Haiti: Two Months On

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI — Two months on from the earthquake that devastated Haiti, Action Against Hunger| ACF International continues to ensure that survivors have the basics for survival. Already providing food and water to tens of thousands of survivors, our teams are racing against time to prepare for yet another challenge – the rainy season. Sanitation and the distribution of shelter are now paramount to ensure the humanitarian situation does not deteriorate further.  

Update from Port-au-Prince 

Action Against Hunger is providing services in clean water, nutrition, sanitation and hygiene to more than 100,000 people in some 40 camps in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas including Leogane, Mergie and Gressier. 

• Clean Water: Action Against Hunger has installed 49 large water reservoirs and seven water stations that are providing 740,000 litres of safe drinking water to over 75,000 people daily

• Sanitation: 600 latrines equipped with hand-washing stations have been installed, and 100 staff members are conducting public awareness campaigns on  best hygiene practices in emergency settings

• Nutrition Services: A dozen makeshift tents are now operational providing nearly 750 mothers and their young children with a safe setting for breastfeeding, as well as counselling and psycho-social support. The large majority of women are repeat visitors and have received vital support either through group discussions, or in individual sessions. Action Against Hunger is also providing 40 infants whose mothers were killed or injured in the earthquake with nutritional support  

• Distribution:  Action Against Hunger has distributed 62 tons of high-protein biscuits benefiting some 60,000 people. Action Against Hunger has also distributed kits containing blankets, tarps, buckets, soap, toothbrushes and other basic hygiene materials to more than 30,000 people sheltering in the temporary camps.

• Boosting the Local Economy: Action Against Hunger launched a “cash-for-work” programme to benefit some 2,400 Port-au-Prince residents, who are clearing roads and doing other critical recovery jobs in anticipation of the rainy season.

Sanitation Critical as Rainy Season Approaches

At the onset of seasonal rains in Haiti, Action Against Hunger is ramping up its emergency sanitation and hygiene programems as the risk of disease outbreaks grows. The organisation is rushing to build latrines and conduct public awareness campaigns in displacement camps where sanitary conditions will likely deteriorate in the coming weeks due to flooding that typically arrives in the early spring.

“Many Port-au-Prince neighborhoods lack drainage systems to handle unsanitary debris deposited by flooding and are extremely vulnerable to mudslides because they’re located on steep hillsides,” says Lucile Grosjean of Action Against Hunger. “It’s a race against time to get sanitation infrastructure in place and train residents to take health precautions during this critical period.”

The raised-platform latrines, managed by local residents recruited by ACF in the camps, are equipped with hand-washing stations and a hundred ACF staff members are providing instruction in best hygiene and sanitation practices in vulnerable areas across the city. 

Strengthening programmes in the cities of Port-de-Paix and Gonaives

More than 500,000 people affected by the quake have left Port-au-Prince to take refuge with their families in other regions of Haiti. This has increased the number of those in need of help across the rest of the island. Action Against Hunger’s teams, already present in Gonaives and Port-de-Paix since 2001, have reinforced the programmes that were in place before the earthquake struck. This includes the treatment of severely malnourished children, waste management, building latrines, providing access to drinking water, and the technical and logistical support of hospitals and health centres. 

Support received 

The budget for Action Against Hunger's Haiti operation currently amasses €16.5 million. These funds have been designated to the emergency phase of our operation and long-term recovery programmes. 

30% of all funds, €5.4 million, have come from private donors, with the remainder from institutional donors and trusts. On 10th March, nearly €2.5 million had been spent. 

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