Haití - País en crisis

Helping children in Gonaives return to the classroom

© UNICEF/HQ04-0127/Kamber

Children in Gonaives, Haiti, need better access to education.

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PORT AU PRINCE/NEW YORK, 21 October 2004 - Continued unrest in Haiti has caused problems for humanitarian agencies trying to reach people affected by last month's floods. Some 3,000 people died and tens of thousands more are still dependent on aid.
 
Protests by supporters of the ousted former president, Jean Bertrand Aristide, have added to the tension and dozens of people have been killed in violent clashes.

UNICEF was unable to access its warehouse in the capital Port au Prince because of the lack of security, and there were delays getting essential items to the city of Gonaives as a result. The port was also blockaded, causing problems delivering additional supplies.

But a 15-strong UNICEF team is now travelling to the area worst affected, in and around the city of Gonaives, in the hope of helping to restore the education system. Because of the rebellion and flooding, children in Haiti have been unable to attend school for a year.

UNICEF Communication Officer Sylvana Nzirorera says children are being denied their right to education.

"The team is going back to Gonaives to start cleaning up schools and also to discuss with the local community where temporary schools can be set up so that we can call the children back to school earlier in November," she says.

"What we need right now is to bring some sense of normalcy in Gonaives by bringing the children back to school. Those kids are really going through a big trauma because they are wondering if they are ever going back to school.

"This is a big concern for us in UNICEF because as long as they are not going back to school it is a really big problem for the kids themselves, for their families, for the community and for Haiti as a whole."

UNICEF has made a commitment to rehabilitate 50 schools in Gonaives. One hundred and fifty School-in-a-Box kits - enough educational materials for nearly 12,000 students and hundreds of teachers - will be supplied to Gonaives.