What is changing?
Two years after the earthquake, things ARE changing in Haiti. The country is not just "in recovery." It is on the cusp of real, historic change for children. How do we know? Because UNICEF is on the ground, working with local partners who are making these changes.
Who are these partners and how does UNICEF work with them to realize child rights and protections in Haiti?
Read the UNICEF report
Children of Haiti Two Years After: What is Changing?
UNICEF's role
As a long-term development partner working in the country for decades, UNICEF supports government and institutions to make transformative progress for children. Since the earthquake, UNICEF has also scaled up basic interventions to support critical needs in health, water and sanitation and protection.
In 2011, these services included
- Malnutrition screening and treament for 400,000 children
- Nutrition and breastfeeding counseling for 500,000 new mothers
- Reunification of more than 2,700 children separated from their parents
- Routine vaccination coverage for almost 80% of Haiti's children, up from 58% previously
The road ahead
There is more work to do to protect the most vulnerable, impoverished and underserviced children of Haiti. Just as there is more rubble to clear and more homeless families to move out of camps, there are more children excluded from basic services like education and healthcare. Progress made in preventing child trafficing and reducing cholera in fections must be safeguarded with continued work to strengthen the country's institutions.
Haiti recovery stories
February 3, 2012
UNICEF providing vaccines to children in Haiti's hardest-to-reach communities
UNICEF is implementing a program to ensure that every child in Haiti is immunized against diseases like polio, diphtheria, tetanus, and measles-rubella. The program, known as RED (Reach Every District), helps manage resources and link services with communities. RED also provides supportive supervision and monitoring for action. This approach will improve communication between communities and health workers, increasing vaccination coverage.
January 24, 2012
In Haiti, an unprecedented expansion in nutrition services for children and women
Even before the devastating earthquake, malnutrition had reached crisis levels in Haiti. One fifth of children under age 5 were underweight, and nearly a third suffered chronic malnutrition. Two years after the disaster, there has been an unprecedented expansion in preventative and therapeutic nutrition services for children and women. Services include helping local doctors refine their abilities to ensure nutrition programs continue to operate efficiently and teaching the importance of breastfeeding to mothers among others.
January 20, 2012
Playing, learning and recovering in Haiti
It might look like simple fun, but the dominos, coloring pencils, construction blocks, hand puppets, puzzle pieces and memory games are about more than just a good time for children in Haiti. They are part of the thousands of early childhood development kits UNICEF has distributed since Haiti’s devastating earthquake to reintroduce normalcy and stability to the lives of children. The kits are part of a broader UNICEF program to help children recover from the trauma and prepare them for years of learning and growth.
Read more Haiti recovery and reconstruction stories
