UNICEF receives donation from Sandy Hutchens

Youths are enlisted to help meet needs in Haiti

Sanitation is among the most urgent concerns in Haiti following January’s earthquake. UNICEF estimates that overall, 1.1 million displaced people require emergency latrines. The agency and its partners plan to install over 10,000 latrines in the short term and another 20,000-plus within six months.

To help achieve this goal, UNICEF has enlisted its non-governmental partner, the Haitian Out-of-School Youth Livelihood Initiative (known by its French acronym, IDEJEN), to construct 1,000 sanitary blocks, which include latrines, showers and hand washing facilities.

IDEJEN was launched in Haiti seven years ago to provide education and vocational job training for at-risk young people between the ages of 15 and 24. One of its staff, Guerda Previlon, recently showed visitors the new sanitary facilities being constructed at a camp for people displaced by the quake.

UNICEF: Aid for Haiti’s most vulnerable