Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: To give warning and be able to act quickly after disasters, in July 2011, Terre des hommes and UNICEF drew up a set of measures for risk reduction, humanitarian standby, and tools of warning and response to such disasters.
Haiti is a country which is extremely vulnerable to natural hazards, mainly due to its geographical position and its geological features. More specifically, the country is regularly hit by hurricanes, storms, floods, mudslides and landslides, drought and earthquakes. In the past, Haiti has also had tidal waves. The consequences of these natural disasters are accentuated by other factors such as the poor living conditions, the cholera epidemic, the deterioration of the environment and a fragile political situation, not to mention the repercussions of the earthquake of January 12, 2010 that the people of Haiti are still facing. To give warning and be able to act quickly after disasters, in July 2011, Terre des hommes and UNICEF drew up a set of measures for risk reduction, humanitarian standby, and tools of warning and response to such disasters. For a period of 10 months, Tdh will support the national contingency plan of the Civil Protection Directorate (DPC). The competencies of the communities and state bodies will thus be strengthened so as to be capable of anticipating, preventing, and acting fast when faced with catastrophes. As a last resort, Tdh can carry out an emergency intervention. In this project, Tdh participates in a national plan and is allied with emergency organisations which act in other regions of the country, as well as with the state institutions (Civil Protection Directorate, National System of Risk and Disaster Management, Center for Emergency Operations, etc.). Together they will draw up or consolidate the procedures for alerts and interventions to be valid for the whole country, to allow their gradual assimilation into the national policy. The Southern Department is particularly vulnerable owing to its coastal position. The plain of Les Cayes is especially exposed to flooding, due to landslides from the deforested mountains and its lying below sea level. Like this, the waste water management is insufficient and a few hours of light rain is enough to cause serious flooding. The department of Grande Anse has an additional factor of vulnerability: its isolation. The current lack of road infrastructure and its development characterised by structural weaknesses isolate most of the people in this department. Moreover, in the event of a cyclone, the roads become completely impracticable and the department is very likely to be cut off from the rest of the country. These two departments were not spared by the cholera epidemic, for which the response of the local health structure was inadequate.