Dear Mr. Neil, Please allow us to greet you. We have just received from HIFA your valuable message about the World Drowning Prevention Day. It is important because it is the action to save lives. We understand all the explanations. However, as a civil society organisation involved in health and DRR/Resilience, we would like to be deeply involved in this celebration. We ask to clarify for us:
1) To whom specifically should we submit our action plan to WHO? [*see note below]
2) What is HIFA's responsibility in this celebration?
3) By learning about the work of HIFA, we are interested in becoming a direct partner of HIFA to better scale up our health action in communities in Haiti - and how?
Your answer is our top priority.
*Onwards nonstop and forever*
HIFA profile: Joseph Severe is Executive Director of the Union of Socio-Cultural Friends of Action in Development (UNASCAD), Haiti. Professional interest: Digital health. unascadhaiti AT gmail.com
[*Note from NPW, moderator: Thank you for your questions.
"1) To whom specifically should we submit our action plan to WHO?" It's hard to comment without knowing anything about the plan. If it is a national plan for Haiti, then the Ministry of Health would typically lead the process.
"2) What is HIFA's responsibility in this celebration?" HIFA's role is mainly to raise awareness of the issue and provide a space for discussion, particularly in relation to meeting the information needs of the public, health workers and policymakers to prevent and manage drowning and near-drowning.
"3) By learning about the work of HIFA, we are interested in becoming a direct partner of HIFA to better scale up our health action in communities in Haiti - and how?" You are welcome to apply to be a HIFA supporting organisation. HIFA has two other supporting organisations in Haiti: EqualHealth & Haiti Spinal Cord Injury Working Group. https://www.hifa.org/support/supporting-organisations ]