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IFES - Haiti

Haiti

Haitians have been challenging authoritarian rule since 1986. In 1990, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president, but a coup ousted him seven months later. A U.S. intervention reinstated Aristide in 1994. Rene Preval was elected president in 1996, until Aristide won a second term in 2000 and a political crisis developed on grounds that the elections were fraudulent. In 2004, Aristide left Haiti amid a rebel insurrection. Although democratic rule was restored in 2006, bitter political divisions persist.

Current Projects

Elections Organization and Administration

The Haitian Elections Organization and Administration 2008 Program allowed IFES to provide technical assistance to the Haitian Provisional Electoral Commission (CEP) as it worked to hold both rounds of partial Senatorial elections, scheduled on 19 April and 21 June 2009. In the year leading up to the first round of elections, IFES worked with the CEP to draft procedures for polling staff, produce and distribute polling center manuals and implement trainings for poll workers, amongst other things. Due to an expansion in the program, IFES also played an important role in coordinating a nationwide voter education campaign for the Senatorial elections in April and for the second round of Senate elections on June 21.

Victims of Organized Violence

Through a USAID Cooperative Agreement, IFES has designed and is currently implementing a program to address the situation of victims of organized violence in Haiti. The main objectives of the Victims of Organized Violence (VOV) Program are to strengthen local organizations and institutions in psychosocial, medical and legal services to ensure that they can efficiently and effectively respond to victims of organized violence and other related human rights abuses; to research ways to prevent instances of torture and to increase the capacity of local human rights organizations to document their work, be it psychological, medical, social or legal. The treatment component of this project will be largely supported through training and capacity building to organizations already providing treatment.

IFES' VOV project works through nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Haiti that (1) provide direct or indirect services to torture-affected survivors, their families, and communities; (2) train individuals to treat and help restore the functioning of those affected by torture; and (3) increase the level of knowledge and understanding about the effectiveness of treatment and rehabilitation methods.

Past Projects in Haiti »