Partnership focused on improving health and reducing poverty in Haiti

Sep 25 2009

Collaboration through the Clinton Global Initiative seen as innovative approach to addressing challenges in Haiti

Fonkoze, BRAC, BRAC USA, Partners In Health/Zanmi Lasante, CGAP, CHF partners in rural development and Linked Foundation have joined forces to commit $50 million towards a two-year effort to implement a proven, replicable, cost-effective approach to improving health and reducing extreme poverty in Central Haiti.

President Clinton's appointment as United Nations special envoy to Haiti and the fifth annual Clinton Global Initiative draw attention to the extreme and persistent poverty in Haiti and the need for innovative solutions.

Fonkoze and Zanmi Lasante, two leading Haitian NGOs with decades of experience in the target area, together with BRAC, the largest NGO in the Global South, and other organizations are using their complementary strengths to improve health, eliminate extreme poverty, and develop youth leaders in this hemisphere's poorest country.

"The needs are so great," said Fazle Hasan Abed Founder and Chairperson of BRAC. "We will work in partnership to address each facet of extreme poverty and to break its grip."

Targeting 575,000 people in Haiti's Central Plateau, the major components of this commitment involve building:

• safety nets with transitions to sustainable enterprise for the most vulnerable;
• comprehensive health services;
• food security and agricultural training and employment;
• improved water access and sanitation; and
• youth leadership development and training.

"Bringing together our combined successes and expertise in a comprehensive economic, health, and leadership development approach is the precise, direct strategy needed at this crucial time," said Anne Hastings, Director of Fonkoze. "We all seek to build a sustainable future for Haiti and her people."

Source: http://www.chf-partners.ca

http://www.fonkoze.org

http://www.cgap.org

http://www.linkedfoundation.org/