HAITI - Building Transitional Shelters from the Ruins of
Port-au-Prince - IOM has launched its first major pilot
project to build transitional shelters in the ruined neighbourhoods
of Port-au-Prince.
As many as 80 shelters made from plywood, corrugated iron and
concrete foundations may eventually be built to house the community
of Mangeoire, a poor area of the capital’s Pacot district, which
was devastated by the January 12 earthquake.
The operation – agreed after careful negotiations with local
authorities and civic leaders – is a powerful example of how local
communities can be mobilized to clear their rubble-strewn
neighbourhoods and rebuild.
The structures were designed by IOM architects and engineers to
last between 3 and 5 years, and to resist the storms and winds of
Haiti’s rainy season.
The pilot project marks the beginning of a new phase in the
provision of sustainable shelter for as many as 2 million displaced
Haitians. Transitional shelters provide more durable housing than
the tents and tarpaulins that were distributed in the early
emergency phases of the crisis.
It also demonstrates a desirable alternative to relocation, for
those families whose houses and neighbourhoods were destroyed.
Instead of moving to new planned sites within or on the outskirts
of Port-au-Prince, the people of Mangeoire can stay united, close
to their places of work and education.
A cash-for-work scheme administered by the non-governmental
organization ACTED is providing employment for community members to
remove rubble and clean up suitable sites for the building of new
shelters.
“Only one month ago there was no free space to build housing
because of all the rubble,” said Alex Coissac, IOM shelter
coordinator. “You can really see the improvement. The possibility
of building shelters has inspired the local community to increase
the pace of rubble removal.”
Potential land tenure issues were sidestepped by a written
agreement between the beneficiaries and the local community. Dr
Yolene Surena, from Haiti’s Department of Civil Protection (DPC),
visited the first shelters this weekend, and will send DPC
engineers during the coming week for technical monitoring
assessments.
Work has begun on ten shelters in Mangoire, of which five are
almost complete. In the longer term, community leaders estimate as
many as 80 new shelters will be built.
The work is nevertheless complex, due to the challenging
environmental conditions of the former slum neighbourhood.
Operations have already also begun in the Petit Bois area of
Croix-des-Bouquets, with active coordination between the community
and the mayoral office. Work is expected to progress quickly due to
the less challenging layout of the neighbourhood. Forty shelters
have already been constructed, and the pace should accelerate.
In Mangeoire, Elizaire Emmanuel, the joint coordinator of the local
community, said that local residents were pleased to be offered the
chance to go back to their home plots.
“Even though some people say the shelters are a little small,
compared to what they had before, they are happy to go back to
their own place,” he said.
IOM’s Alex Coissac said it was crucial that the creation of new
shelters was a community-driven project. Looking at the complex
array of hills and valleys of Mangoire, he noted: “Every single
place is particular.”
“If you want to do it right, this could take several months –
especially because we need to introduce a concept of urban planning
to the community, in order to better organize this space.”
Duverger Anallia, a resident of more than 20 years whose house was
destroyed, said a local landowner had allowed them to stay in a
nearby camp for a while – but that now it was time to go.
“It’s small, but at the same time we have to go back,” she said.
“It is better than living in a tent.”
She said she had plans for home improvement over the coming weeks,
and that she would continue to run her business from the shelter.
“We do what we do, little by little,” she said.
IOM has received funding for 7,300 shelters through the multi-donor
Emergency Response Relief Fund for Haiti (ERRF), the Government of
Japan and the Government of Sweden. That number could rise as high
as 12,000.
For more information, please contact Mark Turner at IOM Haiti, Tel: +509 37025066/ +509 34906678 Email: mturner@iom.int or markyturner@yahoo.com
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – IOM Assists Haitian Migrants Displaced by the 12 January Earthquake – In coordination with the Government of the Dominican Republic (DR), NGO and UN partners, IOM is providing support to communities hosting displaced Haitians in border areas and return assistance to Haitian earthquake victims in the country.
In coordination with its partners, IOM is providing support to the emergency relief efforts on the Haitian side of the border, through distribution of emergency hygiene and kitchen kits (non-food items) and temporary shelter materials to communities hosting displaced Haitians. NGO partners in this effort include Progressio, Hermanas Juanistas, Casa Caribe, Centro Puente and Colectiva Mujer y Salud.
IOM’s distributions have reached a total of 15,916 persons so far. Large scale distributions are planned for the coming weeks throughout border communities, with special focus on the southern region.
These interventions are carried out with support from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM).
Following the earthquake, thousands of Haitian migrants crossed into the DR, including approximately 20,000 injured Haitians and their accompanying family members seeking medical attention, according to the Ministry of Health. In the months that followed, many have chosen to spontaneously return to their country. To date, IOM has provided travel assistance and non-food items to 261 returning migrants.
Wherever possible, IOM links returning patients with follow-up medical services provided by IOM Haiti and its partners. IOM efforts have been made possible by the Dominican General Directorate of Migration, the Ministry of Interior and Police, and the Haitian Embassy in the DR, through funding from the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM).
IOM is also part of the Protection Working Group in the Dominican Republic and contributed to the Group’s drafting of the “Practical Humanitarian Protocol on Children and Adolescents Made Vulnerable Through Disaster Situations” with the National Council for Children and Adolescents (CONANI). The protocol includes provisions on the rights of migrant children and measures for safe return to their country of origin.
The IOM office in the Dominican Republic has provided assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR) services to vulnerable migrants and victims of trafficking since 2001, including assistance to groups of up to 14 Haitian women who were victims of sexual exploitation.
When the earthquake struck, an IOM AVRR programme was already underway, in cooperation with the General Directorate of Migration and the Ministry of Interior and Police, with financial support from the IOM 1035 facility, which provides support to IOM Developing Member States and Member States with Economy in Transition to develop projects to address particular areas of migration management.
Since its inception in 2001, the 1035 facility has supported over 300 projects and has benefited over 85 Member States.
For more information, please contact Zoe Stopak-Behr at IOM Dominican Republic, Tel: +809.688.8174, Email zstopak-behr@iom.int
