A back-to-school campaign has brought new hope to the children of Cité Soleil, the seaside slum in the Haitian capital that has long been regarded as the most violent neighbourhood in the country, if not in all of the Western hemisphere, writes ReliefWeb, Wednesday.
For years, powerful gangs have seized control over the community and kept away almost all outsiders, including humanitarian workers. Violence and increased poverty have forced many schools to shut down, leaving thousands of children without an education.
Following the election of René Préval as the country’s new President in February, a window of opportunity has opened up. The gangs in Cité Soleil declared a unilateral truce, and the area finally became accessible.
UNICEF quickly started a vaccination campaign targeting all of the slum’s children under the age of five and all women of childbearing age. From March to June, some 20,000 children and 30,000 women were immunized against common preventable diseases.
Together with the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and the local authorities, UNICEF also assessed all of Cité Soleil’s schools and identified requirements to bring every child back to the classroom. Work is under way to improve water and sanitation conditions in 40 schools, while essential supplies are distributed to all students and their teachers.
The back-to-school campaign coincides with the launch of Haiti’s National Programme of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration. UNICEF plays a major role in ensuring that the programme gives enough attention to the rights of children, and in advocating for education as the best means to protect them against violence.
In other neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince, teachers have received training, while 271 schools and more than 68,000 children are being provided with basic learning materials.
The international community is also supporting Haiti’s school-fee abolition initiative – part of the National Strategy for Education for All.
According to a UNICEF study, an additional $78 million will be required annually in Haiti to reach the 2015 Millennium Development Goal of having all children in school – a small price to pay to set the country on a path to peace and development.
Kilde: www.reliefweb.int
