News
Haiti - marking 6 months on
15 July 2010
Significant progress has been made since that fateful afternoon in January by the humanitarian community in country. However much remains to be done. The 1.5 million Haitians initially displaced, are still living in temporary camps in Port-au-Prince and surrounding cities; largely reliant on aid agencies for basic daily necessities, such as water and sanitation, food and shelter. With only 2 per cent of the rubble from the 200,000 homes, public buildings and major infrastructure damaged during the earthquake cleared, much remains to be done to rebuild the country.
The scale and complexity of the disaster and the prospects of rebuilding Haiti’s future means that the role of the RedR / Bioforce Disaster Response Services programme is so important. Since launching the programme four months ago, the DRSS team have provided training and support to 46 humanitarian agencies, including Save the Children, Oxfam, UNICEF, Christian Aid, Action Contre la Faim, the Haitian Red Cross, Tearfund and GOAL.
To date, we have trained 871 aid workers across key humanitarian areas, such as water, sanitation and hygiene, shelter, supply chain and fleet management, safety and security, and telecommunications, helping ensure more effectiveness and best practice in aid delivery
As Erin Noordeloos, International Programmes Director, at RedR comments: “The RedR/Bioforce programme is essential in rebuilding Haiti. It provides a strong foundation of skills for the aid community and there has been strong demand from agencies on the ground to provide training and support to staff, particularly national staff, across core humanitarian areas. “
Looking ahead…
Crucially, 93 per cent of the people trained as part of the DRSS have been national Haitian humanitarian personnel, providing a strong skills base within the country, increasing local involvement in the relief and recovery process and ensuring that skills remain in country long after the media attention has faded.
The focus is now shifting from the ongoing relief efforts required in aftermath following the disaster, to supporting national and international aid agencies in the reconstruction phase. It is also vital to improve local emergency preparedness and disaster risk reduction strategies, an area the programme is looking to develop training in.
“As our programme has progressed, we have been requested by aid staff and the Haitian government to provide even more services in capacity building. The need for trained people has increased. The reconstruction process will be long and the DRSS programme is not only focused on dealing with the ongoing aftermath of the earthquake but to also establishing ways in which the people of Haiti can prepare for ensuing emergencies and develop disaster risk reduction strategies. The lessons learned in Haiti are invaluable for all aid agencies and governments involved in disaster relief.” Erin explains.
The DRSS programme will have been running for six months on 28 August and we will be issuing a full report on activities at this point. In the meantime, you can stay up-to-date with our activities on Facebook and Twitter.
The DRSS programme is supported by ECHO.
Photo credits:
Top: Destruction following the January 12 earthquake_Photo courtesy of CMAT
Bottom: Driver training for ACF_credit RedR
View RedR Member and Shelter Expert Joseph Ashmore speaking on Channel 4 News about the Haiti quake.
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