Haiti

Emergency response and preparedness in Haiti

Following the earthquake in 2010, GOAL launched an Emergency Response programme which saw the immediate distribution of food and emergency shelter, followed by the implementation of a $13.5 million shelter, WASH and cash-for-work programme.

Following the awarding of the combined grant of $12 million in April 2023, GOAL teams are implementing key mitigation and response efforts, including the distribution of 22 handwashing stations to local amenities, like schools and health centres, to minimise the spread of cholera. GOAL has also integrated 15 schools into WASH-in-school programming, which provides clean water and hygiene services to children in school.  

In April 2024, GOAL announced a new multi-pronged response to recent political instability and rampant violence by armed groups that have fuelled food insecurity and a resurgence of cholera in Port-Au-Prince. The effort includes multiple international and local partner organisations with significant funding from the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs (BHA), Irish Aid, and UNICEF.

GOAL teams are continuing to work with local communities to improve access to safe drinking water and provide cash vouchers to families vulnerable to food insecurity.

An urgent need to build Resilient Health

GOAL is committed to saving lives during and after acute humanitarian crises.

Since the cholera resurgence in late 2022, GOAL has implemented a Cash for Work (CFW) initiative, which provides immediate income to vulnerable households while addressing environmental health issues in the Port-au-Prince area communities. Participants earn money for cleaning local waterways where garbage, waste, and refuse contribute to the spread of waterborne diseases.

In October 2024, GOALies delivered 503 hygiene kits to hundreds of hard-to-reach people in Ganthier. Following an earlier attack in July that shut down the access road to Gantheir and displaced 20,000 people. With living conditions deteriorating rapidly, the hygiene kits will help prevent the spread of disease and restore dignity to local families. Now that GOALies have restored access, GOAL teams are expanding a WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) programme in the Ganthier area, with support from UNICEF.

Investing in aquaculture and fisheries

Since 2019, GOAL’s Blue Economy Programme has focused on providing sustainable livelihoods to coastal communities in Haiti. In 2024, GOAL launched a new initiative centred around beekeeping. This initiative aims to provide local fishermen, farmers, and other communities with an alternative source of income, reducing their reliance on local natural resources, while also creating additional, more reliable income streams and conserving natural environments in the process.

Approximately 60% of Haitians live below the national poverty line, and due to increasing violence disrupting supply chains, many can no longer afford food reliably. To combat these challenges, GOAL has implemented programmes to enhance financial inclusion and economic resilience. GOAL is establishing and strengthening Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), enabling participants, primarily women, to access financial services and launch or expand small businesses. With generous support from Irish Aid through Ireland’s Civil Society Partnership (ICSP) programme, GOAL Haiti expanded these efforts in 2024, training and supporting 10 new VSLA groups.