LocationsUNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo; “We are ready to stand at their side.”
Haiti at a crossroads as security and development challenges collide
March 7, 2026
UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo's (centre) first mission to Haiti comes as the country has scheduled elections for the first time in many years.
Photo: UNDP Haiti
UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo says development and security must go hand in hand as Haiti navigates a potentially transformative year.
Mr De Croo’s first visit to Haiti comes amidst a critical security situation. More than 8,100 people were killed between January and November last year.
Yet a generation of Haitians, its young population, its diaspora, its entrepreneurs and digital innovators, are already building the country they want to see.
Haiti is at a crossroads. Humanitarian needs are unprecedented in the region, with more than half of its citizens in need of assistance.
Mr De Croo said there was a narrow window to build institutional trust, but it’s one which requires security and development as equally weighted responses.
Last year UNDP invested US$73 million in Haiti to bolster security, promote institutional continuity and advance stabilization and economic transformation.
Photo: UNDP Haiti
"No investment, no education programme, no economic initiative can fully develop in a context where people cannot move safely, where businesses cannot operate normally, where families live in fear," he said. "Security and development go hand in hand. Without security, development cannot take root. And without development, security cannot take hold. One reinforces the other. One depends on the other."
Credible elections are the foundation for that rebuilding and Haiti stands at a decisive crossroads following the transfer of authority to Prime Minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé.
Haiti has not had elections for 10 years. It has had no functioning parliament since 2019 and no elected officials at any level of national government since January 2023, when the mandates of its last ten serving senators expired.
During his meetings in Port-au-Prince with the Prime Minister and other political and business leaders, the Administrator outlined the support UNDP will give to this year's electoral processes. UNDP manages the Electoral Basket Fund and is providing technical and financial assistance to the Provisional Electoral Council to ensure elections are credible, transparent, and inclusive.
UNDP has never left Haiti. With over five decades in the country, last year alone UNDP invested US$73 million, an 80 percent increase on the prior year, to bolster security, promote institutional continuity and advance stabilization and economic transformation simultaneously.
Haiti has a narrow window to build institutional trust, but it’s one which requires security and development as equally weighted responses.
Photo: UNDP Haiti
Mr De Croo said Haiti's huge economic potential remains underrecognized and is key to ensuring Haiti's future development stays firmly in local hands.
Haiti is a very young country. Its median age is 24, and this 'demographic dividend', coupled with women's economic empowerment, is one of the surest ways forward. Its diaspora alone contributes over $4 billion every year, an amount far greater than official development assistance.
To position economic recovery as an equally important pillar of stabilization, UNDP supports blended finance, private sector engagement and digital payments to reduce remittance costs, incubate small businesses and promote investment.
“The core constraint is not talent or entrepreneurship. It is access to financing and confidence. The people of Haiti have energy, creativity, and an extraordinary ability to find solutions where others see only obstacles. The question is, how do we create the conditions for it to flourish?”—Alexander De Croo, UNDP Administrator
Digital tools such as mobile money and AI apps are already expanding opportunities, even in the face of significant security challenges. UNDP is investing in digital skills, entrepreneurship pipelines, civic technology and partnerships with fintech and innovation companies which are ensuring that young people and women are at the centre of Haiti's recovery.
“I have been inspired by these young leaders and entrepreneurs who are working for a Haiti that reflects their ideas. Coders, inventors, educators and community activists. This generation is already moving," Mr De Croo said. "And we are here as UNDP to listen, to partner and to deliver. We stand ready to work alongside them to help build a better future for Haiti and for all Haitians.”
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