NEW YORK – One year after the devastating Haitian earthquake that captured the attention of the world, some of the leading voices in the fight to end global poverty came together this evening to recognize what the Haitian people have been able to accomplish while facing insurmountable odds.
Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn, Elizabeth Littlefield, and Dr. Joia Mukherjee spoke at the reception hosted by Fonkoze, Haiti’s largest and most innovative microfinance organization that has helped hundreds of thousands of Haitians on the path out of poverty.
“Despite challenge upon challenge since the earthquake the untold story of the past year is the determination of the Haitian people,” said Anne Hastings, CEO of Fonkoze.
Fonkoze received global attention in the hours and days after the quake, when it was one of the few functioning institutions in the entire country. Working with the U.S. Air Force, Fonkoze transferred $2 million in cash into the country, hidden in office supply boxes and delivered by a C-17 cargo plane and then helicopter to ten drop points around the country. A U.S. State Department official said of this operation, “I don’t think it a stretch to say that you may well have stabilized the banking system for the country’s most vulnerable populations.”
“During the past year, Fonkoze—a Haitian institution—has helped the people of Haiti rebuild by providing not only much-needed credit to restart businesses, but also reliable access to health care, education, microinsurance, and cash transfers from family and friends abroad,” said Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health and UN Deputy Special Envoy for Haiti, in a written statement. “Fonkoze is much more than a bank for the poor: they have buoyed individuals, families, and entire communities in the aftermath of the earthquake.”
A new analysis shows that 95% of funds received by Fonkoze in response to the earthquake have been put back into the Haitian economy. Of that, over 80 cents of every dollar spent went directly to Fonkoze clients as cash grants or loans, with an additional 13 cents of each dollar spent on housing repair or construction for earthquake victims.
Participants at the Haiti One Year Later reception, which was held at The Metropolitan Pavilion, included Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn; Elizabeth Littlefield, President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation appointed by President Obama; and Dr. Joia Mukherjee, Chief Medical Officer of Partners in Health. The event benefited Fonkoze’s programs and paid special tribute to their program for the very poorest, Chemen Lavi Miyo, or “the Road to a Better Life,” which reaches out to rural Haitian women and families on the margins of society.
Fonkoze reaches 220,000 Haitian families and brings together a network of 45,000 driven Haitian women working to lift themselves and their nation out of poverty. Through Fonkoze, Haitians develop the empowered, responsible leadership critical to building civil society and a functioning economy. Fonkoze has 2,000 member centers across rural Haiti in every province of the country, including many towns and villages where no commercial banks operate. It is the institution on which Haiti’s poor have relied, especially during crisis, since 1994.
