Fonkoze Takes on the Fight Against Child Malnutrition and Poverty in Haiti

WASHINGTON - March 5, 2019 - PRLog -- As one of the leading microfinance institutions in Haiti, Fonkoze is on a mission to eradicate poverty throughout the country by empowering the poor with financial and development services that enable them to break the cycle of poverty – for good.

"To achieve this, we are addressing the roots of poverty head-on," said a Fonkoze representative. One such root is the lack of access to reliable healthcare and health education for thousands of rural families. Studies have shown that there is a direct link between poverty and ill health. Many of Haiti's poorest citizens live in some of the most remote parts of the country and must travel for hours (sometimes more than eight) to reach the nearest clinic. If a child suddenly becomes ill, for example, their parents cannot seek immediate care, increasing the risk of the child becoming sicker.

Through its health program Boutik Sante (Creole for Community Health Store), Fonkoze trained Community Health Entrepreneurs are providing Fonkoze's existing microfinance clients and their communities access to health products, education and crucial services such as malnutrition screenings. With 90% of its vast network of branches located throughout rural Haiti, Fonkoze is leveraging its infrastructure to bring healthcare to even the most hard-to-reach families.

In 2018 alone, Fonkoze (https://fonkoze.org) screened more than 120,000 children for malnutrition. For those children who were identified and treated for moderate or severe malnutrition, none of them have relapsed - a 0% rate of recidivism. In the same year, over 40,000 pregnant women were reached with nutrition interventions and approximately 17,000 individuals received nutrition-related training.

Nearly 1,000,000 Haitians now have improved access to health products, education and services through Fonkoze's Boutik Sante program. By 2021, an estimated 2,000,000 rural families will have access.

To learn more about the empowering work of Fonkoze, visit fonkoze.org (https://fonkoze.org/index.html).