A nationwide consultation of nearly 1,000 children and youths, ages ranging from 5 to 24, was recently conducted by children’s organizations Plan International and UNICEF to help contribute to the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) of Haiti. The findings were submitted to support the strong need for children’s voices to be recognized in Haiti’s reconstruction plans, which is being released at a major donor’s conference this week in New York City.

Plan, UNICEF and other children’s organizations are encouraging the major decision makers to take into consideration the hopes, wants and needs of young people while planning the reconstruction process in Haiti where more than half of the population is under the age of 18.

Plan recently consulted with approximately 1,000 children across Haiti through focus groups that targeted discussion on such issues as gender, disability, vulnerability, education, access to services and disaster risk reduction. The youths were asked to discuss their hopes and dreams for their own futures and the future of their country.

Plan found that what Haitian young people wanted the most right now is to get back to school. Read more »