The President Michel Martelly, met on the morning of Monday, August 13, 2012, at the National Palace, a delegation of the Government of the Republic of Ecuador, working in the disability sector, as part of the Cooperation Agreement between Haiti and Ecuador on people with special needs.

Both countries are currently deciding on :

a) The transfer of knowledge about a process of identification and tracking of people with disabilities, that will taking into account, besides the prevention of diseases at the base of physical and mental disabilities, of the establishment of a management system and data processing by adapting for Haiti the model of geo-reference system of Ecuador ; the creation of a brigade in Haiti, on the Ecuadorian model ; the establishment of a survey on the prevalence of disability in the population, with proposals to contain this problem.

b) Exchange of experiences on the issue of disability based on the Ecuadorian experience in the fields of special education and of the inclusive education ; the legal framework ; the awareness and motivation at the community level ; the establishment of government structures in terms of social inclusion of disabled people.

c) The development of disability-related trades, including the training of technicians in production and repair of prosthetics and orthotics ; the creation of workshops for prosthetics and the strengthening of existing ones in Haiti.

d) The tripartite cooperation: Haiti-World Bank-Ecuador, regarding the access of Haiti to the special fund ; the creation of an advisory position on disability within the World Bank mission in Haiti to ensure :

• A better coordination of activities in the field of disability ;

• A vigilance on the consideration of projects funded for the needs of disabled people, such as social housing and public buildings adapted.

The Ecuadorian delegation will stay two days in Haiti to discuss the feasibility and timing of these actions. It will work with the Secretariat of State for the disabled, and will consider other avenues of cooperation, such as contributing to the establishment of a system of adapted transportation comprising the donations of adapted buses, train repair technicians for these buses and the strengthening of the bank of adapted materials, among others : computer equipment, hearing aids, Braille machines, tape recorders.

The President Michel Martelly, wants that these actions constitute the starting line of a real policy, sustainable, of support and development of children and persons with disabilities in Haiti.

HL/ HaitiLibre