Inclusion of people in Haiti

Advocating for inclusion and human rights

With education, awareness raising and the funding for small projects of Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs), our "Advocacy and Capacity Building” project “KAPAB” is making the inclusion of people with disabilities a reality in Haiti, especially after the January 12, 2010 earthquake. More than four years after the launch of this major project in March 2010, beneficiaries attest to the impact and importance it has had in the disability sector and the society in general.

This project has contributed in changing mentalities and making the inclusion of people with disabilities a reality in Haitian society, through a series of trainings on topics related to the needs of people with disabilities and the funding of small projects of DPOs of which they are members. Beneficiaries attest to the impact and importance of such a project for the disability sector in particular and society in general. 

"This is a program that actually builds the capacity of organisations working with people with disabilities, in that it allows them to meet specific goals and allows members to benefit from a lot of trainings aiming at developing their full potential, especially after the earthquake ", says candidly, Marie Jessie A. Muscadin,  national secretary of the National Associative Network for the Integration of persons with Disabilities (RANIPH), which includes sixty associations of persons with disabilities in seven of 10 departments of the country.

A holistic approach

This program was set up with the specific objective of helping persons with disabilities assert their rights and make their voices heard in society. After having participated in the emergency phase after the earthquake, CBM wanted to invest in a more constructive and sustainable development project that meets the needs of these vulnerable people.

The project contains four components: awareness raising, training, funding of small projects for the disabled persons organisations and accessibility of constructions. 

• The awareness raising component aims to sensitise persons with disabilities and the society in general, to change the mindset of people towards persons with disabilities. 
• The training component provides workshops for the disable people’s organisations on various topics such as advocacy, leadership and organisational development, proposal writing, monitoring and evaluation, financial management, gender and gender equity as well as disable women’s issues. 
• With respect to the funding component, CBM has provided funding to various associations to enable them to strengthen their institutional capacity and even have access to external funding, some for the first time. 
• Most public buildings, including churches, hospitals and banks, are not tailored to the specific needs of persons with disabilities in Haiti. Therefore, through the accessibility component, CBM has chosen to focus on the built environment, promoting reconstruction based on the principles of universal accessibility and which focuses on meeting the needs of all, with a disability or not. CBM has provided technical and financial support for the implementation of accessibility adjustments to a number of sites including the Mayoral building in Petion -Ville, Place Boyer and the Foyer d'Amour school, which will serve as a model. 

Working in partnership

CBM in Haiti works in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary of State for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities (BSEIPH), which is the focal point of the Haitian government for the inclusion of people with disabilities. This collaboration has allowed for joint lobbying for the voting and implementation of the law on the Integration of Persons with Disabilities. Taking into account the important result made possible by this CBM program in Haiti, USAID granted additional funds to CBM to strengthen its advocacy and capacity building program. Nearly thirty associations of people with disabilities have benefited from the support of CBM as part of this project. 

Gerald Oriol Jr., Secretary of State at the Office of the Secretary of State for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities (BSEIPH), the body that sets government policy on the inclusion of people with disabilities, applauds this initiative of CBM. "These are the initiatives that contribute to the development and progress of the disability community and we hope that these types of initiatives are strengthened for the good of society in general ... We have taken a big step with this project, " he says.