In a significant move to address urban planning challenges, Haiti’s Ministry of the Interior and Territorial Communities (MICT) has forged a strategic alliance with the National Federation of Mayors of Haiti (FENAMH) and the University of Technology of Haiti (UNITECH). The partnership, formalized through a memorandum of understanding signed this week at the Ministry headquarters, establishes a specialized graduate program in spatial planning.
The agreement will fund ten professionals—including local authorities, territorial staff, and MICT managers—through a two-year Master’s degree program. The curriculum, developed through an academic partnership between UNITECH and Canada’s University of Quebec at Chicoutimi, will culminate in an internationally recognized qualification.
This initiative directly addresses critical capacity gaps in local development expertise across Haitian territories. The program aims to equip officials with technical skills to implement effective public policies for population distribution, infrastructure planning, and territorial organization. Beyond immediate training objectives, the partnership seeks to build sustainable technical capacity within local governments for long-term land management solutions.
During the signing ceremony, UNITECH Rector Dr. Josselin Val emphasized the program’s transformative potential: ‘This agreement provides local government employees with tools for rational land use planning, enabling them to develop structured proposals that improve population living standards and balanced development.’
Fernandel Georges, representing FENAMH, committed the mayors’ federation to active participation throughout the partnership, urging collaborators to develop model programs that build reliable skills for harmonious community development.
Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aimé endorsed the program’s quality and challenged selected candidates to maximize their learning opportunity. He emphasized that their training should ultimately contribute to reducing spatial inequalities, anticipating demographic changes, and improving access to basic services for local communities.