Posted on August 11, 2010

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund Announces $3.5 Million in Grants

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund has announced three grants totaling $3.5 million for efforts to create jobs and promote education in Haiti.

The grants include more than $500,000 to Washington, D.C.-based TechnoServe for its Haiti Hope Project — a five-year initiative launched by the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company, the D.C.-based Multilateral Investment Fund, and Haiti-based partners to improve the value chain for mangoes, the country's second-largest agricultural export — and nearly $50,000 to the Toronto-based BrandAid Foundation to repair artisan workshops and provide warehouse space in Jacmel. In addition, the Universite d'Etat d'Haiti (UEH) received $90,000 to build and equip transitional classrooms and labs and a $2 million challenge grant to rebuild a permanent Faculty of Science.

Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush launched the fund following the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated the country in January. The fund is designed to support ongoing reconstruction efforts in Haiti through the expansion and creation of micro, small, and medium-size enterprises; the promotion of job creation, including jobs with a direct social benefit; and the provision of life skills and job training to Haitian youth.

"In each grant we make, we seek to enhance Haiti's human potential," said CBHF vice president of programs and investments Paul Altidor. "These funds help support jobs in two key sectors — crafts and agriculture. Plus, support for transitional facilities at UEH will provide future Haitian engineers and scientists with the free, quality education they will need to help Haiti build back better."