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Rights & Democracy Launches New Project in Haiti

MONTREAL – Oct. 13, 2005 – Rights & Democracy was in Haiti this week to launch a project designed to foster greater civil society participation in the Haiti ’s national political process.

The $415,000 project, which is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency and Rights & Democracy, will support Haitian civil society organizations in their efforts to identify and initiate strategies for ensuring Haiti ’s democratic development takes their interests into account.

The project will provide funding and logistical support for the development of training materials and a series of workshops designed to help train Haitian civil society organizations to implement effective advocacy strategies and campaigns.

Jean-Louis Roy, President of Rights & Democracy, and Madeleine Desnoyers, Rights & Democracy’s regional officer for the Americas who is overseeing the project, were in Port-au-Prince earlier this month for consultations with the project’s Haitian partners, members of Haiti ’s government, the Canadian ambassador and other members of the international community.

“This is an important moment for Rights & Democracy’s renewed work in Haiti ,” said Jean-Louis Roy. “We plan to build upon this project with further initiatives and the hope that democracy and peace will take root in Haiti .”

Rights & Democracy is a non-partisan, independent Canadian institution created by an Act of Parliament in 1988 to promote, advocate and defend the democratic and human rights set out in the International Bill of Human Rights. In cooperation with civil society and governments in Canada and abroad, Rights & Democracy initiates and supports programmes to strengthen laws and democratic institutions, principally in developing countries.

For More Information

Please contact Steve Smith (ext 255) or Louis Moubarak (ext 261) at Rights & Democracy, 514-283-6073.