Vincent Hommeril, the Counselor for Cooperation and Cultural Action of the Embassy of France in Haiti signed with Ms. Fanjanirina Ratsiferana, Country Director Haiti, of "Solidarités International", a Financing Agreement, for an amount of 1.2 million euros from the "Programme to strengthen food security in the metropolitan area of Port au Prince."

This financing agreement is part of the 5.5 million Euros of Programmed Food Aid (PAA) that France has allocated to Haiti in the first installment for 2023. This first installment also includes funding of 2.5 million for the Program Alimentaire Mondial (WFP) for its project to "fight against chronic malnutrition and the extension of the school canteen program in Artibonite". Lastly, it includes France's contribution of 1.8 million to the National Program for School Canteens (PNCS).

This first installment for 2023 is already higher than the AAP paid by France to Haiti in 2022, i.e. 5.25 million Euros, an amount itself already much higher than the amount for 2021, which was 3.7 Million.

This funding from the Embassy of France in Haiti via the AAP mechanism will enable "Solidarités International" to set up, for 12 months, a project to strengthen food and nutritional security and the resilience capacities of vulnerable households in the Jalousie district in the commune of Pétion-ville.

Indeed, the number of people in need continues to increase and the level of food insecurity is alarming in Haiti, as demonstrated by all the studies carried out to date by "Solidarités International" and the actors working in this sector.

This project targets vulnerable households and more specifically pregnant and breastfeeding women as well as malnourished children in the metropolitan area of Port au Prince. It will help improve their nutritional status through awareness-raising activities on the underlying causes of malnutrition and will also strengthen the medical care of the people targeted. A total of 9,250 people will benefit from this project with PAA funding during the period from April 2023 to March 2024.

IH/ iciHaiti