With the outbreak of a new cholera epidemic at the end of 2022, HI’s programme in Cuba has launched a project to help contain this disease. Our teams support communities with awareness-raising activities, measures to prevent transmission of the disease and by promoting good practices. They are also carrying out chlorine decontamination and distributing hygiene items, such as soap and chlorine products. The programme is working with local actors to coordinate the response to the epidemic and ensure it is inclusive.
For years, HI has been helping to develop Haiti’s rehabilitation sector by supporting health centres throughout the country. These actions were stepped up following the earthquake on 14 August 2021, and our teams are continuing to conduct training and skills transfer in the West, Southeast, North and Northeast of the country. HI is also seeking to obtain the global recognition of rehabilitation professionals and to strengthen the provision of care, and the programme is working with local authorities to map existing rehabilitation services and develop a referral system for people who need them.
HI’s programme also runs an economic inclusion project to enable people with disabilities to find work and earn a sustainable income. Our teams help people to define their projects and develop their activities. They also train companies to be more inclusive, in particular by making reasonable accommodations in their employees’ workspaces. Finally, HI supports organisations of people with disabilities with their national advocacy work to promote the development of a more inclusive working environment in the country.
To strengthen disaster preparedness and protection, the programme is raising the awareness and training authorities and partner organisations to consider the most vulnerable populations in their interventions. Assessments of the context and of the preparedness of the population for potential disasters are carried out, as well as simulation exercises, enabling the development of appropriate action plans. Our teams also work with local stakeholders to analyse weather forecasts and develop action protocols that can be applied rapidly in the event of a disaster. In all these actions, inclusion is at the heart of the measures adopted.
HI’s programme is also developing a logistics platform for the transport of humanitarian goods and merchandise by sailboats. This pick-up and storage service provided to other humanitarian organisations in the country is a means of ensuring the safe delivery of essential goods to the entire Haitian coast. This service is particularly useful at a time when the country is beset by an unprecedented wave of violence, with gangs closing off the roads and preventing all road transport. To develop its maritime transport service, teams are training Haitian operators and improving their navigation techniques and safety at sea.
