Natural disaster, human disaster
Our special issue tracks the management in Haiti of a major crisis caused by the earthquake a year ago, and the lessons the international community can draw from it. These lessons came all too quickly for the international community when, on 11 March, the earthquake/tsunami combination causing catastrophic devastation hit Japan, one of the most well-protected and well-prepared countries in the world.
In the Japanese cities of Sendai and Fukushima, the houses and nuclear plant might well have survived the earthquake but not the 12-metre high tsunami in its wake which overwhelmed the protective barriers in place. Port-au-Prince would have had twenty or thirty times fewer deaths in the early 50’s when its population numbered just 200,000, instead of three million today. A disaster therefore can have many contributory factors.
In The Courier’s last issue, Patricia Danzi of the International Committee of the Red Cross, whose teams were in Haiti from 12 January 2010, warned of the fragility of any country when faced with major disasters.[i] In peacetime, a nation may now be faced with having to deal with as many as 250,000 deaths in a single city. Many seismologists had warned about construction, the implementation of building standards and Port-au Prince’s precarious location. Recommendations have been tabled to establish a well-prepared and experienced International Red Helmets corps, as pushed for by Haitian President René Préval, who was still in office during our visit, or another system of coordination between public bodies and associations involved in disaster response, as mooted by Kristalina Georgieva, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation and Crisis Response.
Together with Haiti, the EU has modified some of its funding priorities to strengthen the country's capacity to absorb aid, including in this case the forecasting of natural disasters. EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, has also stressed the need for improved political governance in Haiti.
One of the lessons to be learnt, or at least reflected upon in the aftermath of the quake, is the role of NGOs and their performance according to the means at their disposal. Nation states do not only have the obligation to reach targets but also perform in relation to resources used. NGOs have long played the role of guardians of the temple of governance. To their credit, in Haiti, there has been self-scrutiny of their performance. They have carried out outstanding humanitarian work, but at what cost? Does the country really need more than 10,000 foreign organisations on the ground? Why not increase the budget for the reconstruction of assembly plants for agricultural machinery in a predominantly rural country? The UK-based NGO, OXFAM, tackles these issues in a well-publicised report. Haitian NGOs have echoed their concerns too but firstly call on Haitians and their government to look at how they and the authorities are dealing with the problems ahead.
With regard to reconstruction, what is currently most visible is the population’s impatience. Relatively few of the available funds have been spent. Is this a sign of a lack of absorption capacity, or of meticulous preparation being carried out by the body in charge of reconstruction? Plans are on the table and there is criticism of the delays. There are no rumours of any embezzlement. The reconstruction of Haiti has perhaps already begun.
Hegel Goutier
Editor in Chief
[i]http://www.acp-eucourier.info/Haiti-A-year-later.1426.0.html?&L=qyplrcoeuto