Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with more than 75 percent of the population living on less than $2 per day and the unemployment rate estimated at 60 to 70 percent. These conditions were exacerbated when the largest earthquake in Haiti’s recorded history devastated parts of the country, including the capital, on January 12, 2010. Since then, Haiti has suffered from a cholera epidemic that has affected over 450,000 persons and caused over 6,000 deaths. In addition, Haiti has experienced political uncertainty following the earthquake. Due to the inconclusive presidential election of November 2010, the new President was not inaugurated until May 2011. On May 13, 2011, the U.S. and Haitian governments signed the Haiti Reconstruction Grant Agreement. Later, the Haitian Parliament rejected two candidates nominated by the new President for the post of Prime Minister, who serves as head of government. In early October 2011, the Parliament approved the President’s third nominee. In response to the earthquake, in the Act, Congress provided more than $1.14 billion in reconstruction funds for Haiti, available through the end of fiscal year 2012. Of this amount, about $918 million was directed to USAID and State, of which $770 million was provided through the USAID-administered Economic Support Fund (ESF) account and about $148 million through the State-administered International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement account (see table 1). Of the almost $918 million in supplemental funds, as of September 30, 2011, $356.9 million was allocated for the construction and rehabilitation of infrastructure. In addition to these supplemental funds, USAID and State allocated funding for reconstruction activities from other budgetary sources, such as annual appropriations for fiscal years 2010 and 2011, of which $54.8 million was allocated for construction and rehabilitation of infrastructure. In total, the agencies allocated almost $412 million from both supplemental and other budgetary sources for construction and rehabilitation of infrastructure. In September 2010, State and USAID, as required by the Act, issued a joint spending plan that showed allocations of supplemental reconstruction funds (see fig. 1 for a timeline of key government of Haiti and international donors and U.S. government actions and events after the earthquake). In January 2011, the U.S. government issued the 5-year Post-Earthquake USG Haiti Strategy: Toward Renewal and Economic Opportunity. Consistent with the government of Haiti’s development priorities, the U.S. strategy seeks to, among other things, encourage reconstruction and long-term economic development in several regions of the country— known as “development corridors”—including a region on the northern coast of Haiti that is not close to the earthquake epicenter, but where some people displaced by the earthquake moved. The strategy notes that 65 percent of Haiti’s economic activity was located in greater Port-au- and states the U.S. government’s intent to support new economic Princeopportunities in the Saint-Marc and Cap-Haïtien development corridors, in addition to assisting with reconstruction in the Port-au-Prince corridor, which suffered the most damage from the earthquake (see fig. 2). The U.S. strategy identifies planned U.S. reconstruction assistance in eight sectors. Six of these sectors—energy, ports, shelter, health, food security, and governance and rule of law—involve infrastructure construction and rehabilitation, while two sectors—economic security and education—do not. The strategy also encompasses some of the objectives set forth in the Haitian government’s 10-year Action Plan for National Recovery and Development in Haiti, issued in March 2010. The Action Plan identified and prioritized short- and long-term reconstruction needs in four areas: (1) territorial rebuilding in Port-au-Prince and three targeted regions of Cap-Haïtien, Saint-Marc, and Les Cayes; (2) economic rebuilding in sectors such as construction, agriculture, and tourism; (3) social rebuilding in the health, education, food security, and other sectors; and (4) institutional rebuilding focused on developing government capacity, justice, and a legal and regulatory framework. To advise and support U.S. earthquake reconstruction efforts in Haiti, USAID and State created special offices in Washington, D.C. In February 2010, USAID created the Haiti Task Team (HTT) to help coordinate U.S. emergency relief and reconstruction work and provide technical and staff support. At its peak, the HTT had approximately 50 staff positions, primarily U.S. full- or part-time staff who were temporarily reassigned from USAID’s Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean and other bureaus, as well as contracted staff. In September 2010, State created the Office of the Haiti Special Coordinator to oversee the planning and implementation of the U.S. strategy in Haiti in coordination with USAID and other U.S. departments and agencies. The Haiti Special Coordinator has approximately 20 staff positions, primarily staff temporarily reassigned full- or part-time from other bureaus and offices within State, and other U.S. agencies as well as contracted staff. As of September 30, 2011, USAID and State allocated $411.6 million for bilateral post-earthquake infrastructure construction activities in Haiti using $356.9 million in fiscal year (FY) 2010 supplemental funds and $54.8 million from regular fiscal year appropriations. In addition, USAID and State had obligated $48.4 million (11.8 percent) and expended $3.1 million (0.8 percent) of the total allocated, as shown in table 2. Combined, USAID and State allocated $411.6 million for post-earthquake infrastructure construction activities as of September 30, 2011 (see table 2). USAID is responsible for implementing most of the infrastructure construction activities. USAID activities in five sectors—shelter, energy, ports, health, and food security—account for $365.7 million (88.9 percent) of the $411.6 million in total funds allocated for infrastructure construction. State has activities in the governance and rule of law sector, which account for $45.9 million (11.1 percent) of the total funds allocated for infrastructure construction. See appendix II for additional detailed information on each of the six sectors. Table 3 shows USAID and State funding allocations by sector. Examples of post-earthquake infrastructure activities are as follows: The energy sector includes rehabilitating substations in the Port-au- Prince area and in the Cap-Haïtien development corridor, providing power to the North Industrial Park—an activity that is key to Haiti’s economic development with donor and private-sector commitments of about $400 million and a goal of creating about 60,000 direct and indirect jobs, according to USAID and State officials. The ports sector includes the construction of a new port along the northern coast of Haiti in the Cap-Haïtien development corridor. Upon completion, the port could provide improved shipping access for firms operating in the North Industrial Park and other locations in the area. The shelter sector includes the development of approximately 15,000 service plots, which include housing and access to essential services, in new residential settlements in the Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haïtien development corridors. The health sector includes the reconstruction of the State University Hospital in the Port-au-Prince development corridor. The food security sector includes the construction of irrigation canals and farm-to-market roads in the Cap-Haïtien, Port-au-Prince, and Saint-Marc development corridors. The governance and rule of law sector includes construction activities funded through State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (State/INL); the activities include the rehabilitation of facilities at the Haitian National Police Academy. As of September 30, 2011, USAID had obligated $42.6 million for activities in the energy, ports, shelter, health, and food security sectors. The majority (67 percent) of USAID’s obligations have been for two energy activities—$15.8 million for construction of power generation at the North Industrial Park and $12.9 for rehabilitation of 5 power sub- stations in the Port-au-Prince area. State had obligated $5.8 million, as of September 30, 2011, for its activities in the governance and rule of law sector. State officials said that designing and planning of construction activities generally involves a more lengthy process than for other activities, and they expect obligations to grow at a faster pace later this year and during 2012 as USAID and State infrastructure construction activities reach the implementation stage. See table 4 for obligation and expenditure data. Within a month after the earthquake, 10 of the mission’s 17 U.S. direct- hire staff had departed Haiti, leaving the mission with 7 staff in country to manage a program heavily involved in massive relief operations and anticipating an increase in reconstruction activities. According to mission officials, U.S. direct-hire staff were permitted to leave for several reasons, primarily because approximately 40 percent of U.S. embassy housing was damaged or destroyed, the school for mission staff children was damaged and not functional, and staff were experiencing emotional challenges after the earthquake. To fill the U.S. direct-hire vacancies, USAID posted 10 routine agency wide job announcements in March 2010, but no U.S. direct-hire staff applied. According to USAID officials, potential applicants did not apply due to, among other things, the damaged school, uncertainty about the quality of life in Haiti, and the lack of financial or other incentives in the job announcements.