Human capital is the main richness of any country at all times. There is a close link between countries human capital and their economic growth and competitiveness. For instance, a comparative study conducted by International Monetary Fund (IMF) experts between LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean) and Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) concludes that Latin America is poorer because of lower levels of human capital and productivity, not investment[1]. An article published on United Nation Development Program (UNDP) Latin America website reflects a similar conclusion. Indeed, while most countries in LAC become “middle income” countries over the past 30 years, they have not all become “high human development” countries.
Many researches have established that nowadays
to be competitive in the international market countries need to be able to
effectively use their human capital to adapt to rapid changes and technical
conditions created by “new technologies “and climate changes[2].
In view of the historical situation in my
country, I am spoilt for a choice of a subject for the essay. It could be on constitutional
unbalanced power between different branches of the Government (Legislative, Judiciary
and Executive), current crisis nurtured by constitutional void[3], on
stagflation, Income gap, Election or Insecurity, public deficit,
underdevelopment or lacking of infrastructure.
Recent events demonstrated that these issues can lead to social
polarization. Gangsterization, massive demonstrations that long almost two years,
country locked up by protesters and the assassination of president Jovenel
Moise in Haiti testify this fact.
However, I am fundamentally convinced that growth,
political stability, Innovation or sustainable development cannot be achieved
unless Haiti prioritizes its human capital development. In a world where rapid
innovation is changing the nature of work, I plead that Haiti invests with a
sense of urgency in its human capital development.
Before going further in our analysis, we must
define what we understand by human capital development and prove the lacking of
human capital in Haiti.
For the needs of this paper, we retain the
definition from Weforum: Human capital is the capabilities and skills of
individuals and populations. It can be developed by ensuring individuals are
able to sustain good health, and they are in possession of in-demand skills and
capabilities[4].
Regarding the state of human capital in Haiti,
the level of education in the public service and the ranking in international
human capital index are main indicative data sources.
According to the National office of management
(OMRH), less than 5% of public employees hold a bachelor’s degree and about 1%
hold a master degree; only 1% are below 25 years old against about 20% aged
above 55. Furthermore, Haiti has only 8 public employees per 1000 inhabitants,
the lowest under-administered country in LAC[5].
As per a World Bank report, Haiti ranked 112th
on the World Bank Human capital index and a child born in Haiti will be only 45
percent as productive when she grows up as she could be if she had enjoyed full
health and education[6].
The data above ascertain that Haiti is highly
deficit in skilled and professional individuals. And youth are not receiving
the necessary training to enter either the public service or the labor market. Based
on these evidences, we can conclude lacking of human capital is the foundation
of Haiti deficit in innovation, productivity and development as a whole.
Human capital development can be improved by
investing in accessible healthcare services and upgrading education quality.
There are many ways to proceed. Personally, I would propose that we combine
many ingredients to achieve this goal:
2) Local human competencies
3) The Haitian Diaspora
4) Technologies
5) Financial investment
Through public policies Haitian State can ensure
to make human capital development a top national priority for the next decade.
And create lifelong learning systems and incentives for people to learn and
develop their professional skills. Despite the fact, as aforementioned the
majority of Haitian public service employees are under skilled, any public
program to improve the Human capital in Haiti should take local competencies in
account.
In order to ameliorate human capital development
in Haiti, I propose that:
Haitian government resolute long-term policies
to create technological educational and healthcare systems that involve the
Diaspora contributions and expertise. The educational trainings can be based on
international competencies framework. For instance, on July 2021, the ILO
released a global framework on core skills for life and work in the 21st
Century. This framework includes four categories of skills:
2) Basic skills for green jobs
3) Cognitive and metacognitive skills
4) Basic digital skills
The Government can create extracurricular
programs with the help of one hundred diaspora per region that will provide
students with training to develop these skills.
In order to funds both educational and
healthcare programs, the Haitian State should create incentives for the
Diaspora investments. We should also work on a strong and proactive tax system
to increase government agencies revenues.
In conclusion, it’s a well-established fact that
human capital matters in a country development. We demonstrated that Haiti and
many countries in LAC suffer from a deficit of human capital. Any improvement
strategy should combine technologies, the diaspora, public policy, local
competencies and financial investment to help individuals develop the core
skills for life and work in the 21st Century.
[1] Bas B. Bakker & co (August 13, 2020) Lack of Human Capital is
Holding Back Latin America’s Growth. IMF. Available at https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2020/08/12/na081320-lack-of-human-capital-is-holding-back-latin-americas-growth
[2] Chulanova, Z. K. (2017). The Human Capital as a Factor of
Competitiveness and Economic Development. The Journal of Business Economics and
Environmental Studies, 7(3), 23–31. https://doi.org/10.13106/EAJBM.2017.VOL7.NO3.23
[3] Web Desk (July 20, 2021) Haiti: Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph
steps down, Ariel Henry to take over. The Week Magazine. Available at https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2021/07/20/haiti-interim-prime-minister-claude-joseph-steps-down-ariel-henry-to-take-over.html
[4] World Economic Forum (2020) How Countries are performing on the road
to recovery. The Global competitiveness Report - Special Edition 2020.
Available at http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2020.pdf
[5] OMRH (2018) Rapport sur les effectifs de la fonction publique en
Haïti. OMRH. Available at http://www.omrh.gouv.ht/Media/news/rfph_201802.pdf
[6] World Bank Group (May 17, 2019) World Bank to Strengthen Human Capital
and Climate Resilience in Haiti. Press
release NO: 2019/180/LAC. Available at https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2019/05/17/world-bank-to-strengthen-human-capital-and-climate-resilience-in-haiti