Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister, in charge of Human Rights and the Fight Against Extreme Poverty participated this week in the forum "Activate Talks: Technological Innovation for the children of Haiti", a UNICEF initiative.

The forum brought together several speakers including : Maarten Boute, CEO of Digicel Haiti, Patrick Sagna, the Head of development of the Surtab digital tablet (assembled in Haiti) Danilia Altidor, the Director General of the Haitian Institute of Statistics and Information (IHSI) and Edouard Beigbede, Representative of UNICEF in Haiti.

Participants discussed the impact of innovation and mobile technology on the lives of children in Haiti. This debate was an opportunity for the Minister Augustus, to advocate the use of technology in education programs for all, of health care, women's empowerment and strengthening the protection of environment.

Mrs. Augustus insisted on the importance of Information Technology and Communication (ICT) in developing countries, while emphasizing the impact of these technologies on Haitian society over the past years with the emerging, particularly of mobile telephony "The impact of these technologies on Haiti's economy and its society is huge [...] these technologies have allowed citizens to express themselves, communicate in real time to concert and mobilize."

Thanks to these technologies, we are now able to provide a much faster response to epidemics and other natural hazards that afflict mainly the most vulnerable segment of our society: disadvantaged children," stated Mrs. Auguste, who considers the emergence of these technologies as "a major asset for the integral development of the country and its modernization."

HL/ HaitiLibre