Disaster Relief

Early last month, back to back to back hurricanes devastated Haiti--the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. As always happens when a natural disaster strikes a developing country, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs issues an flash appeal to which member states pledge funds for humanitarian relief and reconstruction. The problem, though, is that member states sometimes pledge funds, but are slow to actually deliver. Alternatively, member states simply do not respond to the appeal at all. This latter seem be happening in Haiti. So far, only 40% of the $107 million appeal has been pledged. According to the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes, this is not going to cut it.

"Even that 40 per cent is nowhere near enough of what we're going to need for the next six months or so for people in Gonaives, and Gonaives is not the only place affected by any stretch of the imagination," Mr. Holmes said on his return from a two-day visit to Haiti, which was hammered by four successive storms in as many weeks from mid-August to mid-September... Gonaives, the hardest-hit city, is still a "dramatic and grim site" even six weeks after the last hurricane hit, said Mr. Holmes. Some 30,000 people are still taking refuge in city shelters, which are very often ill-equipped schools, and some of those who have gone back to their homes are camping on roofs and in courtyards. There is a large new lake just outside Gonaives, which did not exist before and now covers the bridge and roads leading to the city, and living conditions have been made even more difficult by huge amounts of mud and stagnant water. "If urgent action is not taken on the disaster risk reduction front, then we're simply going to see more tragedies in the future," warned Mr. Holmes.

If you are interested in helping out, Yele Haiti (Wyclef Jean's NGO), and the World Food Program have established a Haiti Storm Relief Fund. Still, there is a limit to what NGOs can do. Member states need to step up. (Photo of Gonaives after Hurricane Hanna. From Flickr. Photo credit to Logan Abassi (MINUSTAH) )

Three weeks after back to back hurricanes devastated the Gonaives region of Haiti, many residents are still homeless and still living on their roofs. UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador (and blogger) Mia Farrow visited Gonaives a week after the storms slammed the city. At CGI last week, World Food Programme Director Josette Sheeran announced that she would travel to Gonaives to see the devastation first hand. She now reports that "Haiti's misery index is rising" and that WFP needs $54 million for food, logistics and emergency telecommunications to meet urgent hunger needs.

"The US, Japan, EC, Switzerland and Canada have stepped up with almost $11 million and we can meet urgent food needs until the end of November. Despite this show of generosity from many nations, we need more help so we can continue with the emergency operation and our other programmes here that will contribute to the longer-term solution President Préval and the people of Haiti so desperately need," she said. Almost one month after the disaster struck destroying roads and 3,000 houses, three million cubic metres of mud still need to be removed from the city. Fifty thousand people continue to take refuge in shelters.

Here is how you can help.

By Oisin Walton I am among the two teams of Telecoms Sans Frontieres (TSF) emergency telecommunications specialists who deployed to Haiti as it was hit by four cyclones--Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike--all in less than a month. TSF's teams deployed from bases in Nicaragua and in France to support communications both among humanitarian relief workers, and for Haitians who had been driven from their homes by flood waters. The hub of humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti is in Gonaives, a northern city that has been mostly destroyed by the hurricanes. Local authorities estimate that as many nearly 56,000 families have been affected by the cyclones, and living conditions here are extremely difficult. Although water levels in Gonaives' streets have lowered, mud has taken over. Gonaives is surrounded by hills devastated by deforestation, triggering mudslides that pour into the city. Daily storms make removing mud from homes and roads impossible, and aid agencies fear the stagnating water will spread diseases if it is not removed quickly.

By Adele Waugaman Exactly one month ago I offered this guest post about the deployment of emergency telecommunications specialists to Georgia to help reconnect communications and communities in the aftermath of the conflict in the breakaway region of South Ossetia that injured hundreds, and displaced tens of thousands from their homes. The UN Foundation-Vodafone Foundation Technology Partnership supported two teams of telecommunications specialists that deployed immediately to affected areas -- Télécoms Sans Frontièrs (TSF), an NGO specializing in post-emergency communications, and World Food Programme (WFP) the UN's lead agency tasked with security communications. See TSF at work in Georgia here: And learn about the WFP'S special program, funded by the Technology Partnership, to improve ICT coordination for humanitarian aid workers, like those deployed to Georgia, and more recently, Haiti, here.

by Adele Waugaman It is important to remember that the Russian incursion into Georgia on August 8 has created not only a complex political situation but a humanitarian emergency that requires immediate attention. Aerial bombings and street fighting injured many and displaced waves of up to 100,000 civilians, according to estimates by the UN refugee agency. And, as we attempt to put the pieces back together, both the political negotiations and the humanitarian efforts will need world attention and support. In recent days, both the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the non-profit group Télécoms Sans Frontiéres (TSF) have mobilized their emergency telecommunications services in support of the humanitarian relief efforts underway.

Yesterday, Mark cited a UNICEF report on the abhorrent crimes committed against children in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Via FP Passport, though, I came across this somewhat surprising article in the Christian Science Monitor, describing that, even according to the UN force operating in Haiti, the situation is not quite as bad as it seems:

Kidnappings, gang violence, drug trafficking, corrupt police, flaming road blockades. The reports out of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere are enough to keep the most adventurous traveler away. But according to security experts and officials from the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Port-au-Prince, Haiti is no more violent than any other country in Latin America. "It's a big myth," says Fred Blaise, spokesman for the UN police force in Haiti. "Port-au-Prince is no more dangerous than any big city. You can go to New York and get pickpocketed and held at gunpoint. The same goes for cities in Mexico or Brazil." Haiti's negative image has devastated its economy, whose once-booming tourism industry is now limited largely to aid workers, peacekeepers, and diplomats. But UN data indicate that the country could be among the safest in the region.

While such data does not diminish the reprehensible nature of any number of kidnappings and rapes -- nor is it entirely reassuring to think that one may "only" be "pickpocketed and and held at gunpoint" -- there does seem to be some degree of sensationalism in reporting rampant violence in Haiti. The situation there is still intolerable, with hundreds of thousands suffering from hunger and extreme poverty, but perhaps a little tourism would help Haitians more than it might put travelers at risk.

The tandem natural disasters in Myanmar and China raise again the terrible complexity of dealing with large scale catastrophes and, as the case of Myanmar so clearly demonstrates, the importance of getting relief experts on the ground early. For that reason I want to highlight a training program, run by the World Food Programme and supported by the Vodafone Group Foundation and the UN Foundation, for telecommunications "first responders" who provide emergency communications to the entire relief community during humanitarian disasters. Twenty hand-picked information and communications team (ICT) leaders graduated last last month from the two-week program, designed to standardize best practices throughout the community. "Best practices" probably sounds to most like an empty phrase used by those far removed from the action. But, when you've just been deployed to a foreign country that has had its infrastructure destroyed by disaster and where there are few points of reference, it is an absolute necessity. Recent trainee Torbjorn Soderberg blogs on his experiences after the jump. John Bursa, a graduate of the 2007 training program and a Regional Telecommunications Officer for the UN World Food Programme (WFP) recently recorded the podcast below in Yangon, Myanmar, on efforts to reconnect communications and communities in the aftermath of the deadly Cyclone Nagris.

The World Food Program runs the Humanitarian Air Service (HAS), which are those white UN transport aircraft that you see braving humanitarian emergencies in far off places on earth. HAS is funded in part by charging fees to other humanitarian agencies for service. But the bulk of its operating budget comes from voluntary contributions from member states. This year, however, the funds just are not keeping pace with the number of global humanitarian emergencies. To date, donors have only provided $13.2 million in confirmed contributions to WFP-HAS, or about 17 % of the required $77 million. (The United States has contributed $3.25 million, the European Commission $4.5 million.) What does this shortfall mean? WFP today announced immediate cuts to its Sudan fleet, where HAS transports thousands of aid workers to remote locations in Darfur where it is too dangerous to travel by road. Flights will not be resumed unless the WFP comes up with $20 million by Sunday. Kenro Oshidari, the WFP's representative in Sudan, is not pleased.

"Undoubtedly, this is a blow to the humanitarian effort in Sudan. The impact will be felt by vulnerable people who depend on the international community for crucial services," he said, adding the cuts will also reduce the ability to respond to urgent medical evacuation requests and staff relocations because of insecurity. Last year, WFP-HAS carried out 267 security and medical evacuations.

Unless member states immediate pony up the cash, humanitarian access to much of Darfur will be seriously disrupted. Perhaps this is finally the time to put our money where out mouth is? (Photo retrieved from WFP here.)