Haiti’s race against the clock: a UN Resident Coordinator blog

Bruno Lemarquis is the UN’s Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG), and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator successful Haiti. He’s been talking to UN News about the earthquake effect and reconstruction process.

“Haiti is presently making planetary headlines for all the incorrect reasons; it is experiencing a multi-dimensional situation including an upsurge successful violence, a deficiency of substance which is crippling galore cardinal services and the August earthquake which killed astir 2,200 radical and near hundreds of thousands successful need. 

UN Haiti/Jonathan Boulet-Groulx

Bruno Lemarquis (left) the UN’s Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator successful Haiti talks to radical affected by the earthquake successful south-west Haiti.

As the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and DSRSG, I americium committed, with the UN Team successful Haiti, not lone to enactment responses to contiguous crises, peculiarly humanitarian, but besides to guarantee that the United Nations is afloat engaged connected the improvement agenda, connected advancing the implementation of the SDGs and successful addressing the heavy structural causes, which are down the instability, improvement and governance deficits of Haiti.

Humanitarian situation

As acold arsenic the humanitarian concern is concerned, the UN estimated earlier this twelvemonth that 40 per cent of Haiti’s colonisation of astir 11.5 million, was successful request of humanitarian assistance, owed chiefly to precocious levels of nutrient insecurity.

The earthquake connected 14 August impacted chiefly the southbound of the state but has had devastating consequences and has worsened an already dire humanitarian situation.

Growing insecurity

Whilst needs stay precocious among Haitians, the state is experiencing increasing insecurity that not lone creates caller humanitarian needs but besides hampers entree and the reconstruction and betterment response.

Since June, pack unit successful the Port-au-Prince country displaced astatine slightest 19,000 radical and has affected 1.5 million.

The violence, looting, roadworthy blockades, the persistent beingness of equipped gangs and the resulting deficiency of substance each airs obstacles to humanitarian entree and the reconstruction and betterment effort.

IOM/Monica Chiriac

Humanitarian assistance was provided by the UN instantly pursuing the August 2021 earthquake.

Repatriations

The repatriation of Haitian migrants successful ample numbers implicit the past weeks, is making the already challenging situation, adjacent much complex.

Some 11,000 migrants person been returned to Haiti, including astir 8,000 from the US alone. Most of the migrants, study having spent a fig of years surviving successful South oregon Central America. In addition, much caller migrants who had near Haiti pursuing the August earthquake are besides being repatriated from neighboring countries.

UN agencies, successful peculiar IOM, are moving successful adjacent coordination with the Haitian authorities to guarantee that their instrumentality takes spot successful dignity, contempt overstretched capacities.

Recovery and reconstruction priorities 

The humanitarian response, astir 2 and a fractional months aft the earthquake is present entering into a caller signifier and determination are a fig of apical priorities that correspond what I telephone ‘races against the clock’ challenges which, if unaddressed, could person further antagonistic consequences. The UN is moving hand-in-hand with our nationalist partners to code them.

 Children’s acquisition has suffered greatly. Over 1,200 schoolhouse buildings were damaged oregon destroyed. The reopening of schools is simply a apical priority, to debar further schoolhouse dropout. UNICEF is hard astatine work, with partners, to enactment the Ministry of Education successful gathering the challenge.

 Smallholder farmers who person mislaid their land, crops, and livestock request enactment truthful they bash not miss the forthcoming planting season. The UN (FAO and WFP successful particular) are moving with partners successful this regard. This volition assistance to bounds already precocious levels of nutrient insecurity.

Displaced radical are being helped by the International Organization for Migration and different partners to instrumentality location wherever practicable – to debar further municipality migration successful particular.

 And the proviso of basal societal services, successful peculiar wellness services, needs to resume arsenic accelerated arsenic possible, to avoid, for example, disruption to aesculapian treatments and vaccination programmes.

 WHO/PAHO, UNICEF and UNFPA are actively moving with the Ministry of Health and different partners successful this regard.

National enactment for the response

All this has happened nether the beardown enactment of Haiti’s authorities arsenic good arsenic section authorities and partners against a backdrop of challenging logistics, insecurity, and entree issues.

One of the cardinal lessons learnt from the adjacent much devastating 2010 earthquake successful Haiti was the request to enactment and respect nationalist leadership, nationalist coordination arrangements, and section institutions, to trust connected Haiti’s capacity, expertise, and cognition successful bid to guarantee sustainable change.

There has besides been a greater absorption connected supporting the section system and ensuring coherence betwixt the short-term exigency effect and longer-term solutions.

Post-disaster needs

The Government launched a post-disaster needs appraisal instantly pursuing the earthquake, with corporate enactment from the UN (with UNDP arsenic method lead) and different partners, successful peculiar the European Union, World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank.

IOM/Monica Chiriac

It's estimated the reconstruction and betterment effort successful Haiti volition outgo astir $2bn.

The betterment program which volition outgo astir $2 cardinal volition beryllium presented astatine an planetary league called by the Government, with UN support, and scheduled to instrumentality spot successful mid-December.

The lawsuit volition rise consciousness and mobilize resources for the betterment and reconstruction phase, and it’s hoped planetary donors volition travel unneurotic to enactment and advocator for Haiti’s semipermanent development.

Coalition

Alongside exigency effect and exigency improvement work, the UN integrated squad successful Haiti (UN Country Team and UN governmental mission) is seeking to absorption its corporate governmental and programmatic resources connected immoderate of the cardinal structural causes of instability and improvement and governance deficits, including the combat against corruption, impunity, and the translation and modernization of the economy.

 It is besides seeking to enactment the operationalization of nationalist policies that payment the astir vulnerable, for illustration successful the areas of societal protection, nutrient information and catastrophe hazard reduction.

In this way, the nexus betwixt humanitarian, improvement and bid efforts tin beryllium advanced.

 If we bash not conscionable these challenges unneurotic and bash not put successful recovery, reconstruction, sustainable improvement and addressing roots causes, it volition beryllium harder for Haiti to get retired of this rhythm of humanitarian crises and instability.

 Without this support, the radical of Haiti volition proceed to endure and this volition go a situation forgotten by the world."

UN Resident Coordinator

• The UN Resident Coordinator, sometimes called the RC, is the highest-ranking typical of the UN improvement strategy astatine the state level.
• In this occasional series, UN News is inviting RCs to blog connected issues important to the United Nations and the state wherever they serve.