President Clinton and the Clinton Foundation | Background on Efforts in Haiti

For decades, President Clinton has been committed to expanding opportunity for all Haitians. Since leaving the presidency, he has continued his work to empower the people of Haiti through his efforts with the international community, and through the work of the Clinton Foundation. His efforts include:

• At the request of the United Nations Secretary General, serving as the U.N. Special Envoy for Haiti in 2009 after several storms and hurricanes hit Haiti;
• Continuing in this role after the 2010 earthquake that decimated the country;
• At the request of the Haitian government, serving as co-chair of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC);
• Distributing tens of millions of dollars in immediate assistance through the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, which was created when President Obama asked President Clinton and President Bush to raise funds for immediate, high-impact relief and long-term recovery efforts to help those who were most in need of assistance;
• Promoting economic development and support for small businesses in Haiti through the Clinton Foundation; and,
• Facilitating Clinton Global Initiative Commitments to Action as part of the Haiti Action Network. Commitments address a variety of challenges in Haiti, including those related to education, healthcare, economic development, and climate-smart agriculture, in addition to other sectors.

President Clinton with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President Bush

Information on the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC)

After the earthquake, the Haitian Government established the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) as the official planning body for the recovery efforts, due in part to the loss of 17% of Haiti’s government’s workforce as a result of the disaster.

At the request of Haiti’s President Préval, President Clinton co-chaired the IHRC with the Haitian Prime Minister, Jean-Max Bellerive. Governed by a board of directors that included voting members from Haiti’s legislative and judicial branches, the Haitian private sector and civil society as well as representatives from donor governments and multilateral organizations, the IHRC was responsible for reviewing, analyzing, and approving projects that aligned with the Government of Haiti’s action plan for recovery.

The IHRC did not receive or manage donor funds except for basic office operations. All donor funds were directed to the Haiti Recovery Fund (HRF), a separate fund hosted and administered directly by the World Bank, with support from Inter-American Development Bank and United Nations. IHRC operations were monitored by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which along with the law firm Hogan Lovells, staffed and administered the Performance and Anti-Corruption Office.

According to the IHRC, it approved more than 70 projects, the majority of which focused on housing, health, and shelter. Of the approved projects, 44 projects had moved beyond the funding and design stages to contracting, implementation, or completed phases within the first 18 months of the IHRC’s existence. These projects included upgrades and service provisions to earthquake-affected Port-au-Prince neighborhoods; debris removal; loan guarantees to encourage the development of more formal small- and medium-sized enterprises; and education projects contributing to the Government of Haiti’s ongoing effort to reform the Haitian education sector.

Other projects approved by the IHRC — which have made a remarkable difference in Haiti — include a teaching hospital opened in 2013 in Mirebalais that serves 185,000 Haitians; and housing upgrades in Port-au-Price that helped clear debris, repair houses, and helped close to 350,000 Haitians.

Clinton Foundation Immediate Relief Efforts

In the aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake, the Clinton Foundation helped mobilize resources to respond to the disaster, deploying over $30 million in relief support, including cash and in-kind donations such as trucks, solar lights, and clothing. The Clinton Foundation disbursed every dollar of that aid and did not take one cent in overhead. From the Clinton Foundation Haiti Fund, grants were provided to:

• ACTED, to support emergency assistance as well as to provide and deploy over 1,000 shelter and first-aid kits
• CARE, for the distribution of much needed food and water to survivors
• Concern Worldwide USA, to provide food, water, shelter, and medicine to survivors
• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, for the immediate purchase of seeds and fertilizer in and for Haiti
• Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), for operational support, and to support earthquake recovery programs as prioritized by the Haitian government.
• International Organization for Migration, to support the coordination and delivery of emergency shelters
• International Rescue Committee, for medical care, clean water, and emergency sanitation for survivors
• J/P Haitian Relief Organization, to provide bridge funding for the Petionville Club Camp to enable J/P HRO to continue to manage a camp of 55,000 displaced people, provide medical services, and support a rubble clearing project
• Médecins du Monde, for the distribution of medicine
• Médecins sans Frontières, to provide surgery and basic medical care to as many patients as possible
• Oxfam, to provide more than 10 tons of water, sanitation, and health and shelter equipment
• Partners In Health, to provide medical care and supplies as well as bring urgently needed medical expertise to Haiti
• Save the Children USA, for immediate needs such as shelter, health, water, sanitation, and child protection; and, as conditions allowed, the restoration of education for children
• The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), to provide adequate sanitation, safe water, and basic health care for survivors
• We Advance, to fund training programs for women in camps for internally displaced people and poor communities in Port-au-Prince
• The World Food Programme, to distribute high-energy biscuits as well as airlift food from WFP emergency hubs

The Clinton Foundation’s efforts in Haiti continue through a number of programs, including the Haiti Action Network, the CGI Action Network on Post-Disaster Recovery, and the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership.

Sustained assistance through the Haiti Action Network

When Haiti was struck by a series of hurricanes in 2008, President Clinton called on the CGI community to mobilize at the Annual Meeting that year. More than 30 Commitments to Action were made for recovery efforts, valued at over $100 million when fully realized, which emphasized and elevated the ongoing efforts of the CGI community in Haiti. In 2009, at CGI’s Annual Meeting, members made additional Commitments, including one by Water.org to provide 50,000 people in Haiti with safe water and sanitation. President Clinton along with the Haitian government, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Soros Economic Development Fund organized and convened a large investment conference in the fall of 2009 bringing together more than 500 investors and highlighting opportunities for investments in different business sectors throughout Haiti.

At the 2009 meeting, these CGI members joined forces to compare progress and evaluate new opportunities to impact the Haitian community, launching the Haiti Action Network. In 2010 when the earthquake hit, members of the CGI community intensified their efforts. Since then, President Clinton has brought together leaders from business, philanthropy, and government to organize investments in recovery, health, and economic development projects across the country. Members of the Haiti Action Network have committed to over $500 million in investment to Haiti, over $300 million of which has already been deployed to 130 projects, called “Commitments to Action,” across the country.

As a result of these Commitments to Action:

• More than 65,000 farmers or small-scale producers have gained access to inputs, supports, and markets.
• More than 43,000 girls and women have been supported through empowerment initiatives.
• More than 107,000 people have been given improved access to capital.
• More than 66,000 people have generated sustainable income.
• More than 60,000 people have been engaged in solutions to combat climate change.
• More than 590,000 people have gained improved access to health services, and more than 435,000 people have gained improved access to maternal and child survival programs.
• More than 11,000 people have benefitted from skills-based professional training programs.
• More than 100,000 children have gained access to education.
• More than $19.2 million has been invested in SMEs.
• More than 4,400 acres of forest have been protected or restored.
• More than $65 million has been invested in public infrastructure.
• More than 8,400 jobs have been created.
• More than 125,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions were cut or abated.

President Clinton and the Clinton Foundation brought many of these organizations to Haiti to facilitate these investments, including Marriott; Timberland; La Colombe; Firmenich, NRG Energy and international retailers like West Elm, Urban Zen, TOMS, and Home Goods. We also brought existing leaders in the region to the table with new businesses and philanthropies to make commitments, such as Digicel which was responsible for the restoration of the historic Iron Market and the construction of over 150 schools in all ten departments of Haiti.

The Haiti Action Network has held 41 meetings since 2009, most recently in Port-au-Prince in March 2018. Due to subsequent safety concerns in Port-au-Prince, the HAN decided after consultation with HAN members to begin convening conference calls instead of in-person meetings.

New commitments by the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Action Network on Post-Disaster Recovery

Two commitments through the CGI Action Network are helping Haiti. One commitment by SELF and Haiti Tec, a leading vocational school in Port au Prince, is helping to create skills training courses in renewable energy to increase the number of trained workers. Another commitment by Habitat for Humanity Haiti, with the support of USAID, is helping rural Haitians, particularly smallholder farmers, receive paralegal services to formalize their land rights. We will also be announcing two new Haiti commitments in San Juan this February, including a major project around tree planting.

Continued work by the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership (CGEP)

Since 2014, CGEP has worked in Haiti to improve the livelihoods of farmers in Haiti’s Central Plateau by revitalizing local peanut production. CGEP provides farmers with training on good agricultural practices, supplies inputs like seeds and fertilizer, purchases the peanuts and other crops directly from farmers at favorable, fixed prices, then sells the peanuts and other crops to large buyers and the general market. As of 2019, CGEP’s network includes 7,400 farmers.