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| Group of SOS children in Haiti |
July 18, 2011: SOS Children's Villages advocacy staff in both New York and Brussels have partnered with other international nonprofit organizations to urge the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) to improve relief and development efforts in Haiti.
Teaming with Plan Europe and World Vision in Brussels, SOS Children’s Villages published an article in the May 16 issue of Parliament Magazine calling for the European Union to engage more systematically with the new Haitian government, especially in protecting the most vulnerable. SOS European Union representative Kélig Puyet and two coauthors asserted that decision-making requires the participation of the Haitian population. They also asked European Union members to adopt better aid mechanisms to ensure a successful transition from relief to development.
Advocating for Haiti at the UN
In May, SOS Children's Villages and 13 other NGOs sent a letter to the UN Security Council calling for urgent resettlement plans for the over half a million Haitians who continue to be displaced. The NGO consortium urged the UN to protect the most vulnerable groups, including women and children, and requested a renewed show of support from the international community to build and strengthen Haitian government capacities.
Inhumane Conditions
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| Portrait of a boy at the garden door in La Savane |
Although these days the media provide scant coverage of Haiti’s continued challenges following its devastating earthquake of January 2010, living conditions for Haitian women and children who remain without homes are deplorable. For families living in temporary camps, access to clean water and basic health services remains a daily problem.
Max Lamesch of SOS-Haiti observes an increasing number of abandoned children. Reports of sexual abuse and exploitation of women and children, especially those in tent camps, are shockingly high. Incidents of rape and child trafficking continue.
SOS will continue to advocate for the neediest of children and families in Haiti using their two established villages as a model for long-term family based care. SOS also continues work on a third Village along with multiple education and outreach programs throughout the country.
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