Completed project
Risk and Natural Disaster Management (PUGRD)
November 2009 to March 2011
CAD$ 1,145,700
provided by the World Bank and managed by the Haiti’s Bureau de monétisation des programmes d’aide au développement (BMPAD)
381,500 people, 52% women
Haiti’s Ministère de l’Intérieur Haiti’s Direction de la Protection Civile Haiti’s Comité Départemental de Gestion des Risques et Désastres (CDGRD)
15 municipal councils 15 emergency preparedness committees
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure
Haiti’s geographic location and relief make it one of the Caribbean’s most disaster-prone countries. The January 12, 2010 earthquake and the hurricane seasons of recent years have provided compelling illustrations of the extreme vulnerability of this half of the island. It is within this context that the PUGRD (Projet d’urgence de gestion des risques et désastres) coaches people through the process of planning and implementing emergency measures for natural disasters. Numerous examples from around the world prove that the most successful of these initiatives are devised and put into action by individuals living in the high-risk areas.
CECI assisted in the creation or reactivation of 15 municipal centres for emergency preparedness in 15 communes of the Ouest department. The project also enabled 15 local risk and vulnerability maps to be drafted. PUGRD focuses on strengthening the capacities of local emergency preparedness committees because they are the first responders. As one beneficiary from Leogane attests, results are visible: “Thanks to work done by the emergency preparedness committee, there was no loss of human life when hurricane Tomas hit in October 2010.” In the towns of Leogane and Gressier, risk mitigation projects have been set up through the Fonds d’urgence Haïti created by L’Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ). The day after the earthquake, UMQ mobilized Quebec’s municipal governments; its members took part in a major fundraising campaign and lent their expertise to reconstruction efforts.
With this valuable support, emergency preparedness committees were able to prioritize multiple intervention fronts: the development of warning and evacuation systems, the care of victims, and the restoration of mobility for civilians and goods following a catastrophe. The committees must also conduct awareness-raising campaigns within the population and identify potential shelter sites. Their actions make a great deal of difference, the difference between life and death.