Project profile — Assisting Vulnerable Children and Women in Haiti's Border Areas

• Haiti (100.00%)

• Basic Education: Basic life skills for youth and adults (11230) (20.00%)
• Basic Health: Basic health care (12220) (10.00%)
• Government And Civil Society, General: Human rights (15160) (35.00%)
• Other Social Infrastructure And Services: Social/welfare services (16010) (35.00%)

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (not targeted)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (significant objective)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (principal objective)
• Youth Issues (principal objective)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)

This project aims to prevent human trafficking and protect vulnerable Haitian migrants especially children and women. Haiti is a major source of migrants and every year, thousands of Haitians seek better socio-economic opportunities in the Dominican Republic. The two countries share 360 km of extremely porous border, with only four official border points. The majority of migratory movements from Haiti are made from informal and illegal crossing points. Lacking legal status and documentation, illegal border crossers frequently fall victim to violence, abuse or exploitation, especially children and women. With GAC’s support, the International Organization for Migration is increasing protection mechanisms in border areas to combat human trafficking, especially child and women trafficking and exploitation. Project activities include: (1) training 400 local governmental officers and civil society actors on standardized procedures and protection principles (including prevention and reintegration aspects); (2) establishing a common standardized data management system for the registration of migrants; (3) establishing and operationalizing four border resource centres at official crossing points; (4) rehabilitating or refurbishing eight reception centres in Ouanaminthe, Belladere and Fonds-Parisien; (5) providing reintegration assistance at border to 2,000 vulnerable migrants (e.g. emergency shelter and domestic items); (6) providing adequate livelihoods assistance/education grants to 500 vulnerable migrants; and (7) developing a total of 16 awareness/sensitization campaigns targeting more than 737,000 Haitians living in bordering communes on the dangers of irregular border crossings and on how to report cases of exploitation and abuse.

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (1) improved capacities of specialised governmental institutions and local protection actors; and (2) reinforced coordination among specialised governmental institutions and local protection actors to increase access to services to vulnerable migrants returning to Haiti, especially children and women.

Results achieved as of the end of the project (September 2018) include: (1) 324 protection actors and border police officials were provided with training on human rights, human trafficking and dealing with vulnerable migrants along the border; (2) 203 children have returned to school and with health care and school supplies; (3) through the migrant registration system, 2,150 people received assistance and were provided with documentation to facilitate their identification, and 1,335 people (of which 50% were unaccompanied children) have been registered; (4) 702 vulnerable migrants (of which 75% were women) received help with income generating activities; (5) four border resource centres are operational in Anse-à-Pîtres, Malpasse, Belladère et Ouanaminthe; (6) six migrant accommodation centres and a shelter for women survivors of violence have been rehabilitated, and 840 telephone lines for people in distress have been set up; (7) a standard operations manual for the assistance programme for vulnerable migrants has been designed, approved and disseminated to protection actors at each official border entry point; and (8) border police (POLIFRONT) have arrested more than 65 human smugglers and traffickers, and referred them to court.

• Proactive disclosure
• Related activities: Assisting Vulnerable Women and Children in Haiti's Border Areas - Monitoring and Evaluation