©️MAST
The Haitian government launched, on Saturday 13 December in Les Cayes, a national project to create rehabilitation homes for vulnerable children. Led by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MAST) and the Institute of Social Welfare and Research (lBESR), this structuring initiative aims to strengthen the protection and reintegration of more than 1,200 children through three regional centres.
The Minister of Social Affairs and Labour, Georges Wilbert Franck, has officially launched the tripolar scheme of rehabilitation homes for children, with the inauguration of the South Pole. Implemented by the MAST through the IBESR, this project is one of the priority actions of the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) and the government led by Alix Didier Fils-Aimé.
The programme envisages the establishment of three poles: South, West and North-East, including shelters and rehabilitation homes for vulnerable children, victims of violence or in conflict with the law. The aim is to provide the country with a coherent national system of child protection and reintegration.
In his speech, Minister Franck called for a collective awareness of the situation of children in great vulnerability, stressing that this reality concerns the entire Haitian society. He stated that the aim of the project is to break the reproductive chain of social injustice and ensure that every child is taken into account, regardless of his or her place of residence.
Councillor-President Lesly Voltaire described this initiative as a state act and a commitment to children. He stressed that child protection is a fundamental pillar of Haiti's reconstruction, while ensuring that the necessary funding has been mobilized to place the best interests of the child at the heart of the planned services.
The project is planned for five years (2025-2030) and is estimated at 3.85 billion gourdes and is already receiving an initial allocation of 100 million gourdes from the 2025-2026 investment budget. It is also supported by the Pwojè Espwa Sud and Outreach International, who donated a property of more than 40 tiles, equipped to accommodate children, at a ceremony bringing together national, local, partners and civil society actors.
W.A.
