Haiti: when no field officer can get in, the bot remains

In some neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince, humanitarian access has become particularly challenging. Security constraints limit the movement of teams and make field visits more difficult, sometimes for extended periods. Yet the needs remain, and communities continue to require information, guidance, and a way to voice their concerns.

One observation, however, has opened up new possibilities: a large majority of households have a phone and use WhatsApp. Based on this observation, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL is launching its SOLIS Bot pilot in Haiti. In areas where access is difficult, the bot sometimes becomes the only humanitarian channel still active. The pilot has just begun, and impact data will be collected gradually. But the need has already been clearly identified, and the system was designed around three priorities: to stay useful, to stay discreet, and to stay up to date.

Content shaped by the security context

Our teams designed the information center's content around four priority needs, identified before access closed: where to find water and food, which health facilities remain open, how to report an emergency, and what safety information to know before moving around.

Discretion here is a matter of safety. Receiving a message identified as coming from an NGO can sometimes expose the person who receives it. The first message is therefore deliberately neutral, and every area is risk-assessed before any deployment.

Content built for zero prerequisites

We start from the assumption that no prior training has taken place. Each section has to make sense on its own. The content exists as short texts in Haitian Creole and as sixty-second voice notes recorded by Haitian members of the team. Indeed, a familiar, recognisable voice, in the accent of the region, is a voice people listen to all the way through. Alongside sit PDF documents, illustrated cyclone guides and evacuation maps, which stay available on the phone even without a connection, a decisive point in a country where the network is intermittent.

A link maintained from a distance

The main challenge of an information center in an unreachable area is keeping it current. Health facilities close, water points move, and outdated information can turn dangerous. To address this, the team relies on a network of trusted relays, identified before access closed, contacted every week to confirm that the published information still holds.

The reporting protocol follows one unbending rule: never promise what you cannot deliver. Every message gets an immediate acknowledgement and a response within two hours.When our capacity to respond is limited, we prioritize transparency and refer people to local resources that are still available. "We cannot come right now, but here is what we can do" is worth more than a false reassurance that would destroy trust.

Because trust is exactly what is at stake. For the people who remain in these areas, being able to send a message and receive an answer changes something fundamental: they are no longer invisible.