Rotary backs expansion of Haiti water initiative

A Rotary-led effort to expand access to safe water in Haiti has secured a significant boost, enabling it to scale up in both rural and urban communities.

The Haiti National Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Initiative (HANWASH) has been selected by the Rotary International Foundation as the recipient of its annual Programmes of Scale grant. The announcement was made on May 18, after an earlier pre-announcement to hundreds of Rotarians at the District 7020 Conference in Kingston.

Launched in 2017 by Barry Rassin, a Bahamian past Rotary International president, HANWASH has so far operated in five of Haiti’s 147 communes, aiming to deliver sustainable access to potable water nationwide.

“This is an amazing moment for us,” Rassin said. “It has put District 7020 in a place where few districts around the world could even think to be.”

“They said it was impossible … but just because someone tells you it’s impossible does not mean that for Rotary it’s impossible.”

The grant follows a competitive process that began in August 2025 with a concept note, according to Marlene Gay, a HANWASH board member and past president of the Rotary Club of Pétion-Ville. Of more than 60 applicants, HANWASH was shortlisted to three before submitting a full proposal and undergoing vetting that included consultations with Haitian officials, mayors and water authorities.

“They met with water committees, they met with mayors, they met with the water authority… . They met with everyone and they were very impressed, and so we awaited the big news,” Gay said.

Beyond funding, Rotary’s endorsement is expected to help attract further investment. Jeremy Hurst, a HANWASH board member and past Rotary International director, said the recognition would strengthen credibility both domestically and internationally.

“That just goes to show, again, that we are getting validity through the Rotary Foundation, but we are also getting validity at a national level,” he said.

REASSURANCE

Richard Kohl, a scale consultant to HANWASH, argued that the designation would reassure partners. “The fact that HANWASH was selected as a Programme of Scale, to some extent, reassures a lot of people that this is a serious thing, and that this is a quality thing and this is a reliable thing.”

HANWASH currently operates in Cavaillon, Léogâne, Ferrier, Pignon and Terre Neuve, with uneven progress across the communes. The new funding will concentrate on three: Cavaillon, where the programme is most advanced; Ferrier, where groundwater salinity poses challenges; and Pignon.

Over five years, the aim is to establish sustainable water systems — piped networks and wells in urban areas, and solar-powered pumps in rural ones.

The initiative adopts a systems approach, acting as a convener that brings together stakeholders before handing over management to local authorities.

“It’s built on the notion that nobody does it alone,” said Barb Kuesters, a HANWASH board member and past district governor. “Everybody’s got a part to play. No one entity can do it alone and that is the entire reinforcing mechanism around scaling. So, the idea is, how do we take something that has been demonstrated as evidence that it works and spread it out without losing quality, and engaging all the best possible learnings, so that we sustain it, grow it all the way to the end.”

Rotary International, the world’s largest service organisation, has a track record in such efforts. Its End Polio Now campaign has eliminated poliomyelitis in most countries; only Pakistan and Afghanistan remain endemic.