EARTHQUAKE FACT SHEET #11

HAITI - EARTHQUAKE FACT SHEET #11
(ReliefWeb) - Source: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Full_Report (pdf* format - 40.9 Kbytes)

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

· Shelter Cluster members had completed 48,518 transitional shelters (t-shelters) as of February 21, an increase of more than 9,000 t-shelters since mid-January. Of the total t-shelters completed by the humanitarian community to date, 28 percent are located in Léogâne, West Department, and 31 percent are located in Port-au-Prince and Carrefour, which have 8,050 and 7,374 completed t-shelters, respectively.

· On February 23 and 24, USAID/OFDA Director Mark Bartolini visited earthquake programs and discussed preparedness activities in Port-au-Prince. USAID Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg visited USAID/ODFA grantee construction activities in the Ravine Pintade neighborhood on February 16. Both Mr. Bartolini and Mr. Steinberg noted progress despite the challenges of post-earthquake reconstruction.

· The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and U.N. Habitat note that an increasing number of camps, located on private land, are reporting eviction concerns. USAID/OFDA grantees Première Urgence (PU) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) have already negotiated longer-term or alternative occupancy arrangements—such as low, fixed rent payments—with landowners.

Full_Report (pdf* format - 40.9 Kbytes)


NUMBERS AT A GLANCE SOURCE:

Estimated Deaths - 316,000

Verified Number of Displaced Individuals in Settlements - 810,000

Estimated Affected Population - 3 million U.N.

Total USAID, State, and DoD Humanitarian Assistance to Haiti for the Earthquake………………….....$1,183,490,974

CONTEXT

On January 12, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck southern Haiti from an epicenter located 10 miles southwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake killed an estimated 316,000 people and affected approximately 3 million others. On January 13, U.S. Ambassador Kenneth H. Merten declared a disaster due to the effects of the earthquake. In response, the U.S. Government (USG) provided more than $1.1 billion to meet humanitarian needs in Haiti in FY 2010, including nearly $694 million from USAID. The
USAID contribution comprised nearly $368 million from USAID/OFDA, more than $188 million from USAID/FFP, nearly $83 million from USAID/OTI, more than $52 million from USAID/Haiti, and $3 million from USAID/Dominican Republic.

In the year following the earthquake, humanitarian efforts met the immediate needs of earthquake-affected populations by providing safe drinking water, food, household items, shelter, sanitation facilities, and health services. USAID continues to work closely with other USG agencies, the GoH, international organizations, the U.N., and non-governmental organizations to coordinate ongoing efforts and facilitate the transition from emergency relief activities to recovery operations, while addressing identified needs.

SHELTER AND SETTLEMENTS AND PREPAREDNESS

Shelter-focused organizations continue to conduct repairs of houses marked as yellow—those requiring minor or moderate repair. As of February 21, the international community had repaired 1,403 structures of the 6,238 structures currently planned for repair. To date, relief agencies have conducted 789 repairs, more than half of all completed repairs, in Port-au-Prince.

To date, USAID/OFDA-grantee American Refugee Committee (ARC) has completed 160 t-shelters in the Delmas 32 neighborhood in metropolitan Port-au-Prince. ARC expects to complete an additional 50 t-shelters in the coming days, bringing the total completed, in the heavily affected neighborhood, to 210.

On February 25, USAID/OFDA field staff monitored t-shelter programs implemented by grantees CRS and PU in four locations throughout Port-au-Prince. CRS staff reported completing 300 of 850 planned t-shelters in Terrain Toto camp in Port-au-Prince, and continues to complete approximately 60 shelters per week. More than 80 percent of the camp population—850 of the 1,050 families residing in the camp—will receive USAID/OFDAfunded
t-shelters.

On February 23, Mr. Bartolini examined flood mitigation and hurricane preparedness activities, such as newly built retaining walls and repaired drainage canals, implemented by the IOM in the Mangeoire neighborhood of Pacot, Port-au-Prince. As of February 23, IOM had completed 30 of 33 planned retaining walls. Mitigation projects are important for decreasing detrimental effects of the rainy season, which begins in April, on both earthquake and cholera response activities. USAID/OFDA has funded IOM’s hurricane preparedness programming for the past several years.

HEALTH

On March 2, USAID/OFDA staff observed ARC shelter activities and health programs in Port-au-Prince. ARC’s outpatient health clinic in Terrain Acra camp treats approximately 700 to 900 patients per week, the majority of whom come from outside the camp, according to ARC. The clinic, which treats common illnesses and provides services and medicine free of charge, has a pharmacy and a laboratory capable of basic testing, including blood and urine samples.

According to ARC, the GoH has requested that ARC continue operating the clinic and has asked ARC to help strengthen two additional neighborhood clinics. To date, USAID/OFDA has provided more than $4.5 million to ARC for earthquake-related water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and shelter and settlement activities.

More information can be found at:

USAID: www.usaid.gov/haiti

Information on relief activities of the humanitarian community can be found at http://www.reliefweb.int/

USAID/OFDA bulletins appear on the USAID web site at: http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/disaster_assistance/