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On April 26, the Global Affairs Canada’s Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Division hosted a consultation at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec to discuss how to maximize Canadian aid impact in Haiti. In attendance, was Minister Bibeau, Canada’s Minister of International Development, to champion sexual and reproductive health.

Members of Grand Challenges Canada, the Canadian Association of Midwives and the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health presented on their work in Haiti.

Represented by Judith Nihorimbere, Program Officer responsible for the Latin America and the Caribbean region, Nutrition International contributed its perspective on the role of women as agents for change during the group presentation session.

The consultation was designed to help provide solutions to some of the key challenges in Haiti, particularly through a sexual and reproductive health perspective.

The meeting concluded with recommendations from participants for program-based investments with planned and budgeted exit strategies, holistic investments and programming, and increased support for the central level of Haiti’s Ministry of Health and Population, as a way to:

  1. Accelerate progress in sexual and reproductive health in Haiti,
  2. improve performance of the health system (governance, delivery of basic health services, hospitals and health facilities),
  3. ensure that support for Canadian organizations has sustainable impact and does not substitute government actions, and
  4. support women in their roles as agents for change.

Isabelle Berard, Director General of Global Affairs Canada’s LAC Division, and Pierre Cosette, Professor and Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences from Sherbrooke University, attended the consultation. Carlos Rojas-Arbulú, who will be appointed in September as Global Affairs Canada’s Chief of Aid in Haiti also attended.

Nutrition International’s believes women and girls’ empowerment is key to achieving development goals. Find out more about our activities in Haiti and our work to empower women and girls’ through nutrition.