Against a backdrop of ongoing efforts to modernize Haiti’s public financial management system, a pivotal multi-stakeholder meeting took place last week at Port-au-Prince’s Hotel Montana, bringing together key national and local actors to advance long-awaited reform of local authority accounting practices. Organized by Haiti’s Directorate General of the Treasury and Public Accounting (DGTCP), the gathering included representatives from the Ministry of the Interior and Local Authorities, senior public treasury accountants, delegations from the Superior Court of Auditors and Administrative Disputes (CSC/CA), and municipal leaders from seven of Haiti’s most populous jurisdictions: Port-au-Prince, Delmas, Cité Soleil, Tabarre, Pétion-ville, Carrefour, and Croix-des-Bouquets.
Opening the summit, Jean Michel Silin, Director General of the Budget, marked a key milestone in the reform process, announcing that years of planning have transitioned into tangible action. Silin confirmed that the long-planned assessment of Haiti’s existing local authority accounting framework has officially moved beyond conceptual stages and is now actively underway, with all work fully documented and undergoing systematic consolidation. He underlined that the overarching reform strategy has been intentionally structured to be progressive, practical, and long-term sustainable, developed through iterative collaboration with all affected stakeholders to deliver tangible improvements in public service delivery for Haitian citizens.
Guided by Nicodème Adzra, a financial management expert from Expertise France, alongside technical leads from the DGTCP and CSC/CA, working sessions centered on two core priority areas. First, participants mapped and reviewed end-to-end workflows for both local government revenue collection and public expenditure, diving into granular details of current processes, approval procedures, the existing chart of accounts, and the digital IT tools currently used by local authorities to manage public funds. Second, the group discussed clarifying and strengthening the CSC/CA’s mandate to provide effective oversight and targeted capacity support to municipal and local governments across the country.
Looking ahead to the coming months, stakeholders have outlined clear next steps to keep the reform on track. The next major milestone will be the completion of the ongoing assessment and the publication of a technical analysis note, drafted using insights and data collected from recent field visits to local authorities across Haiti. This document will form the evidence-based foundation for two critical subsequent efforts: a full revision of the outdated local accounting framework, and the development of a comprehensive national training and capacity-building program. This program will be rolled out alongside the broader launch of the Haitian State’s new standardized Chart of Accounts (PCEH), a key plank of national public financial reform.