Haiti: Celebration of National Children’s Day against a backdrop of crisis, the “Zanmi Timoun” Foundation calls for children’s rights to be respected

Since 1960, the Haitian state has designated the second Sunday of the month of June as national children’s day. Considered a category that deserves to be protected, children in Haiti are exposed to dangers of all kinds on a daily basis. If on the one hand, there is the phenomenon of insecurity which represents a real headache for them, because they cannot go to school every day and cannot participate in activities that could contribute to their psychological and physical development. On the other hand, they are victims of the food insecurity that is raging in the country. According to the World Food Program (WFP) and the National Coordination of Food Security (CNSA), in mid-2022, 4.6 million Haitians could go hungry and children are still the most affected by food insecurity .
Indeed, the “Zanmi Timoun” Foundation notes that the living conditions of children in the country’s few rehabilitation and reintegration centers have not improved despite the various recommendations made by human rights organizations, including the “Zanmi Timoun” foundation. “. The latter live in extremely difficult conditions in the total indifference of the judicial authorities who are constantly on strike for better work. Some incarcerated minors have never been brought before a juvenile judge, and consequently languish for several years in civil prisons across the country. Which is a flagrant violation of the rights of these children and a serious attack on individual freedom guaranteed by national laws and international treaties.
The “Zanmi Timoun” Foundation, on the occasion of National Children’s Day, wants to draw the attention of state authorities to the general situation of children throughout the country, which is contrary to the requirements of the international convention relating to on the Rights of the Child, ratified by the Haitian State on December 23, 1994. Children victims of or involved in conflicts between armed groups, children out of school, imprisoned, hungry, victims of human trafficking, repatriated and deported from the Dominican Republic, deserve special attention from the Haitian authorities and the population.
The “Zanmi Timoun” Foundation is taking advantage of National Children’s Day to demand that concrete measures be taken to protect the physical, moral and psychological integrity of children, who continue to suffer acts of violence every day. all kinds. The best interests of children are what must animate the thoughts of everyone, but in particular of the State, which is the main guarantor of the protection of children in Haiti, with regard to the Haitian Constitution and the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. The “Zanmi Timoun” Foundation reiterates its position which is to promote and defend the rights of children in Haiti regardless of their social origin.

Done in Port-au-Prince, June 10, 2022

Joseph Richard FORTUNÉ
Communication manager
Tel: 509 3187 73 63