Canada announces projects in Haiti’s health and agricultural sectors

Canada today announced $35.5 million in development assistance for three projects aimed at improving women and girls’ health and promoting their sexual and reproductive rights. Canada also revealed five new projects selected through the call for proposals entitled Haiti: Strengthening Agri-food Value Chains and Adaptation to Climate Change in Haiti” which was announced by Minister Bibeau in November 2016.

United Nations Population Fund: $15 million over four years

Canada’s assistance will help build the government’s capacity to train, recruit, deploy and retain midwives in the country’s most underserved regions. The project will support training institutes delivering midwifery and nursing education in Haiti. It will also improve the capacity of Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population to manage and regulate midwifery education and practice and strengthen the capacity of the Association Nationale des Sages-Femmes [national association of midwives] to promote the occupation. This project is implemented in cooperation with the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières and the Canadian Association of Midwives.

United Nations Foundation and Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves: $20 million over five years

This project is aimed at transforming the Haitian energy sector in such a way as to have a positive impact on women’s health and economic situation, as well as on the environment—particularly the adaptation to climate change—by promoting the use of clean energy and cookstoves. The project is intended to reduce the use of wood fires for cooking, smoke inside homes, wood harvesting and deforestation, while increasing economic opportunities, especially for women.

Partners in Health and Zanmi Lasante: $550,000

Canada’s assistance, provided through the International Development Research Centre, will improve the implementation of a program to prevent sexual and gender-based violence in the Bas-Artibonite and Plateau Central regions of Haiti, among others. The project’s goal is to use improved information systems to collect and analyze data on the prevalence of violence to provide better and more equitable and affordable services for women and girls.

Five new initiatives selected from the call for proposals entitled Haiti: Strengthening Agri-food Value Chains and Adaptation to Climate Change

Canada’s assistance will allow the restoration and growth of production capacities in certain arboreal, market garden and grain sectors using techniques and technologies that are more environmentally friendly and better adapted to climate change. These initiatives will be carried out by SUCO, Agronomes et Vétérinaires sans Frontières (agronomists and veterinarians without borders) and the Alliance Agricole Internationale (international agricultural alliance) in conjunction with Développement International Desjardins, Papyrus S.A. and Oxfam-Québec. The planned actions will also help better structure the sectors, build the capacity of the various stakeholders and create jobs in not only agricultural production but also food product processing and marketing. These improvements will benefit the most vulnerable people living in rural areas, especially women and youth. The call for proposals entitled Haiti: Strengthening Agri-food Value Chains and Adaptation to Climate Change was announced by Minister Bibeau in Haiti in November 2016.