17 February 2010 | FXB Center at Harvard Offers Recommendations Based on Visit to Haiti

On January 24, FXB International’s sister organization, the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health, sent a team to Haiti to conduct a multisite rapid assessment of child-protection needs in the post-earthquake environment.

The team focused on current systems and practices for identifying and caring for unaccompanied children and for tracing those who had been separated from their families and reuniting them with parents or guardians. Over a nine day period, the team interviewed 25 stakeholders in Haiti, visited field hospitals, clinics, shelters, and orphanages, observed practices, and participated in UN meetings.

In “Protecting the Children of Haiti,” published in The New England Journal of Medicine on February 17, team members Satchit Balsari, Jay Lemery, Timothy P. Williams, and Brett D. Nelson state, “A common refrain heard among aid workers is that to ensure safe childhoods, families must be given a fair chance to be economically viable — which requires investments in health, education, vocational skills, sustainable livelihoods, microfinancing, and improved agricultural practices.”

Based on the FXB Center’s findings, FXB International is exploring means for supporting sustainable development efforts in Haiti using its unique FXB-Village network model in cooperation with Harvard and other institutions.

Read “Protecting the Children in Haiti”.