Haiti has been through many economic and political turmoils. Haiti has also faced many natural disasters including hurricanes and earthquakes. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been at the forefront of providing aid to help the country continue its development. Here is some information about USAID’s humanitarian work in Haiti.

Economic Development

Haiti has been experiencing many economic challenges, including big and small businesses not getting the tools that they need to flourish, such as training and development guidance. Meanwhile, around 40 percent of Haitians do not have employment. Additionally, farmers are not producing at their fullest potential or selling their products well. Haitians are often living on less than $1.25 a day with the majority of the population relying on family farming for work. However, the growing population, droughts, flooding and lack of access to education and training have affected agriculture.

USAID’s humanitarian work in Haiti has been focusing on helping farmers. USAID’s aim has been to create better incomes by granting increased access to education and training, new and improved technology and an open segway to trade and a fair marketplace. Moreover, USAID has made three key contributions. The first contribution had to do with fostering and maintaining food security. USAID directly trained farmers on new and improved farming practices and techniques. In addition, it also trained the farmers on energy and resource conservations. The second contribution involved connecting the farmers with businesses inside and outside of Haiti to sell their products. The last contribution comprised of creating and maintaining partnerships with corporations, local businesses, government and nonprofit organizations.

The Environment

Haiti is experiencing many environmental issues including deforestation, overfishing, insufficient weather information and lack of support from the government on the issues. USAID is helping by working with communities to set up the working agenda and follow through with set working priorities. It is also providing support during a time of change. In addition, USAID is promoting novel techniques for farming and reforestation. Through its work, USAID reached an agreement to plant more trees to regenerate forests. The agreement also covered boosting cocoa production that resulted in $5.2 million in revenue.

Furthermore, USAID’s work on marine life encompasses the Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program with a pact of Three Bays National Marine Protected Area and the National Conservation Trust Fund. The Program created an agreement with local fishermen to conserve the environment with provided training. At the same time, USAID hired staff to look over the protected areas.

Finally, USAID has implemented the Climate Smart Solutions program. USAID sets up weather stations for researchers, agriculturalists and environmentalists. This way USAID can monitor the weather and collect accurate data. Additionally, the collected data can help farmers monitor rainfalls and climate change. As a result, the farmers can customize their farming according to their current temperatures.

Health

Haiti’s health system faces many challenges, including that it has a weak health care delivery system in that more than 40 percent of the Haitian population has no access to health care. There is also a lack of qualified health care professionals. As a result, USAID has been working to secure a functional health care delivery system by implementing the U.S. President’s Emergency Program for AIDs Relief (PEPFAR) to address HIV treatment and prevention, maternal and child health and nutrition and reproductive health outside of PEPFAR.

Part of USAID’s care plan involved setting up 164 primary care centers around Haiti to carry out all the necessary care services. USAID’s WASH program collaborates with the Haitian Water and Sanitation Department. The two organizations provide clean water and sanitation to prevent transmitted diseases such as cholera. Hundreds of thousands of children and women are receiving the necessary nutrition that they need. Over 200,000 HIV patients are obtaining testing, prevention and counseling services. Moreover, USAID has allowed the staffing of over 1,400 workers at the 164 health care facilities. As a result, the number of maternal and child deaths have reduced.

Education

Haiti has low school enrollment, poor literacy rates, a lack of government support and limited qualified teachers in the education system. USAID has been involved in upgrading the Haitian education system. USAID invests in reading and teaching programs and helping students with visual impairments to learn. The early-grade reading and writing program trains young children to read and write in Haitian and French. Furthermore, the teaching program trains teachers with new and innovative materials and techniques. USAID has successfully provided thousands of teachers and children with training on children’s reading development. It has supplied teaching and learning materials, including books and other published materials. In addition, USAID enhanced services at the Ministry of Education. USAID also helped schools bounce back from Hurricane Matthew by purchasing furniture for schools and paying for cleaning services.

Other USAID Humanitarian Work

With the political unrest in Haiti, USAID committed to eradicating hunger in the country. USAID has provided the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) with $1 million. The funding will go towards transporting emergency supplies to war-torn regions, maintaining WFP’s operations, information management and supply storage. USAID is working with WFP to give out a total of 4.4 metric tons of food to the people of Haiti. Thus far, USAID has funded a total of $20 million for food emergencies and activities to upgrade the quality of life. For example, USAID funded activities that promote healthy eating and general assistance of water, sanitation, personal hygiene and shelter.

USAID’s humanitarian work in Haiti is particularly notable since the country has suffered heavily from natural disasters and their socio-economic impact. Additionally, USAID has been trying to address the root cause of issues such as health care reforms and food security. It is encouraging to see that the U.S. has been continually helping to improve lives around the world through the work and accomplishments of USAID.

– Hung Le
Photo: Flickr