GFDRR Partners Commit Additional Funds for PDNA and Recovery Interventions in Haiti
February 27, 2010. With funding support from its partners, EC, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, GFDRR is scaling up its support for needs assessment and capacity development for recovery and risk reduction programs in Haiti. GFDRR experts working closely with EC, IaDB, UN and WB are also facilitating a Government-led multi-stakeholder Post-Disaster Needs Assessment which will enable development of medium and longer term reconstruction and development framework for resilient Haiti. Besides active participation of all Ministries of the Government, many bilateral and multilateral agency experts have also joined the PDNA. In addition to the PDNA, GFDRR is also supporting a number of new programs of strategic and technical support to the Government of Haiti:
- the creation of a crisis (prevention) secretariat for the government to help synthesize information and support decision making;
- the establishment of a national framework for vulnerability reduction and the strengthening of technical assistance units at the Ministry of Planning;
- the preparation of hazard and risk map to guide the installation of refugee camps and the reconstruction overall;
- the establishment of a Technical Unit at the Ministry of Works to coordinate the assessment of all public infrastructure in the affected area and preparation of repair/retrofitting/reconstruction plans.
GFDRR and the World Bank Partner with Global Network of Scientists and Experts for Disaster Assessment in Haiti
January 27, 2010. The World Bank, supported by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), announced today that it has mobilized scientists and technical experts around the world to help assess the impacts of the earthquake in Haiti. The initiative, called Operation GEO-CAN – which stands for Global Earth Observation – Catastrophe Assessment Network, will estimate and classify building damage based on high resolution aerial imagery in areas severely affected by the earthquake, including Port-au-Prince. See Press Release.
GFDRR Commits $1.65 Million for Recovery and Risk Reduction in Haiti
January 13, 2010. Funds will be used for immediate recovery and disaster risk reduction activities, including mobilization of experts for an inter-agency damage and needs assessment. Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, was struck by a 7.0 magnitude (Richter scale) earthquake yesterday, causing numerous buildings to collapse, and leaving thousands of people dead or missing. In addition to financial support, GFDRR is coordinating with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the European Commission, the World Bank, and other international agencies the deployment of experts to carry out a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) to lay out the recovery and vulnerability reduction road map for Haiti which is a high priority country for GFDRR. The growing scale of the damages caused by the earthquake will require a major reconstruction effort on the part of the country and the international community. Discussions are also underway between GFDRR and its partners to ensure a comprehensive GFDRR program of support for Haiti's recovery and risk reduction program. The 2008 Caribbean hurricane season severely affected Haiti, and GFDRR supported an inter agency PDNA, which was endorsed by the Haitian Government, and served as the blue print for the recovery and rehabilitation effort. Disaster Risk Reduction has become a key priority in Haiti’s development programs, and the country received GFDRR grant of $500,000 for the implementation of a 3-year National Program for Vulnerability Reduction to Natural Hazards. An early recovery and reconstruction effort to "build back better" after this devastating earthquake will benefit from this multi-stakeholder effort. See World Bank Press Release on Haiti.
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