Markets are spaces that are vital for the resilience of populations in Port-au-Prince. For the vast majority of inhabitants, they are the place where essential products are purchased and they are the main economic organs of the Haitian capital. They are also public spaces of exchange and sharing, which continue to operate despite a particularly severe security crisis. More than 80 % of market traders are women, and they are the first to be affected by deteriorating working conditions.
In October 2022, GRET and the setec Foundation, hosted by Fondation de France, began a new partnership. Launched as part of their call for sustainable construction projects in Latin America, it aims to improve women’s working conditions in the markets of Port-au-Prince in Haiti.
The funding provided by the setec Foundation will make it possible to construct and renovate sanitary facilities to improve hygiene conditions for women traders and create a transit zone to improve waste management. It will also enable strengthening of these traders’ capacity to participate in decisions on management of markets, in particular around the infrastructures constructed and renovated to consolidate their sustainability. Market stakeholders will receive training that will give them rudimentary knowledge on management of essential basic services, and on issues around access to water and sanitation. A committee will be set up and facilitated for concerted definition of the sanitary facilities’ operating principles.
GRET would like to thank the setec Foundation for its commitment in Haiti, where populations’ needs are particularly substantial due to the systemic crisis suffered by the country for several years.
This partnership is working as part of the larger Urbayiti programme, funded by the European Union.
