29 April, 2010
ANSE-A-PITRES, Haiti. – As part of a new Development Grant Program (DGP) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the Republic of Haiti, the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) received more than $400,000 to develop a Women’s Empowerment Program in the South-East Department, Capital of Jacmel, and District of Belle Anse, covering the communes of Grand Gosier, Thiotte and Anse-a-Pitres.
Launched in January 2010, the three-year program is designed to increase capacity of women’s community organizations to address issues of gender equity, skills training for durable employment and/or support for asset formation among women, and improve credit access to women to support economic growth of women-owned businesses. “The goal is to create an environment where women have the skills, assets and social capital to advance their own interests,” said Ulrick Gaillard, BRA’s CEO.
Thousands of women in Haiti’s Southeast Department struggle disproportionately with a combination of economic, health and domestic issues. These challenges translate into an environment where women lack the power to take actions to improve their own quality of life. “Taking into account its remote geographic location and the lack of available government resources, the solutions to the socio-economic challenges faced by women in Haiti’s border region will have to be generated within their own communities,” added Gaillard.
At the end of the program, it is expected that at least 30 women’s organizations formally established, 60 women trained as organizational leaders, 600 women trained through vocational skills development programs, 150 women trained as Community Health Promoters, 300 women eligible for credit, one district wide Network of Women’s Organizations established, improved financial stability for 600 women headed households (including 2400 indirect beneficiaries), reduced vulnerability to HIV among participating women, and 300 microloans distributed to women entrepreneurs through sustainable lending program.
The DGP grant also provides for technical assistance to BRA, through the Capable Partners Program, designed to increase the organization’s capacity to respond timely and effectively to the requirements and objectives of the program. BRA’s local program partners include microcredit-based FONKOZE, Partners In Health and Catholic Medical Mission Board.
BRA’s DGP program activities directly contribute to accomplishing goals established under USAID Haiti’s ‘Investing in People’, by directing technical assistance and resources to vulnerable women in the underserved border region of Haiti. “BRA’s activities invest in women and equip them to participate in community decision making, strengthen household incomes, and engage in preventive health maintenance,” concluded Gaillard.
