IOM

It can take years or even decades for countries to recover from major disasters.  The aim is to build back better over time so the country becomes more resilient, better able to prevent and respond to a wide range of hazards.  Haiti remains just as vulnerable to major disasters as it was when the earthquake hit ten years ago.  There is not an improved building code nor a resourced and widely understood national emergency response plan nor drills to operationalize and refine such plans.  Haiti remains consumed by political instability, the root of which is the lack of an effective, accountable government that invests in its people.   Donors have become frustrated and less interested - that is until the next major disaster happens, which eventually it will.  An article below by Miami Herald journalist Jacqueline Charles and Jose Iglesias traces what has happened since 2010 and why. 

Solutions to displacement take time, coordination and resources.  According to a recent update by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the total number of households living in camps has decreased by 92 percent compared to four and a half years ago. The government-led rental subsidy program, supported by IOM and donors, has been instrumental in helping households transition.  For more information, view the full report.  

The International Crisis Group has released a report on the importance of police reforms for security in Haiti, meaning freedom from intimidation and abuse, conflict and violence, and crime and impunity.  The release comes during a time in which Brazil and other partner nations are increasingly contemplating a gradual drawdown of MINUSTAH staffing. This provides the Haitian government and its partners a window of opportunity to continue reforms that will make the Haitian National Police more effective and accountable.  The full report is attached and a summary is copied below.  

John Holmes, the UN Humanitarian Chief, yesterday expressed frustration with the humanitarian response in Haiti.  Holmes stated finding available land for transitional shelters, slow decision-making by the government and new waves of Haitians moving into the settlements (often for services not available in their own neighborhoods) have made responding to the crisis particularly difficult.  The Haitian government, responsible for setting priorities and developing plans, lacks staffing and expertise.  It is being pulled in many directions at once on issues relating to shelter, hurricane contingency planning, governance reforms, elections, law enforcement, food security, and decentralization. 

Each year, the U.S. State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor is mandated to release country specific human rights reports that address individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As this report pertains strictly to 2009, it does not address human rights issues in post earthquake Haiti. Still, it is highly relevant as long term recovery and reconstruction will depend in part upon creating a culture that respects human rights and a government that can enforce them. 

The United Nations has called this the most challenging disaster response in its history.  More challenges lie ahead, one of which is the upcoming rainy season.  While it will not begin for several weeks, heavy rains are already occurring sporadically.  Recently, eight people were killed in flooding around Les Cayes.  The rains also caused a landslide that destroyed a school in Cap Haitian two weeks ago.  Those who have been displaced in Port au Prince require solutions, whether that be temporary shelter or staying with a host family.  Their protection, health, and well being depends upon finding shelter before the rains become a daily event.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is active in Haiti in a number of different areas. One if its priorities is the prevention of child abuse. In advance of a forum in Vienna next week organized by the UN Global Initiative to Fight Trafficking (UNGIFT), IOM releasd a video to raise awareness of the plight of an estimated 173,000 Haitian children internally trafficked for domestic servitude, known as Restaveks.