The Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Civic Action (MJSAC in French) closed this August 11, 2023, with the support of UNFPA, UNDP, BINUH and the United Nations Coordination Office, two days of celebration of International Youth Day in Haiti.

A plea for young people

Minister Raymonde Rival indicated that the MJSAC will advocate with the United Nations to international bodies to identify the sources of the problems and guide appropriate policies concerning young people.

Young people are a force for transformation at all levels, she stressed. They should be supported, concluded the Minister.

Youth for Change

The UN Resident Coordinator in Haiti, Ulrika Richardson, called on young people to be the change. There will be no solution (political stability, social and economic peace) without youth, she stressed.

Ulrika Richardson announced forums in the different departments of Haiti to gather the opinions of young people as part of the implementation of peace and security efforts. She praised the commitment and determination of young people for change.

UNFPA's contributions to young people

The UNFPA Representative in Haiti, Philippe Serge Degernier, recalled the various contributions of UNFPA in Haiti concerning young people.

UNFPA cooperated in the revision of the normative documents of the Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Civic Action. Among these documents, we can highlight the national youth policy document and the youth strategic plan.

Support for health clubs

With the Department of School Health of the Ministry, UNFPA supports health clubs in schools, in concert with FOSREF, following the model of the School Health Department of the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (MENFP in French), with a view to integrating reproductive health.

UNFPA is building the capacity of local youth organizations, including the Observatory of Haitian Youth (OJH), on reproductive health.

UNFPA helped make maternities adolescent and youth friendly through girl spaces to facilitate dialogue between providers, especially midwives and adolescent girls on reproductive health.

UNFPA is working with UNESCO as part of the revision of the MENFP curriculum for the integration of a reproductive health component.

A large part of the population

In Haiti, people aged 15 to 24, young people, represent 19% of the general population. People under 25 make up 51% of the general population. The median age of the population is 23 years old. Those under 18 represent 38% of the general population.

A large proportion of the population is therefore young. It represents the present and the future.

UNFPA defends the rights of young people and works to enable them to realize their potential.

The International Youth Day is placed under the theme: “Green skills for young people: towards a sustainable world”.

Text : Vario Sérant

Photos : Michaël Isaac Junior Ambroise