PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti. – During a five-day visit to the Caribbean island nation of Haiti from April 22-27, Ulrick Gaillard met with various elected officials, including Senate President Simon Desras, Senator Francky Exius, and Députés Rossini Jean Pierre and Patrick Robasson, former Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis, former President Jean Bertrand Aristide, members of the civil society and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Since the 2010 tragic earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people and left more than 1 million homeless, displaced, sick and hungry, BRA partnered with USAID, Haiti Ministry of Health, FONKOZE and internal aid organizations to implement various projects in health, food security and women economic empowerment benefitting more than 95,000 people living in the Southeast Department border communes of Anse-a-Pitres, Tiotte and Grand Gosier.

During his visit, Gaillard stressed the importance of creating sustainable development programs capable of producing real results in the lives of the people. He explored and developed new partnerships expanding his organization’s work into additional communities of Haiti, including one with Partners in Health (PIH) to distribute food to 12,800 nutritionally-at-risk vulnerable and impoverished people, including those living with HIV/AIDS/TB in Plateau Central, one with CENAREF to provide leadership training to 800 women in the Southeast department, one with UNIFA extending quality higher education to economically-challenged university students, and others with Southeast’s elected officials in agriculture, education and women’s social activism.

MONTE PLATA, D.R. – Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) and Direct Relief International (DRI) agree to collaborate in a 2012 Hurricane Preparedness Module Program, which would pre-position for BRA critically-needed medicines and medical supplies in order to enable the immediate treatment of vulnerable populations in the event a hurricane or other natural or civil disaster should occur in Haiti or the Dominican Republic. DRI, a longtime partner to BRA, will donate one or more Modules containing products to treat vulnerable patients.

The objective of the Program is to improve the availability of pharmaceuticals and other disaster relief materials in response to emergencies on the island of Hispaniola. Items were selected based on the recommendation of medical professionals who were involved with relief efforts after the 2005 hurricanes in the Caribbean, Central America and the United States.

NEW YORK, April 19, 2012 – Early in April, Ulrick Gaillard, founder/CEO of the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) was invited to join the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) – a program of the United Nations Foundation with a membership of more than 12,000 active members in over 120 chapters and divisions across the country. It is the largest single network of US supporters of the United Nations and its causes.

“We understand as the world keeps changing rapidly, we too need to be mindful of those changes and adjust our mission accordingly in order to meet the expectations of our stakeholders. Consequently it is crucial for our organization to be part of this global agenda,” said Gaillard.

BRA is also member of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and Global Health Council (GHC), associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information (UN-DPI) and is a registered Public Voluntary Organization (PVO) with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

BRA was established in 1997 as a US 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, humanitarian aid organization with the mission to addressing socioeconomic and health needs of families in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly those with children who are severely affected by poverty, disease and hunger in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Peru. BRA focuses primarily on improving the health of poor rural populations through the provision of direct services and education, while endeavoring to empower the weak and protect rights, regardless of race, gender, creed, religion, national origin, or social status.