9510: Christian Aid in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

Christian Aid in Haiti
September 2001

(Christian Aid is a development and relief agency funded by the Protestant churches of the UK and Ireland)


Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Most of its people live in rural areas where state health and education services are limited. Democracy is in a fragile state in Haiti, and although elections are taking place, governments and policies so far have failed to improve the standard of living for most people Political tension is high and international aid is still suspended pending a resolution of the political crisis.

Unfortunately, persistent poverty and no sign of any solutions means that crime and insecurity are rising at all levels of Haitian society.

The programme in Haiti supports seven partners. The priorities of the Haiti programme are food security, health and human rights within Haiti and for Haitians and Dominico-Haitians forcibly repatriated from the Dominican Republic. 

Programme news
• The programme that Christian Aid supports through the Rural Development Programme of the Methodist Church of Haiti (COD/EMH) is focusing on new areas, including soil conservation, fishing, bee-keeping, food processing, veterinary training, livestock raising and husbandry, and community stores.

• Christian Aid’s development education partner, the Haiti Support Group, has been campaigning for the rights of workers on farms here that produce oranges. Workers who collect orange peel for the making of liqueurs suffer from poor working conditions and low wages. 

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Forwarded by the Haiti Support Group

http://www.gn.apc.org/haitisupport

Solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for human rights, participatory democracy and equitable development since 1992.