Quarterly Report: July to September 2016

Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported activity implemented by American Institutes for Research (AIR). The APC aims to strengthen the protection of vulnerable children in Haiti, aligning with the National Child Protection Strategy (SNPE) and contributing to Objectives 3, 4, and 5, as well as existing laws governing the protection of children in Haiti. The APC will work in partnership with various organizations, including the Institut du Bien-Être Social et de Recherches (IBESR), Université d’Etat d’Haiti (UEH), Zanmi Lasante, Combite pour la paix et le développement, Restavek Freedom/OPREH, and other government agencies, ministries, and community-based organizations. The APC has four distinct phases: research, design of pilot interventions, implementation of pilot interventions, and evaluation, learning, and scale-up. The program prioritizes child protection through reducing violence against children, mitigating the trafficking and forced labor of children, protecting unaccompanied and separated migrant, stateless, and refugee children, integrating street children into safer learning and care spaces, preventing the separation of children from their families, and exploring alternative care and protection services. AIR has maintained its registration in Haiti since 2009 and has opened a bank account in Haiti to be used for project purposes. The project office was established at the Direction de la Recherche, UEH, Avenue Jean Paul II, Babiole, Local Famille Villa, Port-au-Prince. AIR currently has three project staff on location, including Caroline Durena, Elmire Petit de Brice, and Mondesir Nixon, as well as Lesly Grandin as a Community Development Consultant. Technical assistance and support will be provided by DC-based staff to the Haiti-based team. AIR negotiated a rate with the Marriott in order to have lodging rates within the foreign per diem rates of the U.S. government. The Marriott is located within seven minutes of the project office. AIR’s International Security Advisor held an initial training with AIR field staff on September 27, 2016, and met with in-country security contacts and had discussions with the Regional Security Officer at the US Embassy in order to link the project, its staff, and partners into an existing security network. AIR held several meetings with partner organizations in August 2016 to develop scopes of work, discuss the Year 1 Work Plan, and outline expectations around deliverables and payment schedules. The scopes of work include assisting in the development and implementation of a rapid qualitative assessment, anthropological and ethnographic cultural models research, and a mapping of positive deviance in three to possibly four departments in Haiti. AIR conducted a financial health review of all partners, registered partners with DUNS and SAMS, and signed contracts with UEH, Zanmi Lasante, CPD, and Restavek Freedom. In September 2016, the first research trainings were held at UEH from 20-22 September to co-participate in the development of the rapid qualitative assessment (RQA) protocols and the protocols for the cultural models interviews. The APC will ensure that its work aligns with the National Child Protection Strategy (SNPE) and contributes to Objectives 3, 4, and 5, as well as existing laws governing the protection of children in Haiti. The program will work in partnership with various organizations, including the Institut du Bien-Être Social et de Recherches (IBESR), Université d’Etat d’Haiti (UEH), Zanmi Lasante, Combite pour la paix et le développement, Restavek Freedom/OPREH, and other government agencies, ministries, and community-based organizations. AIR has established a project office in Haiti and has hired several staff members, including Caroline Durena, Elmire Petit de Brice, and Mondesir Nixon, as well as Lesly Grandin as a Community Development Consultant. Technical assistance and support will be provided by DC-based staff to the Haiti-based team. AIR has negotiated a rate with the Marriott in order to have lodging rates within the foreign per diem rates of the U.S. government.