Minister Patricia Espinosa, Secretary of State of External Relations of Mexico,
Minister Alrich Nicolas, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Haiti.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of the USA, Bisa Williams,
High-Level Authorities from the Government of Mexico,
Representatives from member states of the OAS,
Representatives of development and cooperation agencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

As Chairman of the Haiti Task Force and as Chairman of the Group of Friends of Haiti, I am pleased to take part in this very important meeting and I express our appreciation, through Minister Patricia Espinosa, to the Government of Mexico for convening and hosting this meeting.

I also take this opportunity to congratulate the Government of Mexico on the recent election of Mr. Victor Villalobos as the new Director-General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA). The relationship between IICA and the OAS has grown stronger in the past 5 years and, therefore, we look forward to working with the new Director-General.

Over the past years, coordination of donor aid to Haiti has received general and specific attention at several meetings. In that regard, I can assure you that OAS is committed to ensuring strong, coordinated and focused international support , as well as timely technical assistance.

Therefore, the OAS agreed to collaborate and cosponsor the conference, when Ambassadors Gustavo Albin and Ambassador Sergio Romero raised the issue a couple of months ago. I am pleased that through our Group of Friends mechanism in Washington DC, we were able to share information and exchange views on the preparation of the event and generate both technical and financial support to this timely conference.

In discussing strengthened mechanisms for consultation, coordination and cooperation, we have to recognize the progress achieved in the Republic of Haiti over the past years on this front. We must begin by commending the Government of Haiti led by H.E. Rene Preval and acknowledge the solidarity that has been demonstrated by the international community in providing political support, financial assistance and technical expertise in this regard.

Haiti has entered a new era of relative political stability which needs to be supported, maintained and nurtured. The OAS is pleased to observe this relative political stability in Haiti. The current political climate has resulted, through targeted initiatives, in an improved macro-economic situation, providing a foundation to further strengthen the economic development. We observe also a renewed interest in supporting Haiti, as demonstrated recently in the two recent business forums held in Port-au-Prince,. These events highlighted the economic potential that Haiti presents, by bringing together the international, regional and domestic business and investor communities to discuss the various economic opportunities .

The improved security environment in general and the increased visibility of police officers in the streets of Haiti has certainly contributed to the resurgence of interest. The efforts of the Haitian National Police and the United Nations Minustah Peacekeeping forces have also been effective in creating an environment conducive for economic development.

The inter-American community recognizes the efforts of the current Haitian administration to move forward with a comprehensive development plan, based on the priorities identified by the government and the President. It will be critical for donors to work with this cooperation framework in order to facilitate social and economic development.

There is indeed a historic and unique window of opportunity for both Haiti and the international donor community to take advantage of the current environment to work collectively and in a coordinated fashion in delivering the anticipated social and economic goods and services to the people of Haiti.

The OAS believes that all stakeholders working toward peace, stability and development in Haiti bear the responsibility to ensure that this climate of peace and stability continue. Significant political matters should be dealt with efficiently and effectively. in order to maintain institutional sustainability.

The principal objective of both donor and domestic efforts in Haiti should be centered on using the current situation to attract investments, create jobs and further develop the economy. Only with these three elements will Haiti be able to generate a fluid and sustained income , and begin to reduce its dependency on foreign aid.

The importance of the conference on donor aid coordination should be placed in the context of the need to improve aid effectiveness in terms of benefits, impact and visibility of donor assistance, as well as creating more effective mechanisms for coordination and consultation. Understanding which donor is doing what, when, where and with whom, will greatly assist the Government of Haiti in working at multiple levels within the country and through a more integral development approach.

The challenge of finding the most effective coordination mechanism is not an easy task, when we take into account the already existing cooperation mechanisms and the multi-year programming objectives agreed by many donor agencies and countries.

In keeping with mandates from the 2008 General Assembly which took place in Medellin, Colombia, the OAS has taken several steps to support coordination efforts over the last few years:

In the same year, OAS facilitated meetings between the Minister of Planning and External Cooperation Jean Max Bellerive and representatives from the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the UN (UNDESA) in order to present various models of coordination used by the United Nations to the Government of Haiti.

Additionally, the OAS held several meetings with the various international financial institutions namely, the IMF, IDB and World Bank to discuss approaches toward better coordination.

It is my understanding that the Government of Haiti has just recently signed an agreement with the Development Gateway Foundation for the establishment of a coordination platform. I congratulate the Haitian authorities for this very timely and important decision. This signals that progress is underway to secure the most appropriate tools, suitable for reporting, tracking and coordinating the different levels of funding and contributions made to Haiti.

At the same time, we need to recognize that in this complex undertaking different levels and types of coordination will be required to streamline donor assistance.

In my view it is also important to find ways to strengthen the process of information sharing and consultation within the international community, including bilateral donors, development cooperation agencies, and financial institutions, global or hemispheric organizations. I believe that it is of critical importance for the international community as a whole to meet on a regular basis, possibly annually, so that institutional programs and mandates can benefit from experiences and results on the ground. Likewise, this data can be used in future planning and programming. Equally important is the need to agree on a division of labor based on the specific expertise of each organization.

We must not also forget in this search for a improved coordination process the bilateral contributions of individual countries and the support provided by non-governmental entities.
In my view, coordination also must involve non state actors such as organizations of the civil society, the private sector and the Haitian Diaspora. Considering that most of the foreign aid goes through these actors, it is very important to engage with them, increase their articulation with the public sector, and to establish evaluation and accountability mechanisms.

As for the Diaspora, it contains a major source of resources and expertise that can contribute significantly to development in Haiti. In addition to the about of $1, 5 billion in remittances, I am sure the Diaspora communities can sustain invaluable investment flows to Haiti.

Within Haiti there the coordination needs at policy level relates to the discussions on priorities, needs, direction and allocation with the international community, as well as in terms of implementation at the technical level by sector and region.

The principal task is to find the most effective and balances approach in this multiplicity of coordination efforts, while taking into account the existing coordination mechanisms and the on-going multi-year programming, so as to avoid duplication and strengthen synergies and complimentarity.

I am pleased to share with you the initiatives which have been implemented in the OAS to promote coordination, consultation and cooperation.

To coordinate policy and activities, as well as to implement the mandates emanating from the OAS General Assembly and the Summit of the Americas, the Haiti Task Force was established and we have been able to expand the participation to other inter-American institutions, such as the Pan American Health Organization, the Inter-American Institute for Agriculture, as well OAS affiliated organizations such the Pan American Development Foundation, the Young Americas Business Trust and the Trust for the Americas.

Monthly the extremely well attended meeting of the Group of Friends of Haiti at the OAS Headquarters provides an opportunity to provide updated briefs on the political, economic and social developments in Haiti to member states, Permanent Observers, inter-American institutions and the donor agencies in Washington DC.

Efforts are underway to facilitate more a more structured exchange of information and possible future cooperation between the five principal inter-American organizations (OAS, IDB, PAHO, IICA and PADF) with a longstanding development cooperation relationship with Haiti. We intend to launch an online information platform at the beginning of next year and the first time, all stakeholders will have access to this type of coordinated information and follow the evolution of the projects.

The V Summit of the Americas, held in April this year in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, called for the establishment of a Hemispheric Development Fund for Haiti. The OAS General Assembly in San Pedro Sula in June of this year mandated the OAS to study the modalities under which such a hemispheric fund could be established. I am pleased to inform this meeting that within a week this study will be commissioned, following consultations with the Governments of Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago. We hope to present this report to the Permanent Council of the OAS at its first meeting in January 2010.

On a political level, the OAS, for the first time, led an Inter-American mission to Haiti early September 2009. Four Inter-American agencies, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Pan American Development Foundation joined forces with the OAS to showcase high impact projects in Haiti and initiate efforts toward coordination for better and more integrated results in Haiti. In other terms, the Inter-American System is leading by example. On that occasion, a list all the projects funded or executed by those agencies was established, giving a snapshot of the hemispheric efforts. Among those projects, five were selected for visit representing the flagship project of each institution.
In conclusion, in order to find the most effective mechanism for consultation, coordination and cooperation, I urge every stakeholder to prioritize the needs, priorities and preferred approaches identified by the Government of Haiti. In this regard, I wish to highlight two critical areas of support: the strengthening of state institutions and the building of executive capacity in the Haitian civil service, in order to ensure effective design and evaluation of the type of coordination mechanism selected.

Recognizing the importance of this meeting and anticipating the need to move forward in our objectives, I look forward to the concrete proposals and I reaffirm the commitment of the OAS to actively support such an important undertaking.

I thank you for your attention and wish you fruitful deliberations.