Port-Au-Prince, 20 January
2010 - One week after the powerful earthquake
that struck Haiti on 12 January, a major
humanitarian operation is underway, with
search and rescue
teams working to find those still trapped
in the rubble. Immediate priorities remain
medical assistance, clean water and sanitation,
emergency shelter, and food.
As noted by Emergency
Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General
for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes, "OCHA
will lead on overall coordination, while
UNEP will ensure the integration of environmental
issues into the respective cluster response
plans."
A Flash Appeal for USD
562 million, covering a period of six months,
was launched by the UN and international
partners on Friday 15 January. The Appeal
includes USD 1 million for environmental
interventions during the early recovery
phase of operations.
Thanks to senior staff
members on the ground, UNEP continues to
provide emergency assistance to the UNCT
and to the local government. Since last
week, UNEP staff has actively assisted UN
colleagues on technical matters including
structural assessments of buildings and
emergency environmental assessments of destroyed
sites.
Initial assessments
conducted by UNEP have not indicated acute
environmental emergency situations, but
major issues are anticipated in the early
recovery phase. The most urgent issues include
waste management, mass burials and disposal
of demolition material.
The Joint UNEP/OCHA
Environment Unit and the Post-Conflict and
Disaster Management Branch (PCDMB) are working
closely with partners in WHO, UNDP, the
World Bank and European Commission and the
NGO community to deliver what is needed.
Muralee Thummarukudy,
a senior environmental expert from PCDMB
with extensive experience in disaster management,
traveled to Port-au-Prince on Tuesday to
reinforce the UNEP team on the ground. Subject
to needs and logistical challenges, additional
UNEP staff is on stand-by to be deployed.
In addition to post-disaster
interventions, UNEP will continue to develop
the Haiti Regeneration Initiative, a long-term
programme to be implemented by a wide range
of partners, aimed at reducing poverty and
vulnerability to natural hazards through
the restoration of ecosystems and sustainable
natural resource management. Well planned,
concerted action will be required over the
next 20 years and beyond to halt the ongoing
degradation and to gradually restore the
Haitian environment and related livelihoods.
