Disaster Response Haiti Project #53415

UN Migration Relief for Haiti Earthquake Survivors

by US Association for International Migration (USAIM)

Project Report | Apr 15, 2022
IOM's Ongoing Emergency Response for Haiti

By Luciano Arroio | Operations Assistant

Port-au-Prince, 8 Nov 2021 – Samuel believes that being blind in Haiti is a punishment. After being fired from his job because of his disability, he found it impossible to find a new trade. “It has been extremely challenging to feed my family, let alone pay for my children’s tuition,” the father of two says.

Blind for more than a decade, 48-year-old Samuel spent most of his visually impaired years in Camp La Piste, in Port-au-Prince, the capital city of Haiti. The site for internally displaced persons (IDPs) had been housing people with all forms of disabilities since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010, killing more than 200,000 people and injuring over 300,000.

In June this year, the site was engulfed in flames, leaving hundreds scrambling for their lives and homeless once more. Soon after the fire, a local association referred Samuel to Delmas 103 – a school and temporary site for IDPs in Port-au-Prince – where he has been living since.

Since March 2020, the alarming increase in violence has led to the displacement of hundreds of families in the urban and peri-urban areas of Port-au-Prince. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in Haiti there are currently 1.5 million people particularly affected by the impact of ongoing violence on humanitarian access, 19,000 internally displaced and 1.1 million in need of assistance in different neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, as well as 400,000 in the South.

For those affected by this crisis and living with a disability, this has meant an additional hurdle, while lack of proper living conditions, jobs and resources have only strengthened the stigma and discrimination around living with a disability.

Fortunately, Samuel was able to make ends meet, thanks to his wife’s small business. However, when another earthquake hit Haiti in August this year, not only did the family lose friends and relatives, but they also lost their business, leaving them struggling to find new ways of providing for their children.

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Apr 15, 2022
IOM Launches Haiti Response Plan 2020-2022

By Luciano Arroio | Operations Assistant

Haiti’s geography increases exposure to disasters such as tropical storms, hurricanes, and earthquakes. These disasters generate destruction of both infrastructure and agricultural areas. In addition to Haiti’s geographic characteristics, socio-political challenges have deteriorated the nation’s security and have caused both an increase in the urban population and in the irregular migration of Haitians in the region. Because of such factors, Haiti is considered the most vulnerable country in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the 18th most vulnerable country in the world (INFORM Index 2021).

On the morning of January 24, Haiti recorded two aftershocks of 5.6 and 5.4 increasing the death toll and number of those injured since the 7.2 magnitude Earthquake in August last year. Haiti is a nation deeply in need of international aid focused on sustainable recovery and disaster prevention.

IOM, together with both governmental and non-governmental partners, is committed to addressing immediate and long-term disaster and mobility-related challenges in Haiti by the root causes of irregular migration, reducing forced movement and the vulnerability of affected and at-risk population, building resilience to identified risks and mainstreaming migration in development agendas and policies.

In December 2021, IOM launched a Crisis Response Plan aiming to:

– Save lives and respond to needs through humanitarian assistance and protection

– Address the drivers and longer-term impacts of crises and displacement through investments in recovery and crisis prevention

– Strengthen preparedness and reduce disaster risk

– Contribute to an Evidence-Based and Efficient Crisis Response System

Achieving these goals and aiding the recovery of the more than 310,000 people impacted by the most recent disasters requires around USD 87 million.

USA for IOM plays a critical role in mobilizing resources from individuals and the private sector in the United States to support IOM’s work around the world, and by doing so, aids thousands of vulnerable people, like Haitians, affected by disasters

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Dec 15, 2021
IOM's Ongoing Emergency Response for Haiti

By Allyson Block | Operations Assistant

Haiti is one of the countries most prone to natural disasters in the world. As Chief of Mission, Giuseppe Loprete has worked to ensure that IOM, and our partners, are prepared to respond when disaster strikes and provide long-term recovery support for affected communities.

Day Zero Operations

Hurricane season in the Caribbean lasts from June to November, and IOM, along with its government and civil society partners, has developed extensive emergency response protocols for when disaster strikes.

This preparation allowed IOM to quickly mobilize after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the southeastern region of the country this August. Within 24 hours, IOM had deployed its team to distribute shelter and hygiene kits, including tarps, blankets, and personal sanitation materials, to those displaced from their homes.

Lessons Learned from 2010

After the devasting 2010 earthquake, IOM and its implementing partners dedicated themselves to preparing for the next disaster.

Haiti developed a national Civil Protection Agency with an extensive network of field officers. This infrastructure allows Haiti to quickly coordinate with state and local bodies when an emergency occurs and has made the country a regional expert in disaster response.

Meanwhile, IOM has developed mechanisms to act as a first responder to potential displacement events. In Haiti, this includes regularly running emergency operation simulations and mapping shelters and other life-saving resources.

Another lesson learned from the 2010 earthquake was the importance of building and maintaining trust to humanitarian operations. For IOM, this begins with respecting local knowledge and systems already in place by the government, local associations, NGOs, and community leaders.

Without these partnerships, IOM would be unable to help those most vulnerable. Loprete explains the reach of IOM, saying, “we cannot stop where the paved road stops. We have to go beyond that. Once we reach those that we think are the most vulnerable, we usually get there and they say to us, ‘no, you have to go further, there are people over there who are worse off.”

Overlapping Crises Demand Urgent Action

Providing shelter is currently IOM’s top priority. Many still do not have a roof over their heads as their homes are being assessed for structural integrity.

IOM is working to avoid the prolonged displacement experienced in the wake of past disasters and is dedicated to supporting survivors throughout recovery efforts in the coming months and even years.

“Haiti is facing multiple crises,” reports Loprete, including a global pandemic, seasonal hurricanes, and institutional and political crises. He emphasized that this is a moment when we need everyone to come together to do more than recover but to build resilience to face the next crisis.

How to Make a Difference

IOM has already distributed 150,000 relief items to 61,000 families in Haiti. Currently, IOM is working to bring these materials the ‘last mile’ to those in the most remote regions who need them most. You can help by donating to organizations that are working with local partners to lead a sustainable recovery.

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