Linked Collaborates with Fonkoze To Fight Poverty in Haiti

Linked Foundation has joined with Fonkoze, BRAC, BRAC USA, Partners in Health, CGAP, CHF Partners in Rural Development in a two year committment focused on improving health and  .....eliminating extreme poverty in Haiti.

The press release on this groundbreaking collaboration and the video presented at the Clinton Global Initiative on Fonkoze's CLM program for the ultra poor may be seen on Fonkoze's website: www.fonkoze.org

In 2008, Linked Foundation provided funding for Fonkoze to hire a Director of Health and expand the healthcare component of their work.  Fonkoze has known since they began providing services to Haiti's poor, that financial services alone were not enough.  They now understand that financial services and education are not enough.  To truly help women in their efforts to bring themselves and their families out of poverty, they must provide access to a full range of financial, educational, and healthcare services.

While Fonkoze will not be developing an in-house healthcare facility, the new director of health services will help build relationships with existing healthcare providers and teach basic healthcare practices to Fonkoze staff, particularly those working in the Chem Lavi Miyo (CLM) program for the extreme poor.

Nicole Muller Cesar joined Fonkoze as Director of Health in the Spring of 2008. A native of Haiti, Nicole spent 25 years in the United States, primarily Boston, studying and working as a haelth specialist and social services provider.  "My vision has always been to serve the underprivileged; and to serve the people of Haiti," says Nicole.  With Fonkoze, I can do both, and I can do it on a national level." 

Fonkoze has been focusing on the following priorities:

1) Fostering our existing relationships with healthcare providers and building new healthcare partners to maximize healthcare access for all Fonkoze members.

2) Analyzing the healthcare needs, resources, and opportunities in every region of Haiti.

3) Training CLM case managers in identifying and treating common illnesses.

4) Developing health indicators and evaluation tools to monitor and improve the health of Fonkoze clients and their families.

In 2009, the health program is focusing its resources on a major campaign to combat the serious problem of malnutrition faced throughout the country.  After four sequential hurricanes and one of the most severe food insecurity crises Haiti has ever experienced, reports indicate that the problem of malnutrition has reached alarming heights. 

The goal of the program will be to ensure that all Fonkoze members with children under the age of five years are screened and that those affected by malnutrition receive appropriate treatment.  The objective of the program is to end the year with 0% malnutrition among children of Fonkoze members who are under 6 years of age.  With approximately 55,000 clients, Fonkoze can expect to have a significant impact on the problem of malnutrition throughout the country.

For more information please visit Fonkoze's website: www.fonkoze.org