Putting pur free legal, humanitarian and media services to work for Haiti's recovery in 2011
LONDON (Trust.org) – From providing life-saving information to earthquake survivors to helping the new government reform its anti-rape laws, Thomson Reuters Foundation has put its free humanitarian and legal services to work in Haiti to help with the country's recovery following the 2010 disaster.
Along with ongoing news coverage by AlertNet, the Foundation's humanitarian news service, the initiatives underline our long-term commitment to Haiti, which began right after the earthquake with the launch of an Emergency Information Service for the affected population.
"The rule of law and free access to information are fundamental principles on which successful societies are built," Monique Villa, chief executive of the Foundation, said. "We are pleased to be developing partnerships with people in Haiti to help protect women from sexual violence through legal reform and training of lawyers."
Recognising that Haiti's anti-rape laws were only recently enacted and are rarely enforced, the Foundation launched a "Rule of Law" project to help protect women from an epidemic of sexual violence in the camps and tent cities in and around Port-au-Prince.
Drawing on the expertise of the Foundation's TrustLaw network of pro bono lawyers around the world, the project aims to review existing laws, compare them with legislation in relevant jurisdictions and identify where new laws can be introduced.
To mark the launch of "Haiti in Focus" and to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the earthquake, the Foundation released One Day in Port-au-Prince, an interactive multimedia documentary by AlertNet.
Putting you in the shoes of ordinary Haitians with remarkable stories of the earthquake and its aftermath, the production combines powerful stills and video with graphics and text. It marks AlertNet's long-term commitment to covering the humanitarian story in Haiti, which started the moment the quake hit and will last throughout 2011.
Trust Media, the Foundation's journalism-training programme, will provide opportunities for Haitian journalists to learn from seasoned Reuters reporters, starting with a Reporting Disasters course in Miami in January.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
