has also made possible the construction of the 70 km of the National Road 6 (RN6), connecting the main economic pole of the north, Cap-Haitien, to the border post of Ouanaminthe. In addition, the 30 km road connecting the town of Mirebalais on the RN3 and the border of the Dominican Republic for an alternative border crossing is also completed. 

In the area of urban development, the European Union works closely with Haitian government agencies to improve the analysis, planning and implementation of the development of Port Au Prince, Les Cayes and Jérémie. Concretely, the support was oriented towards the construction of urban roads; canalization of rivers and drains; improving housing conditions for vulnerable populations by building 1,156 housing units, improving public spaces including parks and sports centres; improving access to services, including water and sanitation systems and waste collection services. In this same area, various infrastructure works were carried out, supporting institutional capacity and improving local governance (among which, the buildings of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and the Office of the National Authorizing Officer of the European Development Fund. The European Union also promoted the creation of a technical committee for analysing urban plans, the development of nine neighbourhoods’ urban plans as well as multi-stakeholder capacity building in the urban sector. 

In addition, the Infrastructure and Urban Development Team of the Delegation is responsible for supporting/managing several work contracts initiated by the other two teams, such as rural roads connecting food production areas to markets, construction of the Ouanaminthe border market and the Customs building in the same border, among the main ones. 

The Economic, Social and Governance Team at the Delegation, covers a wide range of issues in support of the Haitian government and civil society.  

The large State Building Contract (157 million €) aims at underpinning the government’s effort in improving its public finance management and state reform. The objective is to have a solid administration with a sound and transparent fiscal capacity that allow providing basic services to the population such as education.  

We are also in charge of coordinating the TEAM EUROPE INITIATIVE (TEI) on education; together with Belgium, France and Spain, we are aiming at strengthening the capacity and improving the access and quality of the educational system in Haiti. In addition, we are already financing several education projects implemented by Expertise France, AECID and UNESCO/IIEP and UNICEF. Our combined support to the education sector -including the part under the State Building Contract- is 90 million €. 

Haitian civil society plays a key role in informing, developing, implementing and monitoring local public policies. The EU is investing in strengthening the organisational, technical, advocacy, representation and oversight capacities of civil society actors and in the defence and promotion of human rights in Haiti. Actions have included specific support to women, handicapped and LGBTI groups and actions in the field of child labour. For the period 2018-2020, a total of EUR 24.7 million € has been committed, including EDF, CSO and EIDHR budget lines.  

Cooperation with neighbouring country Dominican Republic remains a strategic priority for Haiti, as both economies and societies are closely interlinked. The EU’s longstanding support for Binational Cooperation between the two countries is currently implemented through a 19.5 million € Binational Programme jointly managed with the Delegation in the Dominican Republic. The Programme promotes closer economic integration, policy coordination, cultural exchanges and regular dialogue between the people and institutions of both countries.