Friday, June 10, 2011Contact :
Mario Joseph, Av., Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, +509-3701-9879 (Haiti; Creole, French) ;
Nathalie Nozile, Esq., Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, +509-3411-1165 (Haiti; Creole, French, English).
Volunteerism Encouraged on Children’s Day in Haiti
Organizations encourage individuals to take action in commemorating World Day Against the Worst Forms of Child Labour and National Children’s Day in Haiti
(Port-au-Prince, Haiti, June 10, 2011) – The Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), in collaboration with Restavèk Freedom, and Asanble Vwazen Solino (AVS) take the occasion of National Children’s Day in Haiti which falls on Sunday June 12, to sensitize the population regarding different problems facing children in Haiti. While we are honoring our children on this day, we encourage the Government of Haiti to tackle those problems head on. We also encourage every individual to take active steeps and do their part to improve conditions for children around Haiti.
Based on report from international organizations working on child protection issues, there are around 500,000 children living as “restavèks” throughout the country. And based on official numbers, there are 500,000 children who have never attended school. Furthermore, more than 50% of the victims of sexual violence are girls. On this day celebrating children, we urge everyone of us to take positive steps that can help change for the better the deplorable conditions in which most children in Haiti are living.
Here are some examples:
- If you are a singer, sing in honor of Haiti’s children.
- If you are a doctor, open your clinic’s doors to the children whose parents cannot to pay for their medical care.
- If you are an attorney, represent on a pro-bono basis children being held in pre-trial detentions.
- If you are an educator, build a school that provides adequate education
- Organize a school supply drive in your neighborhood to donate to schools that unfortunately cannot provide materials to their students.
- Obtain contributions from familiy and friends to help pay for a child’s education.
- More importantly, we encourage everyone to speak up if a child is being mistreated. Call the authorities, or organizations are working in child protection to remove that child from that dangerous situation.
The message we want to impart is that no matter how little, everyone can do something to help make a child’s life a little better.