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For Immediate Release

PADF Hosts International Delegation to Haiti to View Stabilization and Development Programs First-Hand

Port-au-Prince, Haiti -- February 19 The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) hosted a high-level hemispheric delegation to Haiti comprised of members of the OAS Permanent Counsel, to observe first-hand the positive steps the country is taking toward stabilization and development. Ambassadors from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, United States and Uruguay participated.

“The goal of this trip is to view the progress that Haiti is making, from a development perspective,” stated the Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Ambassador Albert Ramdin, who led the delegation along side Permanent Counsel Chairman Ambassador Cornelius Smith of the Bahamas. “We want to see for ourselves what is happening on the ground, and how OAS and its member states can continually maximize its support for Haiti.”

Long considered a nation in crisis, Haiti needs creative alternatives to confront its overwhelming challenges of poverty, underdevelopment and lack of opportunities. PADF is addressing head-on many of these challenges with support from the international donor community, such as the Government of Canada, the U.S Government, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Haitian Government itself. “The delegation will have an opportunity to see how PADF works with the neediest Haitians to help them forge their own economic opportunities,” said Michelet Fontaine, PADF’s Acting Country Director in Haiti.

The delegation visited the inner city of Cité Soleil -- on the outskirts of the capital of Port of Prince -- where PADF is helping local community committees to prioritize, select, and implement projects submitted by community groups through the Programme de Développement Participatif ŕ Port-au-Prince PRODEPPAP, (Program for Participatory Development in Port of Prince). This highly successful community-driven development program funded through the Haitian Government with World Bank funds is changing the way that the community members view themselves. “PRODEPPAP provides for us the opportunity to assess our own priorities and objectives, laying the foundation for long-lived projects and clear results. This is true sustainable development,” said Garry Gervais, President of the local committee named COPRODEPPAP.

Another stop by the delegation was to view the progress of the rehabilitation of the Cap-Haitien Civil Prison, a program implemented by PADF--with the support of the Canadian Stabilization and Reconstruction Mission (START) program and with the input of the Government’s penal agency—to ease overcrowding and provide more humane conditions to detainees.

The OAS Permanent Counsel Delegation also visited the site of the new border complex in Belladčre, which will house customs, immigration, border patrol, National Office of Migration, and the National Institute of Welfare. PADF is implementing the construction of this complex with the continued support of START Canada, the Government of Haiti, and the Presidential Border Commission, which oversees border activities in Haiti. PADF will also provide training and outreach to local civil society groups who work with repatriated and trafficked persons to provide shelter and services.

Over the four-day visit, the delegation also met with President Préval, the Prime Minister, as well as members of the Government, the Parliament, the Haitian private sector, and the international community, including the MINUSTAH.

The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) is a 501 (c)(3) organization established in 1962 through a unique partnership between the Organization of American States and private enterprise to promote, facilitate, and implement social and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean through innovative partnerships and integrated involvement of the private and public sectors. For more information on PADF, visit www.padf.org.

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