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Emergency Aid to Haiti Continues as Reconstruction Begins
FrontLines - June 2010
While some aid groups prepare to spend billions of dollars
on reconstructing Haiti’s capital after the Jan. 12 earthquake—
among the worst disasters ever in the Western hemisphere—the
emergency operations may continue up to a year and half, aid
experts said May 25 in Washington.
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Sandbagging along a pathway in Haiti helps to prevent flood damage.
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“Four months after the quake,
we are still into the emergency
phase and will be for a long
time,” said Paul Weisenfeld,
USAID Haiti Task Team coordinator.
He spoke at a panel held by
the Society for International
Development in Washington.
“Everyone has lost someone,”
said Mark Schneider, former
USAID assistant administrator
in the Bureau for Latin America
and the Caribbean and currently
senior vice president of the
International Crisis Group. “The
emergency will go on for some
time. This is a long-term project.
It will take a generation to move
Haiti forward.”
Haiti’s disaster came after two
years of relative progress under
President René Préval, said Schneider.
The Caribbean nation of 9
million is also benefitting from
the presence of 7,000 U.N.
peacekeepers, 3,000 U.N. police,
and 1,000 international civilians.
William Canny, director of
emergency operations for Catholic
Relief Services (CRS), said
aid was difficult to deliver after
the quake left 230,000 dead and
destroyed much of the city—
including government offices.
Among the challenges:
staff care was needed for Haitian
and foreign employees
who lost family and homes;
needs assessments and delivery
of relief supplies faced
blocked roads, thousands of
homeless survivors, and loss
of skilled staff;
security became a problem in
the first week as some aid
trucks were pillaged and criminals
escaped from jail; and
supplies were blocked by
damage to the airport and
seaport.
Canny said that troops from
the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne
Division broke the logjam,
helped reopen the airport and
seaport, and helped with security
so that “we began to see
humanitarian space to do our
work.” By the third week, CRS,
working with the World Food
Program, was able to organize
large scale distribution of relief
supplies.
A mass distribution of rice at that point, protected by the 82nd Airborne, “calmed the situation,” said Canny. He noted that the urban setting of the disaster forced CRS to improvise. For example, it was impossible
to dig latrines in the asphalt streets, so portable toilets were provided to tent settlements. And blocked drains were cleaned out to avoid flooding in the rainy season.
However, Canny admitted that “we were slow on gender-based violence,” mostly affecting homeless women, and “we were not ready” for the flight of 600,000 people out of the capital to outlying cities and towns unaffected by the quake.
Finally, he noted “difficult land issues for shelter” as landowners were reluctant to permit transitional shelters to be built on their properties. At the same time, the Haitian government lacked strong legal standing to temporarily claim land for emergency housing.
“This was the largest urban relief operation” that USAID had ever engaged in, said Weisenfeld. With a number of contributing donors and organizations, the combined effort involved feeding 3 million people, caring for 1.5 million displaced, and vaccinating 1 million people. Heavy plastic tarps were distributed to more than 300,000 households.
In addition to its own efforts, the Agency is coordinating assistance from several other U.S. agencies, including adding 800 temporary staff to the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince to help meet urgent needs immediately after the quake.
To prepare for heavy seasonal rains and possible hurricanes, USAID is inspecting 800 hurricane shelters nationwide. However, hurricanes generally bypass the capital and focus on the north, which was not hit by the quake.
Weisenfeld also said that the number of people in camps rose recently from 600,000 to between 1.5 million and 2 million because of the “draw” of aid and services offered there.
As part of a long-term strategy, the Agency is also helping the nation’s energy, infrastructure, health, and agriculture sectors. . — B.B.
★
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by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
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