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This vulnerability is greatly influenced and exacerbated by
the country's poverty, continuous state of complex emergency
and environmental degradation.
Haiti is the poorest and only Least Developed country in the
Western Hemisphere. A vicious circle of poverty, political and
economic instability, violence, and lack of infrastructure are
some of the most pressing underlying causes for the country's
low level of preparedness. Without political stability and sufficient
economic resources, virtually no attention has been geared toward
the effective operation of Haiti's national meteorological component,
an early warning system and disaster reduction. Environmental
degradation, too, poses a serious problem. Widespread deforestation,
partly caused by the country's charcoal production, shows a
direct increase in the risk of floods and landslides.
The most recent serious disaster in Haiti occurred in September
2004 when Tropical Storm Jeanne caused flash floods and mudslides.
These floods caused the loss of 3000 lives, affected approximately
300,000 people, destroyed around 4500 houses and cut the access
roads to many villages for days. Just a few months earlier,
in May 2004, 17 hours of continuous rain caused flash floods
and landslides. More than 100,000 people were affected and
some 1700 houses destroyed. Smaller scale disasters occur
frequently, also causing enormous impacts on the population
and on economic assets.
Following the civil unrest and political crisis of the beginning
of 2004, the United Nations Security Council, on April 30,
2004, created the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in
Haiti to assist in restoring political order and economic
recovery. An Interim Cooperation Framework was set up for
the transition period 2004-2006. This led to the creation
of 10 thematic groups on priority issues, one of which is
the Thematic Environmental Group. This group has outlined
three priority interventions involving environmental management:
1) reduction of pressure on wood resources, 2) improved environmental
resource management and planning, and 3) sustainable and integrated
disaster risk management through the implementation of a National
Risk and Disaster Management Plan.
The national civil protection agency is in charge of risk
and disaster management activities. The system has several
coordination levels and includes 10 ministries and the Haitian
Red Cross. It is headed by the National Committee of Risk
and Disaster Management, led by the Ministry of Interior.
The Directorate of Civil Protection supports the Ministry
of Interior in this function. A second level of coordination
is at the technical and executive level where executives of
ministries and agencies meet to form the Permanent Secretariat
of Risk and Disaster Management, led by the General Directorate
of the Ministry of Interior.
Under the transitional
government established in February 2004, disaster management
has been assigned directly to the Directorate of Civil Protection.
The government intends to increase the capacity of this directorate
by transforming it into a General Directorate. Its role is
expected to go beyond disaster assistance by setting up an
active programme of mitigation. It plans to establish a national
risk reduction strategy and supervise mitigation and preparedness
activities of the different ministries and organisations.
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