Preparedness and recovery from natures wrath: Haiti case study

摘要

Located in the Caribbean region, the Republic of Haitifaces multiple threats in terms of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, droughts, epidemics or epizootic outbreaks. These threats are aggravated by increment al environmental degradation, an increasingpoverty rate, a high population density, problems in management of the rural and urban space, a lack of qualified technicians specialised in risk and disaster management, a deficiency in governance and, as a result, increasing vulnerability of the population due to a lack of information and training. In spite of these constraints, Haiti has succeeded in developing a National System for Disaster and Risk Management (SNGRD). The catastrophic floods that occurred during the year 2004 and especially the 12January 2010 earthquake, responsible for the deaths of 230,000 people have been the triggers for officials in the country to realise the need to strengthen the national system for risk and disaster management.As an organisational structure, SNGRD adopts a model with decentralised capacities and the creation of departmental and municipal committees. It has a national coordination body, which is the Permanent Secretariat for Risk and Disaster Management and incorporates in its structure many thematic committees and some representatives from the private sector.In order to make its interventions more efficient, SNGRD integrates in its contingency and action plans different components: planning and coordination, public works/infrastructures, transport and logistics, health and medical services, assistance to thepopulation, search/rescue, public information, management of international aid and surveillance/multi-risk alerts.However, its legal framework has to be updated and the capacity of operation also needs to be quickly reinforced not only at central level of key sectors of risk and disaster management, but also at the one of the basic services of the municipality and municipal sections that are generally very weak. In addition, financial resources have to be made available to highly vulnerable populations.