Who in the name of God is in charge?

The Irish Daily Star

02/02/10

THE easiest way to describe the international response to humanitarian disasters is to imagine a giant octopus flaying about without a head. Because the tentacles are in constant motion there is a perception that things are being done; but a closer look reveals what we are seeing is movement not meaningful action.

On the ground in Haiti the pace of activity is frantic, but as usual it has been impossible to keep pace with the problems. The power of nature to destroy always seems to surprise us but in many ways the ability of man to compound a disastrous situation is even more shocking.

According to President Rene Preval 20,000 commercial premises and 225,000 homes have been completely destroyed, that’s not taking account of the hospitals, schools, roads and the broader damage to the country’s infrastructure. The quake struck with the force of a hammer to a glass.
We know that there is a dire emergency; we also know that despite the outstanding efforts of aid agencies on the ground – GOAL is feeding 15,000 people and every other NGO on the scene is working around the clock – but the truth is, all of our efforts combined would still not be nearly enough such is the level of need.

Massive disasters demand massive global responses. The world needs an emergency rapid response force ready to be dispatched when catastrophe strikes. We are facing the third week since the quake, the world’s media is already packing up and moving on to the next big story; the worry is that Haiti’s nightmare will soon be forgotten.

The chaotic scenes from the country continue; starving people fight to be fed, the camps are dangerously overcrowded and there is shamefully no over-arching chain of command with authority to take control.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates that between 900,000 and 1.1 million people are in acute need of emergency shelter, most of them in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

"We cannot come up with tents for up to 700,000 people - we simply do not have them at hand," explained a UN spokesman. Providing shelter for the hundreds of thousands of Haitians displaced is one of the biggest challenges for the aid community. Providing security for aid, and sanitation in the camps to contain the spread of disease, is also becoming critical.

On the ground the situation is quite pathetic; Haitians continue to take shelter huddled under sheets, blankets and curtains, often in unsanitary conditions. Bad as this is, the situation is certain to get much worse with the rainy season due to start in April. This will be followed by the hurricane season; so we are losing the unequal race against time to arrange proper accommodation.

An immediate priority will be to assist the thousands living in ramshackle settlements until there are enough tents on the ground. "Tents are a three-five month option in the midst of the dry season. But emergency and transitional shelter solutions to last at least two years need to be found before the heavy rains arrive in a few months," said Vincent Houver, IOM chief in Haiti.

In many devastated areas heavy equipment is still needed to bulldoze the ground so more camps can be set up. Surveyors and engineers are desperately needed to ensure camps have adequate drainage and sanitary conditions, but who is to provide them?

As is always the case, it is the women and children who are hit hardest. At least 10,000 pregnant women affected by the disaster will give birth in the next month. Around 1,500 will face life-threatening complications during their deliveries, which will be more dangerous than usual because of the lack of health facilities and clean water. Once more the burning question is; who is to take responsibility? The country’s inadequate health service has been practically wiped out.

The Irish people, like other nations, have opened up their hearts to help the people of Haiti in there hour of most desperate need. I would implore our Government to channel this wave of compassion, and to drive a global campaign to get the UN to fill the leadership vacuum that is exacting such a toll on the world’s impoverished.

The world has no structure or entity to which it can entrust the handling of a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe. Yet when there is a security issue, or a strategic interest is threatened; there is no delay in organizing a fully-equipped UN mission. Once more it would appear that when the lives of the poor are on the line the appetite for international action is never matched by a meaningful global intervention that could potentially save millions of lives.

Despite the massive casualty figures and the horrendous tolls taken by disasters both man-made and natural, the “global community” refuses to learn the lessons. For 32 years visiting heart-wrenching scenes on behalf of GOAL, I have found myself asking the same question: “Who in the name of God is in charge?”

The people of Haiti deserve an answer.

- John O'Shea