Haiti is still struggling to get its feet back on the ground after the devastating earthquake
struck the country on the 12th of January. Working in the country since 1982, action
against hunger's teams on the ground immediately launched an emergency response in aid of
the survivors. Within the first few days following the quake, the organisation sent cargo planes
carrying additional emergency response experts as well as crucial relief supplies, including
flexible water tanks, latrines, emergency water treatment units and drinking water kits.
Today, action against hunger is focusing on four priority areas.
In an emergency situation of this magnitude, access to safe drinking water is an immediate
priority. Action against hunger was one of the first organisations to provide safe drinking water
to thousands of survivors.
Hygiene promotion and installing latrines are also crucial in the prevention of disease
and potential epidemics.
Hygiene promotion and installing latrines are also crucial in the prevention of disease
and potential epidemics.
Hygiene promotion and installing latrines are also crucial in the prevention of disease
and potential epidemics.
The second key priority for action against hunger is providing access to food. In order
to respond quickly to the needs of the survivors, action against hunger distributed 86 tonnes
of high-protein biscuits. 60,000 people have already benefited from these distributions.
But since February, action against hunger have been preparing for yet another challenge,
the onset of the seasonal rains. The rains arrived early and the situation couldn't have
been tougher. The majority of the camps are situated on hillsides and the floods transformed
the ground into mud and stagnant water. Worse still, there are not enough tents on the ground
to provide the survivors with adequate shelter, condemning them to a string of sleepless nights.
Once again, action against hunger reacted quickly, sending a shipment of tarpaulin and emergency
kits from Dubai.
Currently, we are distributing the first necessities kits, including jumps, basses,
covers, soap and moustache. On this site, we are distributing to 150 families. We have
already distributed about 30,000 people and we have to cover 75,000 people. We don't
work with army guards, we work in the policy and practice of ACF. That's why we work
with committees that are leaders on the camps. They provide us with a list of beneficiaries,
they have made the census. From this list, we have distributed ACF maps. During the
official distribution, the committee is in charge of organizing security, organizing
people online. Security is more about discussing beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries, so that
everything is going well and that everyone receives quickly and can go home.
Amidst the camps for earthquake survivors in Port-au-Prince, Action Against Hunger has
established mother and baby centres specifically designed to provide a range of services to
mothers with young children, including a safe environment for breastfeeding. 12 mother and
baby centres have been set up, educating mothers on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding
and therefore protecting young children from infection.
In view of the level of distress of the survivors, Action Against Hunger is also providing a psychological
program supporting more than 800 mothers and their babies.
We offer a safe space where they feel safe, they feel good, they come here, they spend
time with psychologists or nurses. So we first evaluate more physical orders,
focusing on the shelter, on the needs for food, the needs of the mother, the needs of the
child, and psychologists evaluate to know what their level of psychological distress is.
However, for many mothers, it is difficult to put their suffering into words. So Julie
and her colleagues regularly meet community members and mothers to ensure that they are
aware of the facilities.
We are going to continue, but we are counting on you to pass the message too.
We are going to continue, but we are counting on you to pass the message too.
We are counting on you to pass the message too.
Discussion groups are being organized in the baby tents, giving mothers the opportunity
to discuss their worries.
Play sessions for children are also taking place to help them deal with the trauma they
have experienced.
Following the immediate emergency phase, Action Against Hunger is addressing the difficult
task of recovery and has launched several cash for work activities to help the survivors
rebuild their lives and livelihoods. The program gives priority to those who are most vulnerable.
We are doing a program called Cash for Work, which means money against work.
What we do is we hire people to work in their neighborhoods to improve their living conditions
and pay them for their work.
It is very important for them because it is the first thing that is injected with cash in
the neighborhood. It helps vulnerable families to cover their basic needs.
It improves the living conditions, especially in terms of hygiene and sanitation.
There are a lot of commas that are put on the streets of the houses, so when you open the
roads, it opens access to water trucks and food to ensure that we always have access
to food.
Currently, we have 1,200 people who are working for us. We are going to do several rotations
in six months, so at the end of the program, we are already going to hire 9,400 people.
The inclusion criteria is that people are physically able to work.
They are between 16 and 60 years old and it is one person per shift so that we can maximize
the number of shifts that take place and then we have vulnerability criteria.
We also target families who have lost a member of their family who is productive in the
season. Before the season, there was a lot of unemployment here in Haiti.
Since then, people have lost everything, so cash work is very important for them to cover
their basic needs.
Today, 50 international and 400 national employees are carrying out action against hunger's
work in Haiti. The budget for action against hunger's programs is currently
€16.5 million.
The physical and psychological rehabilitation of Haiti's population is crucial to map out
a new future for the country. In this situation, the sustainability of action against hunger's
programs is paramount.
More than ever, action against hunger and the people of Haiti need the support of all our donors.
Thank you.
