Hurricane Matthew

Area of Expertise

  • Human safety and emergency response

Means of Action

  • Humanitarian aid
Country Country

Phase 1: Sud departement (Camp Perrin, Cayes, Maniche); Grand’Anse departement (Beaumont)
Phase 2: Sud departement (Camp Perrin, Cayes, Maniche); Grand’Anse departement (Beaumont, Jérémie, Roseaux)
Phase 3: Sud departement (Camp Perrin, Maniche); Grand’Anse departement (Beaumont, Corail, Jérémie)

Length Length

phase 1: October 2016 – March 2017 - phase 2: April 2017 – March 2018 - phase 3: April 2018 – March 2019

Beneficiaries Beneficiaries

Phase 1: 14,500 people (65% women)
Phase 2: 22,250 people (53% women)
Phase 3: 17,250 people (62% women)

Partners Partners

- Government of Québec
- Government of Canada 
- Roncalli International Fondation

Budget Budget

Phase 1: CAD 500,000 (GAC) + private donations (CAD 302,259)
Phase 2: CAD 1,500,000 (GAC) + private donations and donations from Roncalli Foundation (CAD 56,000)
Phase 3: CAD 799,802 (GAC) + CAD 44,300 (target amount for CECI’s fundraising)

After Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc on Haiti’s Sud and Grand Anse departments in October 2016, CECI implemented a strategy for emergency humanitarian assistance in order to serve the needs of the most vulnerable sectors of the population. To this day, three consecutive and complementary projects allowed for a strategic intervention with those sectors most affected.

Project 1: Emergency assistance and economic recovery project for the women and men affected by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti.

The Utmost Emergency Phase

In the aftermath of the cyclone, CECI mobilized swiftly to help the victims in the Cayes, Maniche, Camp-Perrin and Beaumont communes. Thanks to financial support from the government of Quebec, the government of Canada, the Roncalli Foundation, and donations from the public, emergency measures were taken to help the population by distributing cleaning supplies such as shovels, wheelbarrows and hatchets, and by rehabilitating roads. These measures also allowed to support 1,040 affected families (over 60% women) by distributing kits with food, other supplies and water treatment pills. These kits designed to address the actual needs of women and men in a post-hurricane context, were greatly successful locally.

A Complementary Approach to Allow Families Back in Their Homes

In light of their coordination efforts, the support committees (made up of women, youth, religious leaders, agricultural technicians and local authorities), created at the time to represent the local communities, decided to focus on repairing the roof of the houses of 452 families in order to allow them to return home promptly. The intervention primarily targeted single-parent families led by women (in this region, the head of the household is a woman in 51% of the cases). The materials and hardware needed to repair the houses were bought on site in an effort to support the local economy. Furthermore, the project created the opportunity to update the best practices for local craftspeople trained and mentored by CECI’s engineers.

The project also supported the reactivation of farming activities for 3,185 households by supplying inputs adapted to the farming practices of the families. Finally, 350 women who were engaged in economic activities prior to the hurricane were selected for an economic recapitalization initiative, and benefited from a capacity-building program on financial management.

Project 2: Support to the economic recovery and agricultural reactivation of the communities affected by Hurricane Matthew in the Sud and Grand-Anse departments of Haiti.

A Community-Based Approach to Involving and Empowering Women

Following renewed financial support from the government of Canada, a second complementary project allowed to consolidate the outcome and extend the activities until March 2018. To this day, 300 women were given funds to restart their business and economic activities; 2,500 farmers received banana, yam and coconut tree seeds, along with training on enhanced planting techniques and mentoring on crop growing from our teams of experts. One carpenter and one mason, both women trained through one of CECI’s projects in Port-au-Prince, also offered their knowledge and trained local craftspeople. This specific intervention method is also a way to make the construction trades more approachable in rural regions, and to show the women at the head of their households that they too can repair their homes.

Feminine Brigades for Best Hygiene Practices and the Fight Against Violence

Extending the project also allowed to put together women’s brigades to promote better hygiene and better water treatment in order to prevent cholera from spreading, and to share basic knowledge on nutrition in times of scarcity. The brigade members, in cooperation with local health and community entities and women’s organizations, will also organize awareness-building sessions to prevent violence against women, and to encourage women to seek treatment and speak against the aggressions they suffer.

Project 3: Support to the recovery of the most vulnerable people of five communities still in the throes of the humanitarian crisis brought by Hurricane Matthew.

With renewed financial support from the Canadian government, the emergency assistance project implemented in Haiti’s Grand’ Anse and Sud departments after Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 was extended for an additional phase. This third phase builds on the reconstruction and recovery efforts of the previous two. It is targeting five new areas, some of which still hadn’t received any support in the wake of the hurricane. The current project aims to facilitate the return of vulnerable families to their homes and their villages, ease their suffering, remedy food insecurity by helping families recover their livelihoods, and assist in providing them with decent and dignified living conditions. 

Reducing Vulnerability

The project builds on the efforts deployed through the previous phases, including the repair of rooftops on damaged houses. The objective is to allow for the prompt and safe return to their original households of 300 displaced families. Selected by the members of a support committee conformed of local partners and elected officials, the beneficiaries are primarily people in vulnerable situations: women, people with disabilities, the elderly or families with young children.
Technical support is provided to help families participate in the reconstruction efforts. The beneficiaries receive vouchers that they can exchange locally to acquire all necessary materials to repair their homes (wood, cement, nails, zinc sheets, iron rods, etc.). Thirty-five (35) local craftspeople, women and men, are recruited and mobilized to oversee the repairs. Some of them are trained in the most up-to-date earthquake- and hurricane-proof building techniques. Many women trained through earlier projects are called upon to provide technical assistance. 

Additionally, as a way to further decrease the vulnerability of those families affected by the hurricane, the project promotes best practices in nutrition and hygiene, including ways to fight the spread of cholera. Some twenty women received training in facilitation, organization and community monitoring so that they could lead awareness-building initiatives on these topics (sessions, talks, meetings, ad broadcasts, radio show, theatre activity). Five brigades composed of these women will be deployed. The information campaigns will target 5,000 people.

Women at the Heart of the Project

As a way to foster better food security, the project’s third phase aims to reestablish the livelihoods of 1,150 families through an economic and agricultural recovery initiative. To highlight the crucial contributions of women to society and to the families’ recovery process, CECI chose to primarily support women who are at the head of their household, widows, or single parents. 
Direct financial support will allow 450 women to restart their commercial activities. In addition to the $300 financial input, each woman will be offered one of ten training sessions on financial management. To support the recovery of their livestock farming activities, 450 women will receive livestock (at least two animals — sheep and/or goat — to repopulate the flock) as well as training sessions on improved breeding techniques, including veterinary first aid. Lastly, farming packages (including cassava and yam seeds) will be distributed to 250 farmers, who will also be introduced to more resilient and environmentally friendly production methods.

The project extension will also allow for the implementation of activities in support of the prevention of violence against women. Co-ed brigades will be formed and deployed
throughout the communities to discuss women’s rights and protection services. In partnership with various community organizations and local women’s associations, information campaigns will sensitize girls and women to their rights and encourage them to report abusive situations, while boys and men will be invited to join in on the gender equality efforts through positive masculinity. In total, a thousand families are targeted by these initiatives. 

Furthermore, the project’s latest phase will tackle the issue of prevention and risk mitigation. In partnership with our local partners, we will seek to strengthen the communities’ capacity in emergency preparedness. The project will target 600 of the most vulnerable families and support them in the development and implementation of their family emergency plans (FEP), thus helping them be prepared if disaster strikes again and ensuring better protection for women and children.

Project figures:

Number of houses repaired:

861

Number of families who received kits with food and other supplies:

1040

Number of farmers who received seeds and enhanced planting techniques training:

7203

Number of women who received financial support to resume their economic activities:

650

Documents and news

Subscribe!