About three months ago, a 14-year-old girl approached me and spoke out on behalf of her peers at the inauguration of a technical and vocational high-school by the Prime Minister of Haiti, Dr. Ariel Henry. She was sounding the alarm so that she could finish the school year with peace of mind: “Give me a chance to finish the school year”, she pleaded.

Her cry reflects the concerns of an entire generation who is yearning to go to school.

Indeed, the Haitian education system is reeling from the consequences of three pandemics: COVID-19, socio-political crises, and the desertion of qualified teachers. In total, most students have lost 190 school days since September 2019, which is the equivalent of an entire school year.

Add to that several natural disasters, most notably the 2010 earthquake, which claimed 250,000 lives and affected up to 80% of schools in the Ouest department of Haiti.

These disasters heavily impede access to schools for thousands of children due to the economic strain of families beset by food insecurity. In this context, the government just announced that in the coming days it will launch a conditional cash transfer program for approximately 500,000 parents.

Working to transform the Haitian education system

Despite all these challenges, we are not giving up, and with whatever means available, we are working to address the problems caused by these emergencies and meet the requirements to transform the education system, setting the compass on welfare in schools for both students and teachers.

Through community engagement and the support of several partners, classes are gradually resuming in schools located in vulnerable neighborhoods thanks to a special remedial program to accelerate the recovery of learning loss. This allows to prevent more vulnerable youths from joining armed gangs who are terrorizing the local population.

The best news we received recently is about a group of teenage students who just graduated from the Saline High School, which is located in one of those vulnerable neighborhoods. One student graduated 7^th out of 67 students accepted into medical school in one of the country’s best universities.

Many others from his class received excellent results from other colleges. This is undeniable proof that school transforms lives.

I wish to thank our partners, in particular the Global Partnership for Education, UNICEF and soon, Education Cannot Wait, who, in addition to the Haitian government’s funding, are financially supporting these programs to accelerate the recovery of learning loss.

This national program includes textbooks, teaching aids and worksheets for teachers, an IT lab and tablets, and a school feeding component. But there is still so much more to do.

My plea to include education on the G7 agenda

At a high-level meeting held on March 30 with parliamentary representatives of G7 countries, I spoke out to restore hope in the millions of young people who are exposed to political violence, dropping out of school or who simply have yet to access education.

124 million children and adolescents around the world, including approximately 300,000 in Haiti, dream of going to school.

I called on G7 countries to support the inclusion of global education on the agenda of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting set to take place mid-April, and follow through on the commitment they made through the 2021 G7 Girls' Education Declaration, including a fully funded GPE.

We continue to rely on their commitments, particularly to girls’ education, so that this generation can not only recover from lost school days, but more importantly regain hope for a better future through a transformed education system that fosters the values of a more inclusive, peaceful and healthier world.