Haiti Skills Bank project : mid-term evaluation report

Evaluation covers the period 2/95-6/95. The project has been implemented by HAFED (Haitian-Americans for Economic Development) and VITA (Volunteers in Technical Assistance). The project is making solid progress, although current usage and registration levels are lower than expected; the national political situation (i.e., election preparations) and limited awareness of the Skills Bank may be preventing more widespread usage. However, the Skills Bank seems poised to "take off", provided that information and communication systems are operating efficiently and that recruitment strategies are effectively identified and implemented. Other limitations -- in particular, the lack of adequate local transportation -- can be corrected through a project amendment. The Skills Bank is meeting current demand for information on qualified personnel in a timely and professional manner. HAFED staff are exemplary in their enthusiasm and dedication to the project, even if some personal sacrifice is involved (e.g., the use of non-reimbursable private means of transportation), and the organization is well-placed for cultivating high-level contacts with governmental officials and for providing informative tutorials on Skills Bank activities and access to both private and public sources. Both HAFED and VITA have explored innovative means to increase registrations and user inquiries. The project enjoys strong USAID support at all levels, including the Mission Director and the Office of the Administrator. There has been a great deal of evidence of the Haitian entrepreneurial work ethic, despite an uncertain and sometimes chaotic political process. This ethic is likely to produce a groundswell of interest in and support for the Skills Bank once the election process is completed. A.I.D. is aware of factors that might impede the project's progress, such as the lag-time before the project's "take off." The project requires early and continual promotion, and there are some prospective employees (both in Haiti and the United States) who are reluctant to provide their names and addresses for fear that the information in the Skills Bank might be used to track them down. The project does suffer some weaknesses. (1) Its ability to meet user demand may be because demand is low compared with that expected once the project has "taken off." (2) The project needs to implement more concentrated promotional and educational activities, which currently are limited by inadequate local transportation. (3) Both VITA in Haiti and HAFED in the United States use relatively complex computerized information systems to handle registrations. The process of ensuring that these systems are compatible with each other (and simultaneously updated) has been slow. Efficient information systems and two-way flow of information are the only ways that an increase in demand can be accommodated, since additional staff is not an option. (4) While local access to the Skills Bank at the HAFED office via telephone and fax appears to be adequate, immediate measures to increase that access should be implemented -- for example, through the addition of an answering machine to receive night and weekend calls and a "black box" to more efficiently route calls. (5) HAFED is encouraged to include names and information of Haitian-Americans living in the United States even when potential employers indicate interest only in Haitians who live in Haiti; it has been assumed that interest would be low, since local employers are not likely to pay U.S.-level salaries, but there may be Haitian-Americans who would be interested in participating in Haiti's reconstruction despite relatively low remuneration. (6) It is not too early to start thinking about sustainability. The Ministry of Haitians Living Abroad has evinced a desire to eventually house the data base; if this happens the Skills Bank should include services in French, as well as in English. (7) VITA's attempt to get authorization for a ground station connected to a satellite at the HAFED office to improve communication with VITA/USA (and the Internet) has been unsuccessful. (8) VITA has experienced delays in payment of its invoices. The project is eligible for advance payment rather than the current reimbursement schedule or through transfer to VITA's existing letter of credit, should the project be extended.