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Sitrep 1 May 2012
Sitrep 1 May 2012
HEADLINES
Situation Update
Political: With President Martelly recently hospitalized in the United States for surgery on a pulmonary embolism, Haiti experienced a political void resulting from the failure to appoint a new Prime Minister since the resignation of Gary Conille in February. Cholera: With the rainy season underway, there has been an increase in the number of cholera cases. As of early April, the total number of people who contracted cholera since October 2010 was 534,647, of which 7,091 have died. Displacement: According to the IOM, despite a gradual decrease in the camp population from 1.5 million in 2010, almost 500,000 Haitians still live in 660 displacement camps around Port-au-Prince. Emergency preparedness: A series of evaluations conducted by UNICEF and partners reveal that there are still high zones of vulnerability in areas with lower access to services. 85 per cent of contingency stock in support of the RRM has already been pre-positioned.
Cholera Cases
534,647
Impact on Children One in Eight patients is a child under-five (12%)
Displacement
490,545
people in camps (5% decrease) IDPs/commune Delmas 21%
Carrefour 13% Tabarre 9% Petion-Ville 8% Port-au-Prince 21% Leogane 6% Other 22%
Forced Eviction
94,632
people in camps threatened with eviction
One in Five
Source: MSPP, IOM, OCHA1
UNICEF/Haiti/2011/Dormino
HUMANITARIAN UPDATE
Slight Change in the Number of IDPs
According to the latest IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) report, the total number of vulnerable individuals living in camps is now less than 500,000. The population living in camps decreased from 515,961 in January 2012 to 490,545 individuals (or 120,791 IDP households) in 660 IDP sites in earthquake affected areas in February, a 5 per cent decrease. Since the beginning of the displacement crisis, the majority of the displaced population, about 60 per cent (72,152 households) has resided in 52 of the larger sites of over 500 households. These 52 sites represent only 8 per cent of all sites confirming the trend already observed in previous reports of increased concentration in large camps.
As of February:
Ministry of Health (MSPP) recorded 77 daily new cases for the whole country.
Political Situation
The political situation in Haiti remains volatile. On 24 February, Haitis Prime Minister, Gary Conille, resigned after weeks of mounting tension with President Michel Martelly and his cabinet. Gary Conille, who served as Prime Minister for only four months, was Mr. Martellys third choice and the only one who met with approval from a Parliament dominated by political opposition. The Prime Minister-designate, Laurent Lamothe, is currently the subject of a Senate commission investigating allegations that he holds dual nationality. The political environment is also complicated by recent allegations of corruption against a Dominican senator whose companies won millions of dollars in construction contracts in postearthquake Haiti after allegedly making contributions to President Martellys campaign. The turbulent political situation has the potential to delay programme implementation.
490,545
people are living in camps
660
registered camps
94,632
people are threatened with eviction
396
camps under threat of forced eviction
Security
UN staff members continue to face a range of security threats due to the challenging environment. The overall statistics for serious crime show an increase. There has only been one case of kidnapping affecting international UN staff though the threat posed to the families of national staff members remains high. Over the last months, the emergence of paramilitary groups, coupled with an ongoing campaign to reinstitute the Haitian Armed Forces (FADH) and the unopposed occupation of former military facilities, have been of concern. The total number of these so-called ex-FADH members is estimated at about 3,500.
Forced evictions
Since the emergence of camps in January 2010, there have been 396 IDP sites in 12 communes that have faced threats of eviction. A total of 10 camps were evicted during the last two months, affecting 1,395 people. Approximately 94,632 individuals are currently living under threat of eviction, representing almost 20 per cent of all people currently living in the camps in Haiti. The UN continues to promote a voluntary and dignified return for displaced persons and to coordinate interventions in return areas.
Emergency preparedness
During the reporting period, UNICEF and partners conducted evaluations in eight departments to assess zones of vulnerability to risks and natural hazards. Results indicated high levels of vulnerability in zones with lower access to services, particularly in the South and GrandeAnse Departments. This mapping exercise has underlined the need to pre-position stock to facilitate emergency response and highlighted the importance of working collaboratively with local authorities and the community to prepare an emergency response. The pre-positioning of essential supplies in the event of an emergency by UNICEFs Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) partners in the South, South-East, Atribonite and North Departments is almost 85 per cent finalised. 2 2
Education
Ensuring quality education
Since the beginning of the academic school year in October 2011, the education sector in Haiti has witnessed an unprecedented increase in enrollment through the free and compulsory education programme (PSUGO) initiated by President Martelly. According to the Government, 903,000 children are currently benefiting from the free education programme, including many children who have been out of school for years, or have never been to school.
Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MENFP) to cover the entire primary education curriculum in three to four years.
UNICEF/Haiti/2011/Dormino
Education Cluster
As part of the transition plan for the Education Cluster, a disaster risk management unit was set up in March within the Ministry of Education, owing to consistent advocacy by UNICEF. This marks a significant step towards strengthening the national capacity to prevent, prepare and respond to emergencies and to coordinate external actors. The Education Cluster is also working with IOM for advocacy on the exit of displaced or vulnerable persons occupying 18 national schools.
11 year old Naika Civil and Lucien Schnaider pose for a photo at the national school in Tabarre, Port au Prince. Both Naika and Lucien couldn't go to school for two years due to the fact that their parents couldn't afford it. This year they are two of many beneficiaries of the new Haitian Government initiative for a free education.
To support the free and compulsory education programme, UNICEF distributed age-appropriate material, including school bags, notebooks and pens, to some 750,000 children throughout the country. A nationwide monitoring exercise undertaken by UNICEF covering 136 schools in all departments indicated a high satisfaction rate (above 80 per cent) among teachers, school directors and children. To address the problem of the high prevalence of over-age children both in and out of school, on 14 March UNICEF supported a national workshop involving 60 stakeholders to engage in a policy dialogue on integration of over -age out-of-school children and improvement of the accelerated programme, provided by the
UNICEF Haiti HAITI: 15th 27th MAY 2010 2012 UNICEF IN Quarterly Report: January-March
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Prince are not fulfilling their right to education and are becoming increasingly vulnerable. To protect schools with insufficient infrastructure from the imminent rainy, cyclone season, more than 100 schools will benefit from the distribution of temporary learning space tents. In May, UNICEF will begin the construction of 16 permanent schools, in partnership with the Government of Belgium, the Ministry of Education, local education officials and communities themselves. Considering the challenges of construction in remote areas during the rainy season, this project will require strong oversight, dedicated logistics and coordination and a flexible problem-solving approach to remain on schedule.
Child Protection
Social and legal protection
To strengthen national systems that regulate and manage the process of inter-country adoption, UNICEF provided technical assistance to the Government-led technical group that is revising current adoption legislation. A proposal for amendments that will afford children a greater level of protection was finalized by the group on 2 March 2012. UNICEF is also providing technical support to strengthen IBESR, the national child protection agency. During the reporting period, UNICEF provided financial and technical assistance to the process of documenting all children in residential care to facilitate their family tracing and reunification. To date, 16,000 children have been registered and 3,516 children have been reunified with their families. UNICEF has also supported IBESR to register and evaluate all residential care centres and the first ever directory listing all residential care centres as well as their condition is now being used by partners in the sector. To date, 720 residential care centres have been identified, and 351 centres evaluated (an increase from 336 at the end of 2011). UNICEF has also provided technical and financial support to IBESR in the delicate task of closing centres where children are abused and neglected. In January IBESR, together with the child sensitive police BPM, closed three centres and placed the children in temporary care facilities where they received medical and psycho-social care. With UNICEF support, a technical group was formed within the Ministry of Justice to review the cases of children in detention for suitability for a presidential pardon
A child sits on her bed at the interim care centre L'escale, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
because of prolonged pre-trial detention. Currently, 80 per cent of the 350 children in detention in Haiti are held under pre-trial measures. Since January 2012, UNICEF distributed 500 education kits to 18 prisons most of the kits were transferred to CERMICOL, the boys prison in Port au Prince where at least 118 boys are detained, 101 of them under pre-trial detention. Together with Office of for the Protection of Citizens (OPC), UNICEF conducted monitoring visits to two main childrens prisons in Port-auPrince, the BPM child detention space, and residential care centres to check conditions, resulting in the release of 25 children from prison. With UNICEF support, police officers from the Child Protection Brigade from five departments worked at the four main borders points and more than 20 police stations on cases of children in contact with the law, as well as cases of children travelling from Haiti to the Dominican Republic and vice versa. In total, 200 cases were seen by the police officers; out of these, 20 were alleged cases of trafficking at Belladere and 28 were rape cases.
UNICEF IN HAITI: 15th 27th MAY 2010 UNICEF Haiti Quarterly Report: January-March 2012
UNICEF/Haiti/2011/Dormino
generally vulnerable to multiple forms of violence and abuse, including physical and emotional abuse, domestic violence, armed and sexual violence even before the earthquake. Gender-based violence also remains a concern throughout the country, without bias to location or social standing. With funding from the Central Emergency Response Fund, UNICEF will work together with IOM and UNHCR on the prevention, response, and monitoring gender based violence (GBV) specifically within the remaining camps in Port au Prince. UNICEF will work in partnership with the NGO SOFA to reinforce the capacities of community based organizations to orient GBV survivors to available services, and with the BPM to monitor the situation relating to GBV against minors and women in the camps.
3 year old Michel [name changed] cries at the UNICEF supported Soeurs Saint-Jean center in the northern city of Ouanaminthe. The center provides temporary care for trafficking child victims.
UNICEF/Haiti/2011/Casares
children in the community. UNICEFs support to PCI and the formation of Child Protection Committees (which are comprised of community volunteers trained to identify, refer and care for vulnerable children), is an example of the transition of community-based child protection services from camps to communities. In partnership with UNICEF, the NGO Bibliothques sans Frontires is producing 300 mobile libraries (boite a histoires) containing 100 childrens books, educational materiel and a guide in French and Creole on animation techniques to promote reading for children ages 8 to 17 years. From 26 March to 5 April, 30 women worked to assemble the kits at the UNICEF warehouse or distribution to UNICEF partners working with children in residential care centres, community centers, Child Friendly Spaces, community libraries and drop in centres for children on the streets. These activities are integrated into overall efforts to improve the quality of therapeutic and educative services in Child Friendly Spaces, supported by the US Fund for UNICEF and the Charles Egelheart Foundation.
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Prince, UNICEF in partnership with IOM has installed a total of 1,257 household toilets and 10 community toilets, and repaired 45 toilets (90 per cent of the target). Some 1,400 people have been trained on the construction of toilets and 23,000 people have benefitted from hygiene promotion sessions. With UNICEF support, NGO SIF is working in the reconstruction of systems for the distribution of potable water in five camps and in return zones in Carrefour, Petionville and Port au Prince, providing 12,670 people with safe drinking water. 11,085 people in 11 sites benefitted from the rehabilitation of drainage canals, as well as the de-sludging of 103 chemical latrines. In January, with UNICEF support, SIF distributed hygiene kits to a total of 5,158 families, reaching a total of 25,790 men, women and children. Between January and February, UNICEF ensured desludging services in 100 sites in the Port au Prince metropolitan area. Between March and October 2012, UNICEF will use funds from CERF to cover some 359 sites, benefitting 400,000 people. This massive desludging service will be operated by a private sector company whose performance will be monitored by UNICEF and DINEPA.
On 23 March, UNICEF Country Representative Francoise Gruloos launched the 2012 State of the Worlds Children report, which focuses on children in urban areas, during a visit to the slum Cit l'Eternel, where UNICEF partner GRET and local committees are improving water supply in kiosks and conduct management training. UNICEF and GRET are working together in 53 disadvantaged zones in Port-au-Prince to improve water supply and access to water for approximately 800,000 people.
UNICEF/Haiti/2011
WASH Cluster
Since the end of 2011, the WASH Cluster Coordination Unit has continued to empower DINEPA in humanitarian emergency coordination and effective information management, including support to develop WASH Contingency Departmental Plans in five departments and defining a contingency plan for the West Department in March 2012. The WASH Cluster has also provided advocacy and planning support for the establishment of the newly created Emergency Response Department in DINEPA. The WASH Cluster has also worked to reinforce information management capacities (data collection, analysis and reporting) for emergency and development response in DINEPAs National Observatory, and has supported coordination of cholera response activities.
Emergency WASH
In displaced person return zones in Port au
UNICEF Haiti Quarterly Report: January-March 2012 UNICEF IN HAITI: 15th 27th MAY 2010
of Family in four departments to evaluate technical levels in eight maternity wards and hospitals to identify gaps and improve the quality of maternal and neonatal treatment. This will permit the purchase of additional medical equipment needed to enhance the capacity of facilities to provide maternal and newborn care upon finalisation in April. With UNICEF support, a methodology for a study on the causes of neonatal deaths in Haiti was finalised. The study, which will be conducted by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the University Hospital of Haiti, will measure why, when and where births take place, with the aim of better understanding the causes of death in newborn infants, including lack of access to care and little knowledge of families on danger signs in newborns ,to enable more accurate preventive responses to addressing and minimising neonatal death. Together with UNFPA and WHO, UNICEF has finalised an integrated communication plan for reproductive health with Nippes Department to use peer education as the main behaviour change strategy, supported by advocacy and social mobilization activities with 300 women leaders of associations in ten communes over a period of 6 months beginning in April.
Students exit the restroom at the Vision Nouvelle School. The new building of Vision Nouvelle School, one of the only 10 schools across Haiti offering music classes to its students, was rebuilt by UNICEF.
still a low 17 per cent, representing a total of 8.3 million people without even basic sanitation. In rural areas the sanitation coverage drops to an abysmal 10 per cent, with one out of two persons practicing open defecation. In April, a workshop on the official launch of hygiene promotion tools for schools will be held with actors and beneficiaries in April in Cap-Haitien. A field survey on WASH in schools will be conducted in the West, North, Artibonite and South Departments in April as well. A study on WASH in schools is currently being conducted by the Office on Haitian Studies (BRIDES), which works jointly with the Ministry of Education (MENFP). The survey will analyse the situation of WASH facilities in 300 sampled schools from four departments and provide valuable information to establish a national baseline and permit the measure of progress as well as the development of more effective interventions for Haitian schoolchildren. In addition, a new WASH project in 42 schools in the North and the North-East Departments was started on 15 March, building upon the WASH facilities installed or in the process of installation in 228 schools since 2010.
UNICEF/Haiti/2011/Dormino
HIV/AIDS
UNICEF supported the identification of 12 new sites for Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission (PMTCT) services as well as 15 new sites for pediatric HIV care for the extension of services to six priority departments. These sites will then be evaluated to determine whether they have the capacity to provide PMTCT services. UNICEF is also collaborating with WHO to prepare a bi-national workshop (Hati-Domincan Republic) to support national initiatives for the elimination of PMTCT and congenital syphilis in border areas.
Health
Neonatal and Maternal Health
During February and March, UNICEF conducted joint missions with the Directorate
UNICEF Haiti Quarterly Report: January-March 2012 UNICEF IN HAITI: 15th 27th MAY 2010
Nutrition
Immunisation
UNICEF continues to support efforts to procure vaccines for the Expanded Immunisation Programme (EPI), help structure the cold chain and train health professionals in immunisation activities that meet technical standards for vaccines. UNICEF is scaling up its successful Reach Every District, approach, which focuses on improving immunisation coverage by concentrating attention on the world performing communes and district level health care facilities, from 36 communes in 2011 to 70 out of the 140 communes in the country. An evaluation of the RED approach conducted in the 36 communes with weak coverage in 2011 shows a significant improvement in vaccination coverage. With national coverage surpassing 80 per cent for the first time in 20 years, the analysis shows that the RED approach has significantly contributed to these results. A total of 30 solar refrigerators were also installed between January and March as part of efforts to reinforce the cold chain by replacing gas powered refrigerators with solar energy.
UNICEF Haiti IN HAITI: 15th 27th MAY 20102012 UNICEF Quarterly Report: January-March
Jeanne Baptiste Rodelin calls for her mother while she has her weight measured at the Community Clinic of Canape Verte in Port au Prince.
In March, a national anthropometric survey was conducted using the SMART methodology, an improved method to rapidly assess the nutritional status of children under five years of age. Results, which will be available end of April, will help to provide a real picture of child malnutrition rates in Haiti and assess current needs and prioritise resources. UNICEF continued to work with partners to enhance their technical capacity to manage community based Infant and Young Child feeding (IYCF) and Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM). Furthermore, in February, around 40 staff from the Ministry of Health (MSPP), including epidemiologists and statisticians, were trained on the SMART methodology in an effort to provide the country with professionals able to conduct SMART surveys in the future.
UNICEF/Haiti/2011/Dormino
A health worker administers a polio vaccination to a toddler at the UNICEF partner FONDEFH (Foundation pour le Developpment de la Famille Haitienne) clinic in the Port au Prince neighborhood of Canape Vert.
UNICEF Haiti Quarterly Report: January-March 2012 UNICEF IN HAITI: 15th 27th MAY 2010
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Surveys (DHS) and integrates the majority of the questionnaires of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). The results of the survey will allow to better monitor progress toward national goals and global commitments, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as the target year 2015 approaches. UNICEF has also begun working with the Government on the implementation of DevInfo in Haiti, building on the HaitiInfo Database developed by the National Statistical Office in 2009. DevInfo is a database system for monitoring human development indicators that provides methods to organize, store and display data in a uniform way to facilitate data sharing and dissemination. While awaiting the finalization of several national surveys that will provide key new data to be disseminated through a DevInfo platform, UNICEF has started working with DINEPA and the Ministry of Education to adapt DevInfo to establish sectoral databases.
School census
The Ministry of Education is planning to release a part of the data from the recently finished school census (the first after almost 10 years) through Dev Info technology in the coming month. This is a major breakthrough as it will make available a wealth of new data to decision makers and partners that will be able to easily produce tables, graphs and maps at department, commune and section communal level.
For more information, please contact: Jean-Jacques Simon, Chief of Communication jsimon@unicef.org Stephanie Kleschnitzki, Reporting Manager skleschnitzki@unicef.org Suzanne Suh, Reports Specialist ssuh@unicef.org Or visit our web-site: http://www.unicef.org/haiti
Monitoring Results
UNICEF has continued providing key technical support to the Haiti Survey on Mortality, Morbidity and Utilization of Services (EMMUS-V), which is part of the USAID-supported Demographic and Health
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