The Economic and Social Assistance Fund (FAES) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) organized last week a Strategic Planning and Exchange Workshop with the various implementing operators who work daily with populations in difficulty, with a view to strengthening actions on the ground.

The FAES, thanks to funding from international donors, particularly the IDB, has set up several programs to increase the resilience of local populations by effectively combating poverty and food insecurity.

During the opening of this workshop, Nicola Magri, Specialist responsible for the social protection sector of the IDB, stressed the importance of this initiative, which allows for better coordination of the actions of multiple NGOs and partners, in order to ensure a large-scale response to the multiple needs identified.

Marie Judithe Fanfan, Program Coordinator at FAES, presented the progress of the project entitled "Strengthening safety nets for vulnerable populations," she stressed that this project contributes to the fight against food insecurity which affects nearly half of the Haitian population while providing free health care to families in difficult situations.

Faced with the growing demand of the population, Ms. Fanfan announced that an extension is planned on 2 of the ongoing projects, and consequently on the contracts of the implementing operators to try to reach as many beneficiaries as possible in different municipalities. She informed about the adjustments that will be made, the intervention areas where the additional activities planned in each component will be carried out as well as on the additional financing to carry out these operations.

Marie Flore Monval Bourgoin, also Program Coordinator at FAES, presented the new "Community Program for the Promotion of Human Security in Haiti" which will continue to provide relief to the most vulnerable, before presenting the progress of the project, currently being implemented "Fighting food insecurity and promoting resilience through a safety net for vulnerable populations."

This project focuses on the resilience of the targeted beneficiaries and aims to intervene in communities that could not be reached under previous projects. These include, in particular, certain municipalities in the departments of the South-East, North-East and Grande-Anse. A new feature that will come from the extension concerns the integration of activities specifically dedicated to young people.

Louis E. Verret, Director of the Economic Initiatives Department (DIE), presented a detailed map of ongoing projects, while emphasizing the identification of new intervention areas as part of the expansion of projects. The selection criteria for these areas were at the center of discussions with operators in order to identify the best strategies to reach beneficiaries.

The actions carried out by FAES have had a considerable impact on the living conditions of vulnerable populations. For example, the “Cash for work” program, carried out as part of FAES projects to provide temporary income to households, has reached 115,000 households in 60 municipalities in 9 departments over the past five years. The majority of these beneficiaries live in remote and difficult-to-access areas.

The partnership established between FAES and the IDB represents a real opportunity for populations in vulnerable situations. To date, the IDB has granted a total of 457 million US dollars to the FAES for the implementation of numerous projects that have enabled vulnerable groups affected by extreme poverty to face certain daily problems.

HL/ HaitiLibre