Read and Share the Event Outcome Document: English / Haitian Creole / French
EVENT SUMMARY
On March 14, IJDH, together with long-time partners NÈGÈS MAWON and the Haitian Women’s Collective (HWC) co-hosted a civil society parallel event at the 69th period of sessions for the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The event, Advancing the Rights of Haitian Women and Girls: Haiti’s Transition and Beyond, consisted of a moderated panel discussion among prominent Haitian women’s rights advocates and the Chair of the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls (UN WGDAWG) about the urgent challenges facing women and girls in Haiti, strategies for mobilization, and the role of international allies in supporting a feminist policy agenda.
“It is the responsibility of the government of Haiti to take care of the people of Haiti and somehow that has been lost in conversation . . . And it’s the same way for international larger organizations that enter the country and want to do work in the country: it is their responsibility to figure out how to best do it with civil society” — Carine Jocelyn (HWC)
“[T]he international community has not done enough and attention has been diverted to other conflicts in other regions in the world” — Laura Nyirinkindi (UN WGDAWG)
The panel directed particular attention to Haiti’s political transition and opportunities for advancing gender justice, including how civil society insights – exemplified by the Policy Framework for an Effective and Equitable Transition in Haiti and the principles of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda it incorporates – can help shape a just and peaceful future for Haiti, especially its women and girls.
The main themes of the discussion – summarized alongside the panel’s recommendations in the event Outcome Document (EN/KR/FR) – included:
- The Haitian government’s failure to protect and accompany Haiti’s women and girls;
- The ongoing exclusion of Haiti’s women from public spaces and leadership;
- Failures of international actors to empower Haitian women and girls;
- The outsized and under-supported role Haiti’s civil society has had to play in filling service and policy planning gaps; and
- Haiti’s civil society’s vision for an effective and equitable transition and a better future for Haiti’s women and girls, including as reflected in the Policy Framework for an Effective and Equitable Transition
Watch the Event Recording in Haitian Creole or French
PANEL RECOMMENDATIONS
“[W]e need more policies, we need more text, we need more laws, we need more conversations with the International Community, but we need more institutions doing their work, we need institutions, state institutions, doing their work in the country” — Pascale Solages
- To be successful, Haiti’s transition must both center women’s leadership and feminist priorities. The panel emphasized in particular that the token presence of women is insufficient and that women’s empowered leadership and a feminist agenda must be facilitated across the full range of political and private activities, including all state institutions and public discourse – and as reflected in funding. The Policy Framework for an Effective and Equitable Transition is a good starting point for implementing the necessary policy and programmatic changes.
- The transitional government of Haiti and its partners must create conditions for women to participate at all levels of the electoral process as candidates and voters, including with respect to their ability to campaign safely and equally access funding and other material inputs. A gender responsive early warning system tracking factors like changes in the number of positions held by women, frequency of gendered hate speech, incidence of gendered political violence, and other indicators of women’s inclusion or barriers to participating in public life is advisable.
- The right of survivors of sexual and other forms of gender-based violence must be urgently enforced, including through (i) strengthening justice and law and enforcement of that law in terms of consequences for perpetrators; (ii) reparations; (iii) gender-responsive medical care, including sexual and reproductive care; and (iv) psychosocial support.
- The government of Haiti and its international partners must live up to their legal obligations and stated commitments to Haiti’s women and girls by prioritizing their needs and agenda in their policies, programs, and budgets.
- Local organizations must be part of decisions affecting program design and funding. Both the government of Haiti and its international partners must center grassroots leadership, closely consider local perspectives and recommendations, and tackle root causes. “We need [ ] constructive international engagement to support [the] feminist movement in Haiti by prioritizing local leadership, sustainable funding, and accountab[le] partnership.” “Empowering grassroots feminist movements is really critical for rebuilding peace and facilitating political transition in a decolonized, deracialized manner.”
- Funders should invest more purposefully in grassroots women’s voices and feminist activists. The Chair of the UN WGDAWG specifically urged that “international [p]artners should be stepping up their efforts to fill gaps and support the sustainability and growth of an autonomous women’s rights movement in Haiti, [which includes…] funding grassroots women’s organizations, inviting Haitian women leaders to participate in high level dialogues, and fostering the development of independent women’s funds.” A pitfall to avoid is the creation of barriers to funding for grassroots groups through applying unreasonable standards.
- Programmatic funders should look beyond bilateral implementation partnerships and consider working with organizations as part of a network or through collective funds or trusts models in order to permit for more collaborative, complementary design and implementation with broader geographical reach.
- More generally, panelists urged more inter-organizational solidarity, especially from non-Haitian organizations.
MODERATOR AND PANELIST BIOS
Moderator Carine Jocelyn is a non-profit executive and leader with more than 25 years of experience working in human services as an accomplished administrator, trainer, and program officer. She is the Principal of CJ Consulting, which focuses on supporting organizations with technical assistance, capacity building, and executive coaching. Ms. Jocelyn has over 15 years of experience working in Haiti, including establishing a still-functioning community health center in Port au Prince, and serving as the Executive Director of Profamil, a leading provider of family planning and sexual and reproductive Health in Haiti. In 2017, she founded The Haitian Women’s Collective to continue her commitment to Haiti and to women and girls, and is currently working to launch a Fund for Haitian Women in 2025. Ms. Jocelyn has been elected to the Board of Directors to Beyond Borders, We Prosper Coalition, and The Support Center for Nonprofit Management in New York, and served as the most recent board chair of the Haiti Adolescent Girls Network, known for their internationally recognized model of safe spaces for girls.
Panelist Souzen Joseph is a Haitian-born journalist, TV producer, and feminist activist, who has dedicated her career to advancing culture, education, women’s rights, and gender equality. With over 16 years of collaboration with Haitian National Television, she has established herself as a prominent voice in media and advocacy, and has worked extensively with other humanitarian and human rights organizations, including the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in Haiti. Currently, Souzen serves as the Executive Director of 100% Fanm, a Haitian feminist organization that focuses on empowering women farmers through targeted programs and initiatives. Her work is deeply rooted in addressing critical issues such as sexual and reproductive health, social justice, equitable education, women’s and girls’ empowerment, climate change, migration, and displacement.
Panelist Laura Nyirinkindi is the Chair of the UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls (UN WGDAWG), which she joined in November 2023. She is a Senior Managing Consultant of Pro Initiatives Agency, a human rights firm based in Uganda, and has assumed leadership positions in civil society organisations in Africa, Europe, and America as a means to mainstream women’s rights in the human rights movement. As a specialist in women’s rights, gender equality, governance, and the rule of law, Ms. Nyirinkindi served on the African Development Bank’s Civil Society Committee, where she advocated for gender inclusive socioeconomic development on the continent, and is currently the Africa Regional Vice President of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (Federación Internacional de Abogadas), where she promotes transboundary advocacy and common action around shared values and objectives on the rights of women and girls globally.
Panelist Lucia D. Pascale Solages is a prominent figure in feminist activism and grassroots organizing, renowned for her dedication to advancing the rights of Haitian women and girls through her leadership of NÈGÈS MAWON, one of Haiti’s foremost feminist organizations. Pascale is likewise engaged in broader feminist advocacy globally through consultancies with prominent feminist organizations like Black Feminist Future, Equality Fund, South Feminist Future, and EQUIPOP, as well as UNFPA, Plan International, and World Vision. With over a decade of commitment, Pascale has been a driving force in advocating for reproductive justice, ending violence against women, and promoting their active participation in public life.
Panelist Nathalie Vilgrain is a Haitian-Canadian feminist activist committed to social justice, local organization capacity-building, and feminist philanthropy. She is the co-founder and first General Coordinator of Haitian feminist organization MARIJÀN. She also serves as the President of the Board of Directors of Harambec, a feminist organization that supports the empowerment of Black communities in Canada, and has collaborated with various feminist organizations advocating for women’s political representation, the rights of sex workers, LGBTQI communities, and the inclusion of women in municipal governance.