Haiti recovery begins with population"s direct involvement by OCHA / UN Development Programme 2:51pm 22nd Jan, 2010   25 Jan 2010    Relief reaching more people, but still a huge distance to go. (OCHA)    United Nations Relief Coordinator John Holmes on Monday told delegates attending the Ministerial Conference on Haiti that health care, food, water and shelter continue to be the top priorities for survivors of the earthquake.    "The relief effort is beginning to get there, but we still have a huge distance to go. And this operation will need to continue long after the television crews have gone home and the troops have returned to their normal duties," Mr. Holmes said, drawing attention both to the progress made and the challenges still to be overcome.    There are now more than 500 relief organisations working to help those affected by the earthquake and the number is rising.    Meals Ready-to-Eat (MREs) are especially needed for the next two to three weeks, while cooking remains problematic for so many, Mr. Holmes said, appealing urgently for all countries with military or other stocks to offer whatever they can to the World Food Programme (WFP). An estimated two million people are in need of food; 500,000 have received some so far.    Shelter remains an issue of particular concern because of the massive need for tents. Only 40,000 tents are on the spot or on the way to Haiti, but 200,000 family sized tents are required altogether to house about a million people thought to be homeless, according to early estimates. Mr. Holmes also raised the need to start planning how to house the homeless before the rainy and hurricane seasons begin in April and June when tents will offer little protection. "We badly need an immediate, transitional shelter solution--rapidly built temporary housing on a large scale, which can be much more resilient to rain and hurricanes than tents," Mr. Holmes said.    Mr. Holmes reiterated that humanitarian organizations found it easier to receive donations in cash instead of in-kind donations, unless they are items in short supply globally. The Flash Appeal is currently funded at 48% of the $575 million required, and more funds are urgently needed, despite the generous overall international response so far.    He stressed the need to ensure that the relief effort lays the right basis for the wider reconstruction and redevelopment effort. Humanitarian relief and reconstruction in Haiti will have to run parallel for a long time to come, rather than one following the other. He also noted the fundamental requirement to ensure that all reconstruction work is guided by the need to "build back better:" Haiti remains a disaster prone country, and disaster risk reduction and climate resilience measures are crucial for the future.    "The biggest challenge of all will be to keep the wider international community focused on the rebuilding for the long term, and the creation of a stronger, more independent, and more resilient Haitian society for the future. The long-suffering people of Haiti deserve no less," Mr. Holmes said.    Jan. 20, 2010 (UNDP)    With the recovery process in earthquake-ravaged Haiti shifting gears from search and recovery to the immediate assistance needs of survivors, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is rolling out a cash-for-work programme that will employ nearly 400 Haitians, a move that will kick start economic activity while facilitating the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance. By the end of the week, the programme will expand to include 700 people working on rubble removal and the rehabilitation of essential social infrastructure, such as street repairs and electricity.    “Time is of the essence in getting early recovery after a major disaster,” said UNDP Administrator Helen Clark upon her return from Haiti. “We need donor support to help get people back to work without delay. This will accelerate early recovery and prepare for the longer term rebuilding when it takes place.”    Clark was referring to a UNDP flash appeal that is calling for US$35.6 million to help Haitians recover from the earthquake, part of a nearly US$600 million UN Flash Appeal launched on 15 January. As the co-ordinator of the UN early recovery team, UNDP is also working with the Government of Haiti and other partners to assess damages and needs, devise plans for rebuilding, and begin these immediate responses.    “In addition to the cash-for-work initiatives, a big priority for UNDP is to support the rebuilding of the Government’s capacity,” Clark said. “But the overall task of rebuilding a devastated capital – with a population of this size – is huge. It is neither a short nor a medium term task.”    The first phase of the cash-for-work programme will focus on Carrefour-Feuilles, a neighborhood just south of Port-au-Prince. The initiative will soon be rolled out in other earthquake-stricken locations, including Leogane and Jacmel. Once fully operational, the project will employ 220,000 people, indirectly benefitting around 1 million Haitians.    “Haitians should be the main actors in the recovery process,” said Eric Overvest, the UNDP Country Director in Haiti. “By providing employment, we will certainly help trigger a more normal life where people have an independent income and where they can start buying food and other essential goods.”    Perhaps of equal importance, the cash-for-jobs initiative will provide “self-sufficiency and dignity for the people that are affected,” Overvest added.    Past UNDP cash-for-work programmes in Haiti have laid the groundwork for this current initiative. After the 2008 hurricanes that killed 800 people and left 165,000 families homeless in Haiti, UNDP worked closely with the Haitian Government on reconstruction efforts, particularly focusing cash-for-work initiatives and watershed rehabilitation.    The cash-for-work programme launched Tuesday builds on UNDP’s Briquettes Project, a cash-for-work programme designed to combat climate change and reduce poverty. To speed up the rubble clearing process, UNDP, as a first step, used the resources and staff previously employed by the Briquettes Project. But UNDP is currently in the process of selecting the additional 700 people to be employed by the end of this week.    * The Universal Rights Network strongly supports this direction of using humanitarian assistance to directly employ the Haitian people. This development model should be utilized as frequently as possible in developing countries to directly benefit the people. Such monies would then feed into local economies providing wider benefits to the local population.    It is obviously important that both men and women are offered the same opportunities, as much as possible . As women are recognised as the most substantial providers for their families and have been often overlooked in past development employment enterprises. Visit the related web page
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