This March 8 marks the celebration of International Women's Day around the theme "Generation Equality: Realizing women's rights for an equal future."

Although the road to the effective realization of women's rights is still long in the country, there are encouraging signs of progress in a number of areas :

- Haiti has formulated a gender equality policy and an action plan for equality between men and women, the guidelines of which are in line with Sustainable Development Goal #5, which requires states to “achieve gender equality and 'empower all women and girls by 2030'.

- A positive development has been noted in the body of the National Police of Haiti, which now has more than 10% of women.

However, much remains to be done and challenges persist:

- Haitian women receive lower wages than men and the proportion of women with access to formal jobs is still low, limiting access to resources and economic opportunities.

- Social rights remain difficult in the socio-economic and political context that Haiti is currently going through, maternal health remains a challenge with 529 deaths per 100,000 live births.

- 3/4 of women victims of sexual violence cannot have recourse to psychological support. Gender-based violence is frequent and too often goes unpunished.

The United Nations system in Haiti is making a vibrant appeal to all national actors to mobilize for accelerated realization of the rights of Haitian women and girls.

Now is the time to assess the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which Haiti ratified in 1981.

HL/ HaitiLibre