Haiti's southern departments of grand'anse, SUD, and nippes have long coastlines and are highly vulnerable to natural disasters, deforestation, soil erosion, and poor agricultural practices

The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) awarded a $400,000 project grant under the IAF Assistance for Overseas Programs (CFDA 85.750) to Fondation Communautaire Haitienne Espwa (FCH-ESPWA), Haiti's only place-based community foundation. The grant will strengthen FCH-ESPWA's organizational and technical capacity to deepen and expand its community foundation model, engaging a broad range of Haitian organizations in southern Haiti in effective, long-term, and community-led development. This funding aims to support FCH-ESPWA's work in the Grand'Anse, Sud, and Nippes departments, which have been highly vulnerable to natural disasters, deforestation, soil erosion, and poor agricultural practices, and have received a large influx of displaced individuals from Port-au-Prince. The project will leverage the expertise of local organizations working in sectors such as agriculture, fishing, tourism, health, education, housing, water and sanitation, and humanitarian relief to advance community-driven development initiatives in the region.

Their already limited resources have been stretched by receiving hundreds of thousands of haitians displaced from the capital, port-AU-prince due to the country's ongoing crisis. However, this region is also home to hundreds of organizations working in agriculture, fishing, tourism, and social sectors such as health, education, housing, water and sanitation, and humanitarian relief. LA fondation communautaire haïtienne-espwa (FCH-espwa), haiti's only place-based community foundation, has been working in the grand'anse for a decade to advance development designed and built by the community, for the community. With this core funding grant from the IAF, FCH-espwa will strengthen its organizational and technical capacity to deepen and expand its community foundation model engaging the broad depth of haitian organizations in southern haiti in effective, long-term and community-led development.