An effort to inform potential asylum-seekers that crossing the border is no free ride to a new Canadian life appears to be working as their numbers continue to rapidly dwindle – but the start of the school year is also playing a role. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which is monitoring the reception of asylum seekers at the most popular irregular crossing south of Montreal, says the number of processed claims has plunged to 10-50 on recent days from a peak of several hundred daily arrivals earlier in the summer.

In Grande Anse, the (International Organization for Migration (IOM) project funded by the Directorate General of Civil Protection and European Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) is helping to repair roofs damaged by Hurricane Matthew as well as train carpenters in para-cyclonic construction techniques.

Haiti is one of many poor countries where international aid has failed to fulfil its objectives. Despite billions of dollars being pumped in, little has changed since the disastrous earthquake of 2010, Joel Boutroue told EURACTIV France. Haiti would be better off without aid. After the earthquake, $5bn was spent by the international community. But a large proportion of this money never reached the ground because it covered operational costs. Most is absorbed by international NGOs with not even 1% taken by local NGOs. And the rest is spent on humanitarian aid programmes.

Principal Ryan Cleary said the idea came from the school's desire to work on cultural learning in an authentic way. "Learning about different cultures is part of the West Hartford curriculum and we do a lot of things with the resources we have," Cleary said. "We wanted to go a step further and learn about another culture through an authentic, real relationship and actually get to know somebody else. We wanted them to find a deeper meaning. We felt this would have a lasting impression." 

The World Bank reports the African region will receive $45 billion of the $75 billion allocated for development purposes. It says other recipients will include small Pacific island states threatened by climate change and fragile countries in the Western Hemisphere, such as Haiti. [...] The fund, which runs from July 1 through June 30, 2020, also will support specific development projects in 82 additional fragile states, including Guinea, Nepal, Niger, and Tajikistan.

Despite sharing an island, comparing the Dominican Republic and Haiti is a slippery slope. Like most neighbors, the two nations have experienced moments of tranquility, moments of teamwork, and moments of tension. Culturally and economically dissimilar, the two interdependent countries are divided by more than a politically-imposed border.

Now in its fourth year, the Prizm Art Fair is the only Art Basel Miami Beach satellite fair dedicated to showcasing artists from the African Diaspora — whether underrepresented or already well-established. Founded and directed by Mikhaile Solomon, Prizm allows for cultural exchange and the representation of forgotten histories.