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The top priorities for Haiti
We just held the Haiti Priorise Eminent Panel conference to find the most effective policies for Haiti. The panel prioritized 85 interventions, presented in 45 research papers following the Copenhagen Consensus methodology, by 50 economists from Haïti and abroad, and peer-reviewed by more academics and sector experts.
The Eminent Panel of three renowned Haitian economists and a US Nobel Laureate economist considered all 85 proposals, and interviewed the research authors in Port-au-Prince. After deliberating they announced a prioritized list of investments that will improve the nation’s social, economic and environmental wellbeing. Here are the top three:
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Presenting the findings to the President
Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith and Bjorn Lomborg shared the Eminent Panel's findings with the President of Haiti in a private meeting at the National Palace. President Jovenel Moïse welcomed the findings and was especially enthused by the panel's top priority of reforming the electricity utility, Electricité d’Haïti, which requires an annual subsidy of $200 million or one-tenth of Haiti’s entire budget.
Afterwards, at a meeting with top policy-makers, Bjorn Lomborg officially presented the results to the President, the Prime Minister, the Senate President, the Finance Minister, the Commerce Minister, the Planning Minister, top public servants, as well as donor organizations and others.
Ketleen Florestal, the President of the Parliamentary Commission on Finance, Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant, Bjorn Lomborg, Nobel laureate Vernon Smith, President Jovenel Moïse, Martine Moïse, Candace Smith, and Senate President Youri Latortue.
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Engaging the Haitian public on top priorities
Over recent months, youths across all 10 departments of Haiti have made their own priorities. One representative from each department came to Port-au-Prince to present their top development priorities for Haiti.
The Eminent Panel's findings were presented to the public at a press conference hosted by the Minister of Planning, Aviol Fleurant. The ministry will be taking the lead to help build on the research findings and advance the top priorities.
Bjorn Lomborg and the Minister of Planning, Aviol Fleurant
A large number of local media outlets covered the event, e.g. Haiti Libre, and Bjorn Lomborg introduced the project to international audiences in Boston Globe prior to traveling to Port-au-Prince. Below you can see some of the most recent local coverage of the research.
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The low cost of ending poverty
For the first time ever, an end to poverty is within humanity’s financial reach. If we set aside the money now in a fund, we would need a little less than $1 trillion to eradicate human poverty forever. A trillion dollars sounds like a huge deal, but it is equivalent to roughly 1 percent of annual global GDP, 18 months of US military spending, or one-twentieth of US national debt.
Read Bjorn Lomborg's column for Project Syndicate in five languages. It was published by newspapers around the world, including Arab News (Saudi Arabia), New Vision (Uganda), Shanghai Daily (China) and El Diario (Spain).
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The lethal renewable energy swindle
In rich nations we have the bizarre notion that burning biomass is ‘green’ and eco-friendly, with governments deliberately promoting and subsidizing it. But biomass is a terrible short-term answer to global warming. Lomborg explains in Britain's Spectator magazine that by incentivizing its use, policy-makers are having a dubious effect on climate change, likely destroying biodiversity, and killing tens of thousands from air pollution.
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Admitting what we don't know how to fix
When it comes to development spending and philanthropy, it is too easy to waste money and miss opportunities by ignoring an important distinction: agreeing that a problem exists is not the same as knowing how to fix it. In China's largest-selling English language newspaper China Daily, Lomborg argues that we need to make some tough choices, including rolling back spending on some things that don't work, investigating potential alternatives, and prioritizing interventions and policies that achieve the most.
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The smartest solutions for Haiti
The Copenhagen Consensus Center has released new research papers written by top Haitian and international scholars which explore a vast range of different policy options for the nation.
In Huffington Post, Lomborg writes about the research findings on family planning, electricity transmission, infant immunization, early childhood education, roads, legal aid, civics and skills, agricultural tariffs and subsidies, and agricultural productivity.
His articles were also printed in two of Haiti's biggest newspapers, Le Nouvelliste and Le National (in French). Le Nouvelliste also published an interview.
| Interventions |
BCR |
| Rice tariff |
0.8 |
| Crop insurance |
1.9 |
| Fertilizer subsidy |
3.7 |
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| Interventions |
BCR |
| Two-Year Early Childhood Interventions at the Pre-Primary Phase |
14 |
| Teaching children at the right level |
9 |
| Conditional Cash Transfer for Secondary Level Children |
5 |
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| Interventions |
BCR |
| Civics |
5 |
| Gap year of vocational and civics |
4 |
| Vocational training |
2 |
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| Interventions |
BCR |
| Route Gonaives to P-d-P |
2.3 |
| Bridge over les Anglais |
1.5 |
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| Intervention |
BCR |
| Establishment of a national legal aid system |
2.8 |
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| Interventions |
BCR |
| National Patrol Force |
1.6 |
| Flood Early Warning System |
7.4 |
| Early Warning System and Shelters |
4.2 |
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| Intervention |
BCR |
| Access to contraception |
18 |
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| Interventions |
BCR |
| Calcium and micronutrients to pregnant women |
10 |
| Wheat flour fortification with iron and folic acid |
24 |
| Micronutrient powders to children 6-24 months of age |
8 |
| Treat wasting with standard formula RUTF |
9.2 |
| Treat wasting with local formula RUTF |
9.6 |
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| Interventions |
BCR |
| Shelter |
14 |
| Prevention of Dating Violence |
1 |
| Helpline |
12 |
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| Interventions |
BCR |
| Paternity leave |
1.3 |
| Minimum wage increase (with no job loss) |
1.2 |
| Minimum wage increase (with a 5.57% job loss) |
1.1 |
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| Interventions |
BCR |
| Raising public sector salaries |
1 |
| Performance-based pay program |
3.5 |
| Digitize land records |
2.6 |
| Computerization at Cap-Haïtien Port |
7.1 |
| Local content procurement |
2.2 |
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