ACT Situation Report

Haiti 0104

Assistance to Flood Victims in Gonaives, Haiti – LAHT43

Geneva, November 19, 2004

Information provided by Michael Kuehn, Lutheran World Federation - Caribbean/Haiti

Security and political situation

Since the events that started on September 30 with the killing of 25 police officers, the U.N. has declared a security phase 3 (out of 5) for its staff. This includes repatriation of unnecessary staff and family members.

In Port-au-Prince, the general situation continues to be tense with reported shootings and gang attacks on police and civilians. The national police (PNH), with support of the United Nations Stabilization Mission, MINUSTAH, is trying to control the situation in affected areas without presentable success. The private sector and schools stand ready to close their doors when the situation deteriorates. On November 15, killings continued even in Petion Ville, where civilians were shot in cold blood in the middle of the day. Kidnappings in Petion Ville also continue to happen, making going out after 6:00 p.m. a risk. Kidnappers use police vehicles (or identical ones), stop cars for checks and beat and take the person.

Since the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on February 29, members of the ex-FAD’H (Haitian Armed Forces), dismantled by Aristide in 1992, have attempted to gain a strong role in the nation’s security in order to be recognized by the current transitional government. This leads to additional tension and violence.

In Gonaives, the security situation until recently has been tense with intensive armed gang activities affecting aid organizations’ work. Humanitarian convoys were attacked by angry mobsters throwing stones very recently, and trucks were hijacked and looted at the entrance of Gonaives. Lately, however, the situation seems to have calmed down as food and water distribution in Gonaives has resumed. But this situation can change at anytime. At least in the meantime, most of the key areas of the city are dry, with only some quarters still with flood waters, but there is still need for food and water as local governance does not exist.

Food distributions by other organizations have not been targeted due to lack of distribution structures. Distributions have taken place on open roads, where the strongest can get items and the weaker, children, elderly and women were left behind. LWF-Haiti is using a network of local churches that allows it to target beneficiaries more directly and assure the proper use of distributed items.

The rest of the country remains calm. However, there are reports that PNH and MINUSTAH forces continue to conduct search operations to arrest gang heads and to register numerous shooting incidents.

Relief activities

Due to the security situation in Port-au-Prince and Gonaives, preparation for and implementation of emergency operations have been hampered, as displacements for evaluations and delivery of food and non-food items were interrupted or made impossible.

In order to respond to the specific needs of the affected population in Gonaives after Hurricane Jeanne struck the north of the country on September 18, ACT Haiti, composed of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Protestant Federation of Haiti (FPH), Christian Service of Haiti (SCH) and Diakonie of Germany, launched ACT appeal LAHT43.

For the immediate, emergency phase (crisis phase), the operational plan foresees the distribution of food, potable water and medicines.

Food security

To respond to the emergency food situation, ACT Haiti has established contact with the League of Evangelical Churches in Gonaives (ALEG). ALEG identified as target groups those suffering the most and those sheltered in its churches. A first order of 1,000 food buckets has been delivered to Gonaives and distributed to 1,000 families through 20 churches. Each family is composed of 5 people, and each bucket contains a ration for 7 days.

However, the absence and lack of authority of the state, sparking violence and looting, has seriously complicated the distribution process. All humanitarian institutions working in that city face serious difficulties in assisting beneficiaries, who are in quite a desperate state. The Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) therefore called upon the MINUSTAH forces to assist and protect all humanitarian convoys going from Port-au-Prince to Gonaives.

CARE-Haiti, the only NGO having permanent presence in Gonaives and with adequate logistical capacity, has opened its warehouse to store all shipments coming from all sectors working in the humanitarian field. ACT has used CARE’s warehouse to store its food buckets before distributing them to the church communities.

ACT Haiti has positioned a logistician in Gonaives who is following the implementation of the work and is supervising the distribution on the ground in coordination with the church committee. At the beginning of the activities, the pastors faced severe problems in reaching the warehouse and leaving with the food buckets as armed and violent people were standing directly in front of the door.

Another problem that has been resolved in the meantime is related to the fact that use of the CARE warehouse has given the impression that the items distributed came from CARE and not from ACT, although ACT stickers and labels are visible on the food buckets. However, ACT Haiti decided therefore to use the Church of Eben-Ezer that is located at the main entrance of the city and therefore not an object of violent attacks as a storage place. As a result of ACT actions, at least 5,000 people have already benefited from the food buckets.

In order to increase transparency of the purchasing process, open bidding has been launched in newspapers in order to avoid having only one supplier. Two bidders have been retained, and a new contract has been signed for the follow-up of the activities. As a consequence, the price per bucket dropped to US$31 (from US$35).

Potable water

ACT member Norwegian Church Aid committed itself during a visit to Haiti immediately after the emergency in Gonaives to contribute to the response to the disaster areas with two water-purification units and a water and sanitation specialist to install the units and to train people on how to use them. Unfortunately, and although the delivery took place immediately, the units could be freed from customs only on October 26, after other NGOs had already installed similar units in the area of Gonaives. Regarding the state of emergency announced by the government to facilitate relief to victims, the authorities have done nothing to accelerate the clearance of goods through customs. Although the needs for potable water are still tremendous, no adequate place for the units has been identified. The units therefore remain in the possession of LWF-Haiti (for ACT Haiti). The water and sanitation expert sent from Norway arrived on October 10 and left Haiti October 29, two days after the units arrived. He assisted two missions to Gonaives and trained one technician on the units on October 27 and 28.

The actual plan concerning potable water is based on the need for water for schools. ACT Haiti will provide potable water to 20 schools over a period of six weeks, attending a total of 6,000 pupils.

Health kits and medicines

Rapid action has also been taken by ACT member Church World Service with a shipment of 200 cartons of health kits and 57 cartons of medicines to Haiti. The health kits can serve 10,000 people. The cases arrived after customs clearance at the LWF office on November 14. Again, and in spite of the state of emergency, the Haitian bureaucracy delayed the process of customs clearance.

According to the spirit of cooperation with ALEG and the solidarity action with Gonaives, ACT Haiti proposed coordination and assistance to the Civil Protection Office to support hospitals and the public health centers in the affected area.

Other activities

Currently ACT Haiti is planning to introduce cash-for-work activities for the reopening of schools. ALEG has chosen the best way to start with the cleaning of the schools, which until recently were facing difficulties with the mud accumulating from landslides.

ACT has invited members of ALEG to a consultation on December 2 and 3 in order the analyze the situation in Gonaives and the capacity of local actors in the absence of the state. The objective is to reinforce the structural capacities of ALEG. A presentation of Sphere standards will be part of the consultation.

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