Friday will be held at the Marriott Hotel, a high-level conference organized by the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Institute of Social Welfare and Research (IBESR) in partnership with Lumos and the US Agency for International Development. (USAID), to end the institutionalization of children in Haiti,.

According to statistics from the IBESR, about 32,000 children live in children's homes in Haiti, while 80% of them are not orphans. Poverty, lack of access to basic social services remain the main reasons for the placement of these children in these structures. The Government and its partners recognize the need to replace children's homes by support services community based to remove these structures.

Key stakeholders at the Colloquium :

Professor Victor Benoit, Minister of Social Affairs and Labour; Ms. Arielle Jeanty Villedrouin, Director General of the IBESR; Charles Zeanah, Sellars-Polchow, Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics Clinic, Assistant to the Chair for Child and Adolescent at Tulane University; Ms. Georgette Mulheir, President and CEO of Lumos and a high-level representative of the American Government.

IH/ iciHaiti