UN: 10,000 displaced, physically disabled Haitians offered help

By The Haitian Times Staff

PORT-AU-PRINCE — The United Nations said it has opened a service to help displaced residents and those who are physically disabled find safer living arrangements.

The home relocation service set up by the International Organization for Migration, or IOM, is available to more than 10,000 people living in violence-plagued neighborhoods, the UN agency announced in a news release. About 5,200 women and girls and 550 people living with disabilities are among those eligible for the support.

“Those people who are forcibly displaced, due to natural disasters or gang related violence, need support to be relocated to a safe place where they can live in security and dignity,” IOM project officer Claire Gaulin said in the release.

Part of the IOM service aims to help the disabled find some means to earn a living and provides access to specialists for their health conditions. The release said some disabled have also received crutches, wheelchairs, dignity kits, a telephone support hotline and help with organizing important documents.

Haiti’s General Directorate for Civil Protection, the national Housing and Public Building Construction Unit, Fondation J’Aime Haïti, and the Office of the Secretary of State for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities are helping to deliver the service.