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Haiti

HAITI - Registration of Haiti's Displaced Gathers Momentum

A mass registration exercise for Haitians displaced by the January 12 earthquake is rolling out across Port-au-Prince's most congested settlements, as part of a major strategic push to ensure safe shelter before the rains.

IOM is coordinating international efforts to support the government-led initiative, both conducting its own operations and also working with other partners.

The aim of the exercise is to identify where the residents of the largest post-earthquake settlements come from, and to explore future options - including facilitating a return to their home areas, helping host families to accommodate them, improving conditions in ad hoc settlements, and the planning and establishment of new sites.

Data from the first of the mass registration exercise - at the Champ de Mars Park by Haiti's destroyed presidential palace - is now fully processed, providing detailed information on 4,943 families. One hundred and eighty home streets have been identified and maps submitted to partners, involved in site assessments, debris removal and other urgent actions.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has registered 8,000 families at the Petionville Golf club, and IOM completed registration last week of 9,348 families in Port-au-Prince's old military airfield - known as aviation.

Preparations are underway in IOM to register a further 5,000 families in four different sites later this week. However, the precise locations will not be announced until the registration begins, in order to maintain security and prevent a "pull" of new families to those sites.

IOM's first new planned site is due to be formally opened on March 13. It will host 200 families in tents provided by the Government of Colombia. The camp is a joint project of the Haitian and Dominican Civil Defence organizations, and water and sanitation will be coordinated by the aid agency Oxfam.

Work to identify sites exposed to floods and landslides continues. An assessment carried out by IOM in the 21 congested priority sites shows that 3,000 of the people living in four camps located on the Vallée de Bourdon (by the Bois de Chène river) are at high risk of flooding from heavy rain and the accumulation of rubble in river beds.

Meanwhile, during the first week of March, six 5-member IOM psychosocial teams (comprising team leaders, psychologists, social workers, artistic animators, and educators) visited 23 sites, in order to prepare for the launch of IOM's Swedish-funded psychosocial support programme.

Opening days are now planned in several sites and will involve shows organized in association the national dance association "Tchaka Dance". Eighteen animators (6 teams of 3 animators each) from Tchaka Dance will accompany the 6 IOM psychosocial mobile teams on the field. An estimated 5000 individuals will participate in the ceremonies, which are intended to mobilize communities through culture and craft.

IOM will also mobilize several small community kite-crafting groups. Kite-flying is a traditional and popular activity during this time of year, and makeshift simple kites can already be seen flying throughout Port-au-Prince.

For more information, please contact Mark Turner at IOM Port-au-Prince, Tel +509 3702 5066 / 3490 6678, Email: mturner@iom.int