Haiti, a small island developing state with a population largely dependent upon agriculture, has sparse arable land for agricultural production and negligible forest cover. Haiti is particularly vulnerable to the devastating impacts of climate change — including destructive hurricanes, droughts, coastal erosion, and rising sea levels– which jeopardize Haitians’ food security, infrastructure, and physical safety. The HAWG promotes policies that help Haitian communities mitigate and adapt to climate change, regain agricultural sovereignty, and improve environmental sustainability. We connect voices of Haitian farmers, environmental researchers, and civil society advocates to international policymakers to ensure that they play a powerful role in determining Haiti’s future.
Recent News:
climate-changePost-Hurricane News Roundup
As UN Calls for Haiti Aid, Many Champion Local Groups Over Red Cross (Full article)
“As Haiti begins to recover from Hurricane Matthew, one of the worst storms to hit the Caribbean nation in decades, concerns are growing over public health risks and the ways in which foreign aid may interfere with relief efforts. Read More
Update from Ambassador Altidor
Hurricane Matthew: Official Periodic Updates
During these past few days, I have had the unique opportunity to engage groups in the Diaspora community, the media, officials in Haiti and the international community in a rather different approach toward providing disaster relief in Haiti. It is the principle that relief and recovery efforts should be led by Haiti. Read More
Best Practices for Hurricane Recovery
Based on years of organizational experience that many HAWG members have in disaster response and recovery, they share best practices from lessons learned on the ground. We hope that all organizations responding in Haiti will share in these practices:
1. Support local community collaborations and initiatives. Haitian community networks mobilized to relocate, shelter and protect Matthew victims. Read More
Hurricane Matthew hits Haiti
We will add more news stories on Haiti as the coverage post-hurricane continues:
Miami Herald: Almost 300 dead in Haiti after hurricane, toll expected to climb
After Hurricane Matthew, cholera is once again threatening storm-ravaged Haiti
Be sure to follow @haiti_advocacy on Twitter as we share and retweet many HAWG members’ stories and updates on the aftermath. Read More
HAWG bids farewell to Adulin Prophete, CWS Intern
HAWG bids a fond farewell to Adulin Prophete, CWS intern, who also worked with the HAWG on 
climate change this summer. Adulin played an essential role in taking forward the work of the HAWG’s climate change subgroup, liaising with climate partners in Haiti, civil society and representatives from the Ministry of Environment. Read More
UPR Submission: Climate Change and the Right to Food
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The food crisis in Haiti, socio economic in origin and exacerbated by climate change, constitutes a violation of the right to food. In early 2016, it was estimated by the World Food Programme and the Government of Haiti that 3.6 million were food insecure and 1.5 million severely so. Read More
Forests and Water: Not to be taken for granted
Yesterday was International Forest Day, the second most popular tree based holiday, behind Arbor Day. In the United States, forests and their benefits are largely taken for granted, but in Haiti deforestation is a national problem. Not too long ago, the American heartland looked more like scenes from the Mad Max film series. Read More
HAWG Statement on the Paris Agreement
When policymakers from around the world came together in December of 2015 to solidify an international climate agreement in Paris, France, we members of the Haiti Advocacy Working Group (HAWG) engaged this process through advocacy, programmatic strategy, and grassroots activism. As we laud the spirit of international collaboration for climate action that inspired the Paris Conference, we also recognize that the Paris Agreement which ultimately emerged from these negotiations must be strengthened and improved this year and in the years to come to avoid exacerbating existing problems in highly vulnerable countries like Haiti. Read More
Drought and climate change in Haiti
In recent years Haiti has suffered from a recurring drought characterized by the lack of rainfall and drying up of several water sources in rural areas. One of its root causes is the uncontrolled felling of trees in local forests for the production of charcoal. Last summer, especially, the heat rose to an unimaginable, even unbearable degree, which left us all without doubt that the situation is far from being improved. Read More
