Haiti: a month after the earthquake, humanitarian aid still present on the island
A month after the earthquake that hit Haiti, humanitarian aid continues to be provided on the island.
Here, a food distribution in Les Cayes on August 20, 2021. AFP - REGINALD LOUISSAINT JR
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
A month ago, on August 14, southern Haiti was ravaged by a powerful earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale.
More than 2,200 people were killed in the disaster and nearly 13,000 were injured.
Humanitarian aid continues to be provided on the island.
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With our correspondent in Port-au-Prince
,
Amélie Baron
In addition to this human toll, there are
serious consequences for buildings,
with more than 130,000 houses destroyed or damaged.
On the medical front, emergencies were taken care of, but today, humanitarian aid continues to be provided to tens of thousands of families who had already been largely affected by the passage of Hurricane Matthew just ago. five years.
The nightmare of the January 2010 earthquake has resurfaced, but unlike the disaster that ravaged Port-au-Prince and its surroundings at the time, the area affected a month ago is predominantly rural.
The human toll is less heavy, but it is more difficult to come to the aid of the inhabitants of remote areas.
Bruno Lemarquis, humanitarian coordinator for the United Nations, recalls that the country was not ready for such a disaster: “
Haiti was not necessarily prepared for that.
The emergency stocks were ready for a cyclone, but there, it exceeds what was, in terms of pre-positioning.
So we had to mobilize a lot of players and bring in a lot of equipment and emergency supplies.
"
►
To read
: Haiti: a fuel shortage paralyzes the country
Getting Haitians to take charge quickly
For the humanitarian coordinator for the United Nations, a cruising speed has been reached little by little for everything that is distribution, including in the most remote areas.
“
The key, in these crises, is to get people back on their feet as quickly as possible, to help them resume their activities, whether in schools or in small businesses,
underlines Bruno Lemarquis.
In this way, we quickly quit the humanitarian aid and people take charge.
"
Rebuilding to earthquake-resistant standards will take time and money.
Money that is lacking at a time when, two months after
the assassination of the president
, the country is plunged into a
deep political crisis
and is above all at the mercy of the gangs which control a large part of the territory.
►
To listen
: Haiti: how to distribute humanitarian aid equitably?
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