Over the past 12 months, UNESCO has been taking part in international endeavours to bring emergency assistance and longer-term relief to Haiti. UNESCO's Director-General Irina Bokova went to Haiti last March to express UNESCO's solidarity and to discuss cooperation with the government. A number of projects were launched, aimed primarily at helping to reconstruct Haiti's devastated education system and protecting cultural heritage. Initiatives ranged from co-funding a centre for local journalists, providing psychosocial support for secondary school children and training masons in earthquake-resistant construction to securing key cultural sites to prevent looting and presenting theatre productions in camps for displaced people.

UNESCO's Director-General Irina Bokova, Michaëlle Jean, Special Envoy for Haiti, as well as the Haitian Prime Minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, will attend a Haiti commemoration on 20 and 21 January at UNESCO in Paris.

The main event will be a round table, "A Year after the earthquake", at which Haitian and international experts will assess post-disaster reconstruction efforts to date and focus specifically on education and culture.

BF/ HaitiLibre