Haiti

YBI has worked in Haiti since 2004, initially under a USAID funded program aimed at supporting the capacity of IDEJEN to develop hands on skills training at four of its locations.   YBI also provided technical assistance to the Institut National de Formation Professionnelle (INFP) in the development of vocational training curricula for marginalized youth.

In response to the earthquake that devastated many parts of Haiti on January 12, 2010, YouthBuild International launched YouthBuild/IDEJEN Rebuilding Academy.   This is a five-year initiative designed to improve the livelihood prospects of Haitian young people and mobilize young people in Haiti to play a significant leadership role in rebuilding the earthquake devastated country. The program couples the strengths of the existing IDEJEN program with the strengths of the YouthBuild approach.  Over the five year period of implementation, the YHRA will reach at least 9,000 young people and engage them in post-earthquake rebuilding projects focused on the rebuilding and building of homes, schools, health clinics, sanitation blocks, and green infrastructure. Project activities will be delivered out of 12 training centers, built by YouthBuild and IDEJEN students, located in eight geographical departments.

The YouthBuild/IDEJEN Rebuilding Academy will begin with an intensive six month period of stakeholder orientation and institutional capacity building to ensure all partners are unified and prepared for implementation. Each of the 12 centers will operate two six month training cycles. In years one and two, 105 young people will be served in each six month cycle.  In years three through five, 145 young people will be served in each cycle.

In the first six months of each cycle, young people will divide their time between intensive classroom-based learning and rigorous community-based learning on professional-grade work sites building or rebuilding homes, clinics, schools, sanitation blocks, and environmental assets.  In this way YouthBuild will link individual success and development with community development priorities related to post earthquake rebuilding.  Following the intensive six months of education, employment readiness and technical skills instruction, participants will receive another six months of tracking, coaching, counseling, development of credit, savings, and business support, plus access to development finance to establish themselves in viable livelihood activities.

The program is funded in part by contributions from the MasterCard Foundation, Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, Inter-American Development Bank and Catholic Relief Services. Other partners include Digicel, Diageo, and the Estrella Group.