Local Human Development Program (PDHL)

This grant represents Canada's support to the Local Human Development Program managed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The UNDP uses these funds along with other donors' funding to support Cuba's local development strategy. Specifically this program aims to improve the living conditions for the Cuban population in the five eastern provinces (Las Tunas Holguin Granma Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo). The overall program goal is to strengthen local capacity to manage development processes. Improvements focus on the following priority areas: a) technical-administrative decentralization; b) coverage quality and sustainability of local and territorial services; and c) local economic development. All projects take into consideration gender equality environmental sustainability and the strengthening of human resources as crosscutting themes. Of the total budget managed by the UNDP part is reserved for the participation of Canadian organizations working on development projects planned by the local communities. The rest supports training technical assistance a national micro-credit initiative and projects carried out directly by Cuban organizations. CIDA has extended its support for the program by eight months and is contributing an additional $470 000 to help communities in the eastern provinces recover from the damages caused by Tropical Strom Noel (2007) and to strengthen the communities' capacity to respond to future emergencies. The additional activities contribute to: restoring agricultural and productive capacity; increasing the number of houses being built and rehabilitated; increasing the communications coverage of early warning systems; and updating territorial emergency response plans with current risk analyses based on geographic information systems.