How to leverage the efficiency and the impact of a development project? apply development and international management theories at the complex dominican-haitian border.

Abstract

The present study tries to analyse the implementation of a development project in a context which is unique by many aspects. More particularly, it tries to do a statement of the impact obtained until today by the PDLT, a project financed by the European Union and part of the Bi-national Program, and executed by the United Nations Development Program. From a deep statement of the situation in Haiti, the situation of the border with the “enemy neighbour” the Dominican Republic, and the analyses of the different actors involved at the national and local level to improve the relationship between the two countries, we will try to show how the action of UNDP Haiti can (or cannot) be considered as relevant, considering the political, local, cultural and historical context, and from a “young international manager” point of view. It tries to show how the biggest development organization with the strictest procedures can evolve in a country where the informal sector is the norm. Based on interviews, on my living experience, on my academic and professional background, on publications about Haiti / Dominican Republic / the development field or international relations, based on internal publications in which I contributed or not, we will take a look at the situation, to better try to analyse how to leverage the impact of the project. A better human resource management are among the lever: supervision, tasks division and understanding of the role and responsibility of each one, decision-making process. Strategic planning and thinking are another one: Planning, depth internal and external analyses, long-term priorities. Increasing the management efficiency appears as a good way to start to maximize the use of the money coming from European tax-payers. This paper is therefore a reflexion of how the management tools, and the managerial perspective and experiences coming from the academic and private sector, can be applied non-only to maximize profit, but as well to maximize the impact of a development initiative, and how it can be put at the service of a “hoped” significant improvement of the people living conditions in a country where 80% of the population is surviving with less than 2.5$/day.