The Diplomat
The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) has awarded a grant of one million euros to UNICEF to finance the reconstruction of four educational centers in the South Department, in Haiti, which were destroyed as a result of the earthquake of August 2021.
The intervention, for which a grant agreement has been activated with UNICEF for one million euros, has been carried out through the AECID 2021 Early Recovery Fund and has focused on improving access to education, aimed mainly at the public sector, with an emphasis on the infrastructure and educational equipment component. The objective is the rehabilitation or reconstruction of the affected infrastructure, but also includes improvements in water and sanitation and the repair and provision of school equipment for the centers.
In total, thanks to this donation, 960 children between 5 and 14 years of age who were affected by the earthquake now have access to education in four safe and equipped public schools, benefiting from basic materials to facilitate the continuity of their learning.
AECID has also facilitated coordination between UNICEF and the Madrid City Council for an additional donation of 181,500 euros used to distribute educational kits, complete school equipment and provide psychosocial support to children and their families.
The earthquake, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, struck Haiti’s southern peninsula on Saturday, August 14, 2021. According to the initial assessment conducted by UNICEF, 327,460 students (preschool through high school) were affected to varying degrees by their schools. This figure represents 70% of the education system in the entire area. With the funds available, priority has been given to the totally destroyed schools, but many others are still affected.
Given the magnitude of the damage, AECID chose to concentrate this support in the municipality of Los Cayos and its surroundings where, through the Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation (FCAS), it is working to improve the water and sanitation network, part of which benefits different schools. The four selected public schools are part of a list of 48 schools that have been rebuilt or rehabilitated with funds from various donors under UNICEF coordination.
