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Editors:  Photos to accompany this story can be downloaded at
http://www.churchworldservice.org/hires

International Women's Day: Skills, support will determine long-term
security of Haiti quake survivors

New York and Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 5, 2010  -- As the global
community, including Church World Service, honors the work, struggles
and achievements of women on International Women's Day, March 8, one way
to spotlight the status of women is to look at recovery efforts underway
in earthquake-stricken Haiti.

To women like Saint Elene Alcidonis, 52, newly widowed and the mother
of seven children, ages 10 to 24, the immediate issue is how to take
care of families in crowded displacement camps. Alcidonis' case is
typical of many people in the camps: Alcidonis' late husband,
Jean-Claude Bien-Aime, 53, a mason and carpenter who perished in the
quake, was the principal breadwinner in the family.

Without homes to return to and the loss of spouses, many do not know
what the long-term or even immediate future holds.

"It could be months, I don't know what to expect," Alcidonis told CWS
staffer Chris Herlinger recently as she prepared morning coffee in one
of the many displacement camps in Port-au-Prince - camps where Church
World Service Blankets, Hygiene and Baby Kits are being used by quake
survivors. "There are so many to take care of."

Alcidonis' short-term concern is survival - she is going to have to
care for her family. In the long-term, humanitarian response like that
being provided by CWS needs to be based on "resources that will help her
and other women gain the skills and support necessary to do so," said
Donna Derr, who coordinates emergency response for CWS. "We've been
doing it in Haiti and around the world for decades."

Of course, there are immediate pressures being felt by female survivors
of the quake. Women, as well as children, face particular risks because
of security fears - worries that displacement camps are risky places
because of the growing number of sexual assaults.

Given those concerns, humanitarian responders - like the CWS-supported
ACT Alliance working in Haiti - must be vigilent and act as advocates
for women and children in an increasingly insecure environment, said
Anna Olivier, a humanitarian worker with ACT member Norwegian Church
Aid. Women and children, she said, are particularly vulnerable and as a
result require services especially keyed to their needs.

Current CWS-supported efforts in Haiti include programs to assist
female-headed households, building on already-existing programs, such as
those by Viva Rio, a Brazilian organization which works in Greater Bel
Air, a particularly violent section of Port-au-Prince.

Viva Rio has made the issue of security of women a focus of its work;
as one example, prior to the quake, it was part of a consortium of
organizations that successfully advocated for establishing a police
station in Bel Air that responds to sexual assault and domestic violence
cases.

Another group working with NCA is Mouvement des Femmes de Cité Soleil,
known by the acronym MOFECS, a grassroots group that provides
psychosocial support for women and girls, as well as organizing girlsâ? ?
clubs and seminars and trainings for females.

Rose-Anne Auguste, a Haitian who heads the ACT-supported Association
for the Promotion of Integral Family Healthcare, known by the Creole
acronym APROSIFA and whose clinic has received IMA medical boxes shipped
to Haiti by CWS, said the work focused on women is necessary,
particularly given current conditions in Haiti.

"Yes, we are concerned about the rise of sexual violence," Auguste told
Herlinger, though noting that the APROSIFA had treated female rape
survivors long before the quake.

Unfortunately, violence is a part of any post-disaster landscape.
"People are traumatized and we know how people react in these type of
situations," said Sylvia Raulo, country representative in Haiti for
ACT/Lutheran World Federation and one of those coordinating initial
CWS-supported relief efforts in Haiti.

Raulo's work and the work of Haitian and non-Haitian female
humanitarian workers in the CWS-supported response in Haiti is another
way of spotlighting the contribution of women -- especially when media
images so often convey the idea that humanitarian work is performed by
men.

"Women are humanitarian responders in Haiti; they are also in many
cases the backbone of their communities and families," Derr said. "Their
gifts must be front and center for any kind of humanitarian response and
development efforts."

How to help

Contributions may be made at www.churchworldservice.org/haiti or by
phoning 800-297-1516 or by mailing to Church World Service, P.O. Box
968, Elkhart, IN 46515 (please indicate Haiti Earthquake).

Church World Service is member of the ACT Alliance, an international
coalition of churches and related organizations, responding to
emergencies and collaborating in development work.

Media Contact:

Lesley Crosson, 212-870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526, jdragin@gis.net

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