William Lacy Swing, Director General, IOM
Haiti - Six months after the January 12 earthquake that devastated Haiti, the country and the international community is still reeling from the human tragedy: between 217,000 and 230,000 people dead, an estimated 300,000 injured and 1.5 million Haitians left homeless. This is undoubtedly one of the greatest humanitarian crises in the history of the Western Hemisphere, where everything has been broken but the human spirit.
In the aftermath, IOM was able to offer immediate assistance to earthquake victims through the Haiti mission, which has provided relief and development services since 1993. Through the Camp Coordination Camp Management (CCCM) cluster, IOM has registered over 720,000 displaced individuals, documenting the conditions and critical needs of spontaneous settlements and disaster affected communities. This information is then made available to international partners who are able to respond to the needs of the affected communities.
IOM has also provided emergency assistance through the Non-Food Item (NFI) team which helps displaced communities by distributing essential items such tarps, blankets, hygiene, kitchen and medical kits. The NFI team is often the first to respond to the needs of the displaced and frequently serves as a triage unit which refers individuals and communities to other departments and agencies for further assistance. Since January 14, close to 2 million non food items have been distributed to over 200,000 families, in cooperation with 178 NGO partners.
The IOM/CCCM Camp Management Operations, Shelter, and Site Planning units work closely with the Haitian Government and with humanitarian partners to map the actual situation of IDP communities and respond accordingly through upgrading of existing shelters, construction of transitional shelters, and planning and implementation of emergency relocation sites for those at severe risk of flooding or other environmental disaster. The Migration Health team also provides crucial psychosocial support to earthquake victims as a first step in rebuilding the health system and encouraging the earliest return to communities.
In order to provide help where it is most needed, in an effective manner, and in line with the priorities of local government and displaced communities, IOM employs a team of Community Mobilizers to provide information on health, security and other issues, as well listening to concerns voiced by displaced communities. These concerns are then shared with government and humanitarian partners in order to find shared solutions and/or responses.
Today, hundreds of thousands of displaced remain in some 1,300 Camps in spite of major efforts by IOM and a web of humanitarian organizations on the ground to build large numbers of transitional shelters. The challenges facing the country are gargantuan, and the pace of recovery and reconstruction often painfully slow.
In partnership with the international community, IOM and the Camp Management Camp Coordination Cluster is focused on the following urgently needed deliverables in Haiti: Building 125,000 hard temporary shelters for 600,000 people; moving at least 30,000 families back to safe 'green' and repaired 'yellow' houses; ensuring sufficient numbers of communal hurricane shelters are ready to accept displaced communities, by retrofitting or rebuilding some 900 sites designated for this purpose; supporting the Haitian Government plan for decongestion and regional development through distribution of cash and in-kind incentives and improving social services in priority communities and new settlements outside Port au Prince.
Six months on, IOM is continuing to support the Government of Haiti and international partners in moving from crisis management to disaster risk reduction and sustainable development. IOM is working towards this via such activities as: hazard mapping for disaster response; assisting to develop a robust civil protection regime; monitoring population movement to inform and assist planning; facilitating public works projects providing employment opportunities; implementing environmentally sustainable development; and supporting social stability efforts focusing on decentralized development.
This issue of Migration Magazine is compiled of articles written by a dedicated team of Haitian journalists from the Haiti Press Network. Their stories illuminate not only the grave challenges outlined above but also an indomitable human spirit and the international community's commitment to provide the unfailing support that the people of Haiti so richly deserve and so desperately require in this, their greatest hour of need.