PICKING UP THE PIECES
As
we approach the anniversary of the Haiti earthquake disaster, experts from RedR
and Oxfam tell Erika Yarrow what has been achieved in terms of recovery and
what is still required o get he country back on its feet and provide its people
with a secure and hopeful future.
THE
REDR-BIOFORCE training programmed in Haiti providing training and support to
aid agencies and their staff following he devastating earthquake the rocked the
island on 12 January 2010. the organization, which specializes in training
engineers for disaster relief, responded promptly, deploying members, providing
technical support, frontline aid workers and setting up a training service to
support agencies and their staff. In
the six months that followed, RedR’s team in Haiti delivered training to more
than 1,000 relief personnel. The RedR programme is now in he process of winding
down activities.
Martin
McCann, chief executive officer of Reds says: ‘Reds is proud to have supported
the work of over 1,000 relief workers who came forward in Haiti, from over 50 aid agencies, to improve their skills and
ability to help Haitians by taking a RedR/Bioforce course. Some improved their
skills in water and sanitation, others in logistics and other again in
mastering the complexity of project management in emergencies. Through their
work, hundreds of thousands of Haitians received a more effective and efficient
disaster response.’
The Oxfam report calls on the international community
to adopt policies that will support Haitian economic development. For example,
allowing Haitian exports, particularly apparel products, to have full duty- and
quota-free access to the US would help the country work its way out of poverty.
Oxfam is also calling for Haiti o be exempt from the so-called Bumpers
Amendment, which prohibits direct assistance to the development of corps such
as rice, that may compete globally with US exports.
Mathieu
says: ‘Currently, US rice subsidies and in-kind food aid undercut Haitian
farmers at the same time as the US government is investing in Haitian
agricultural development. The international community must abandon this
conflicting trade and aid polices in order to support the growth of Haiti’s
fragile rural economy.’
Name
: Riani Lestari Npm
: 15610877
Class
: 4 SA 03
