Haiti - Briefing Note for Companies

Currently around 500,000 people are living outdoors in 447 improvised camps in Port-au-Prince

Summary of the Humanitarian Situation - 22 January 2010

On January 12th, at 16.53 (21.53 GMT), an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck Haiti, 15km (10 miles) south-west of the capital Port-au-Prince. This was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude and around 30 additional aftershocks of varying strengths. On 20 January a further aftershock measuring 6.1 hit the country

It is known that hospitals, schools, the five-story building at the United Nations headquarters, hillside shanties and the presidential palace have been reduced to rubble. Over 2.2 million people live in the most affected areas  and estimates of the number of people killed range from 100,000-200,000, with at least 3 million more displaced, injured or affected.

This is the most powerful quake to hit the impoverished country in more than 100 years and has been described by the UN as the worst disaster it has ever been involved with.

Damage and Conditions in the Aftermath

• The Haitian disaster has presented unique logistical problems because the earthquake caused so much damage to the airport, port and roads, electricity and water have been cut off and fuel supplies are low
• Key Haitian government officials, civil servants and military personnel working with the United Nations were killed in the quake, making co-ordination between the emergency services and the international aid effort more complex.
• Haiti lacks the necessary heavy equipment to move debris and also experienced personnel to handle such destruction.
• The Haitian capital lacks sewer infrastructure - the massive quake ruptured water lines, creating a perfect formula for the spread of water-borne disease, particularly as those left homeless are forced into close quarters with limited options for sanitation.
• There are reports that over 90% of buildings in the capital are in ruins.
• Almost all communication systems were destroyed - mobile and landline phone services were lost, and for more than 48 hours it was only possible to make contact on satellite phones, although many of these had also been lost meaning that organisations could not communicate with either their staff or with each other.
• Although its small airport is open, it is only able to handle a few planes an hour and has no fuel to allow aircraft to leave.
• Treatment of the injured has been hampered by the lack of hospital and morgue facilities.
• Delays in aid distribution led to angry appeals from aid workers and survivors, looting, and some violent scenes at aid distribution centres

Oxfam's International's director, Penny Lawrence, said: "It was made far worse because all the leading international organisations lost staff and equipment."

"We all had contingency plans and equipment stores in Haiti. But everyone's warehouses were damaged in the earthquake. We lost 90% of our emergency kit. Pre-positioned water [purification] equipment, tanks, latrines, pumps were all buried … We managed to rescue some tools, but we lost satellite phones, everything."

Response and Current Needs

DEC member agencies are making a real difference to those affected by the Earthquake by delivering food and water purification powder and by mobilising medical teams to help those in most need.  Many countries have responded to the appeals and launched fund-raising efforts, as well as sending search and rescue teams.

Currently around 500,000 people are living outdoors in 447 improvised camps in Port-au-Prince.  With little shelter, a lack of access and only 3 months until the rainy season help is desperately needed.

• Controlling infectious diseases and diarrhoea in the coming days will be a major challenge in a country that had poor infrastructure and healthcare before the quake struck.
• Very substantial humanitarian assistance will be required to ensure survivors get food, clean water, emergency shelter, medical care and other support.
• There is an urgent need for sanitation equipment for the hundreds of thousands of people now living in temporary shelters or staying in makeshift camps.
• Although people and, in some cases, the local authorities have started to organise to find water or to collect trash, hygiene is becoming a big problem.

Aid agencies have been a long-term presence in Haiti and will be there for years to come to ensure the immediate response is translated into longer-term development efforts to help people rebuild their lives out of the ruins.

About Haiti

Haiti is the poorest countries in the Caribbean and Western Hemisphere.  The country of Haiti makes up the western one-third of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. Hispanola is between Cuba and Puerto Rico, and the eastern two-thirds of the island is the Dominican Republic.

Haiti's regional, historical and ethnolinguistic position is unique for several reasons. It was the first independent nation in Latin America, the first post-colonial independent black-led nation in the world, and the only nation whose independence was gained as part of a successful slave rebellion.

With a population of nearly 10 million people, over 80% of Haitian people live in absolute poverty in shanty towns spread out over the city’s hills.  Much of this has been devastated as shelters were located on unstable slopes and were poorly constructed.  Nearly 95 percent of the population are descendants of African slaves. There are also minorities of European and Asian origin as well as a small mestizo (mixed descent) group.

After decades of dictatorship, former Roman Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide became Haiti's first freely elected leader in 1990. Aristide was ousted by a military coup in 1991 but reinstated with U.S. backing.  Aristide was forced out of the country and into exile in 2004 by a rebellion of gangs and former soldiers.  Democratic rule was restored in 2006.  Haiti has been led by President Rene Preval since May 2006 when the country returned to constitutional rule.

Haiti is one of the original members of the United Nations.

Information collated from DEC and other news sources.

Further information and updates are available on http://www.dec.org.uk/item/402, including detail on how aid money is being utilised.