Canaan Upgrading and Community Development (CUCD) FY16 Q1 2016

The program's goal is to promote inclusive planned growth in the northern expansion of metropolitan Port-au-Prince, improving physical and social connections to the rest of the city. CUCD will transform the economic and cultural life of Canaan residents through a comprehensive set of interventions identified and prioritized through participatory planning processes. The program is divided into three pillars: Pillar I, Community Mobilization, led by the American Red Cross; Pillar II, Livelihoods, led by Global Communities; and Pillar III, Physical Renewal, also led by Global Communities. Pillar II focuses on encouraging the growth of both the informal and formal sectors in Canaan, providing access to finance, improving micro-enterprises business skills, and implementing vocational training and mobile money initiatives. Pillar III lays the foundations for urban renewal through an urban study that will provide a Canaan-Center Neighborhood Upgrading Strategy Report and Plan and a Canaan-Wide Strategy Report and Development Plan. As of the current reporting period, Global Communities' team has achieved 35 stakeholder engagement events, including community-wide meetings, meetings with beneficiaries of Quick Impact Projects, and coordination meetings with other implementers. The community-wide meetings were focused on explaining CUCD activities to a wider and grassroots level audience in Canaan extended neighborhoods. Several meetings were held with community leaders to identify ideas for the Quick Impact Projects, which were selected based on criteria such as average cost, implementation period, and distribution over Canaan Wide neighborhoods. The selected projects were presented to USAID and the American Red Cross, and comments and adjustments were incorporated. Engineering designs, bill of quantities, and tenders were prepared, and the tenders for the first two QUIPs were published on December 7, 2015. However, a letter from NABATEC, a corporation representing a consortium of land owners claiming ownership of the Canaan zone land, threatened legal action against any entity pursuing unauthorized activities on their lands. Global Communities immediately contacted and consulted UCLBP, USAID, and the American Red Cross, and resumed work in late January after receiving a response from UCLBP reconfirming that Canaan is state land. The CUCD program has made significant progress in engaging stakeholders and identifying project ideas. However, the NABATEC letter has caused a delay in construction activities, and Global Communities has requested UCLBP's support in responding officially to the letter. The program continues to work with UCLBP, USAID, and the American Red Cross to resolve the challenge and implement projects according to the work plan. The total budget amount for the CUCD program is $14,643,251.00, with a cost-share of $941,660.00. The project start date is June 19, 2015, and the project end date is June 18, 2017. The program is led by Global Communities, with the American Red Cross responsible for Pillar I, Community Mobilization. The program's progress is being closely monitored, and efforts are being made to resolve the challenge posed by the NABATEC letter and continue with the implementation of projects.