CARE and Haiti
CARE has worked in Haiti since 1954, first providing relief to people affected by Hurricane Hazel. Development activities officially started in 1959. During the early years, CARE's activities were centered around the provision of food to improve the nutritional well-being of Haitian children and mothers. In 1966, CARE turned its focus toward community development of the northwest region, considered to be the most economically deprived in the country. In the 1970s, CARE broadened its programming to include efforts aimed to improve the health of preschoolers, the provision of safe drinking water and support income generations through crafts production. In 1981, CARE became involved in agroforestry.
The U.S.-led embargo period between 1991 and 1994, intended to restore elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, saw the expansion of relief aid to alleviate hunger and short-term unemployment.
Today, CARE's programs in Haiti are varied and more integrated than ever before with programs in the areas of reproductive health and maternal and child health and nutrition, education and school feeding, conservation and soil erosion, road and sanitary infrastructure rehabilitation, irrigation, and small enterprise development and income generation.
CARE also is reinforcing its partnership approach with governmental and other local and international organizations. This approach is designed to reach more beneficiaries and to ensure sustainability of programs and services.
CARE operates through a central office in PetionVille, and has a programmatic structure dividing the country in two regions -- one including the northwest and the Artibonite, and the other, Port-au-Prince and Grand-Anse.
For more information on CARE's work in Haiti, click here.