Serving with purpose, growing through experience

For many young graduates in Haiti, opportunities to put academic learning into practice, while contributing to their communities, remain rare. The internship programme led by the Haitian Institute of Social Welfare and Research (IBESR) with support from UNICEF was designed to help address this gap.

For Dieuvens Vendredi,  it was the opening he had been looking for.

“It is not always easy in Haiti for a young person to find opportunities after university to do an internship in a local institution,” he says. “Yet we are young people full of ability and energy. After our studies, we want to put into practice what we have learned and place it at the service of our community.” 

His words reflect the spirit of a programme launched at a critical time for Haiti’s child protection system. Running from June 2024 to March 2026, the programme was developed in response to growing child protection needs across Haiti, including increasing family vulnerability, rising child rights violations and mounting pressure on already limited services.  

In total, 55 interns were deployed to IBESR’s departmental offices and communities across the country, contributing to case follow-up, community outreach, documentation, referrals, administrative support and psychosocial activities. Their work helped reinforce services for children and families facing vulnerability, violence and crisis.

For Dieuvens, this internship was more than a first professional experience. It was a way to stand alongside children and families living through some of the country’s most difficult realities. 

A large part of his work took place on sites hosting displaced families. There, amid uncertainty and disruption, he helped organise psychosocial activities for children affected by crisis.

“I worked a lot on the sites, where we support displaced children by organising psychosocial activities,” he explains. “This also allows us to accompany children in conflict with the law, as well as those who have been recruited into armed groups.”

Beyond the tasks themselves, the experience offered something harder to quantify: the sense of contributing meaningfully at a difficult moment.

“Thanks to this internship opportunity put in place by IBESR and UNICEF, I gained a very enriching experience,” he says. “This experience has been positive both for me and for the communities.” 

The programme closed officially on 12 March 2026, with a ceremony honouring all 55 participants. Speaking on behalf of UNICEF, Deputy Representative Yannig Dussart underscored the significance of their contribution.

“Today, we are not only marking the end of a training programme. We are recognising young who chose to place their skills, energy and sense of duty at the service of Haiti’s children,” he said.

For Dieuvens, those months left a clear impression of where he wants to direct his career. 

“For a better future, we must support children today, help them rebuild hope and allow them to turn their dreams into reality,” he says. “I always feel happy when I go to work in the morning, because I know I am going to work with children.”

Through this partnership, IBESR and UNICEF are showing that investing in young professionals at the start of their careers is also an investment in children and in the future of child protection in Haiti. 

For Dieuvens, the internship provided a foundation that was practical, formative and grounding. For the children he supported on displacement sites, it meant something simpler and more immediate. It meant that someone showed up, followed through and did not leave them without support. 

At a time when Haiti’s child protection system is under immense pressure, that combination of institutional strengthening and individual commitment remains essential