[OCHA Haiti Sit Update 3.1 - (points to urgency of disaster preparedness activity now, not later....)

Here are the highlights of the OCHA Situation Report for March 1....

As you will see, the rainy season - arriving weeks early -- has already caused deaths from mudslides, and intense flooding in Les Cayes. Relief and government officials are very, very worried. In a coming blog, I will discuss the proposal by some relief agents that 20% of the current relief effort be IMMEDIATELY shifted to disaster preparedness -- and that DONORS also dedicate monies NOW to this. Normally, relief and disaster preparedness are separate activities. But the unprecedented situation in Haiti, with an earthquake, torrential rains and a summer-fall of hurricanes to come require something different, say experts.

What's needed immediately: 1) Local training of Disaster Preparedness Committees (like the one in Jacmel that did a great job responding without outside aid during the quake) - 2) and linking them to first responders who are now there in field clinics. The goal: getting towns, informal settlements, cities ready for the moment of extreme weather when they will have to operate on their own - without communication from Port-au-Prince, without passable roads, without in other words, the bit of infrastructure that has been restored in recent weeks.

Also:

3) prepositioning supplies including water, food (even as food, water, tents, etc needed for relief)for flood/storm/hurricane times

4) radio and local PSAs - communication- that informs people what to do, where to go - and makes use of an existing (or new) SOS Digicell reporting number.

The ultimate goal: informing local communities so they can do something - now- to prepare for the next wave of disasters, even while they are in dire straits now.

The issue of Disaster Preparedness is one that Donors need to take up - hopefully it will be on the agenda of the upcoming March 31 meeting in NY.

Now highlights from OCHA 3.1 (I'll post the next one soon)...

I. HIGHLIGHTS/KEY PRIORITIES
• Heavy rainfall in Nippes and Sud departments led to flooding on 27 February, killing at least
13 people and causing the temporary evacuation of 3,428 others.
• The road at Malpasse by Lake Azuei remains at risk of flooding once the rainy season
begins, causing a threat to the main land corridor from Dominican Republic into Haiti.
• The registration process at Champ de Mars is complete; a total of 26,658 people (4,943
families) were registered between 24 and 26 February.
• The Prime Minister of Haiti has approved five plots of land to set up transitional settlements,
as well as eight plots to collect and treat debris in the metropolitan area.
• WFP and partners have provided food assistance to more than 4.3 million people in Port-au-
Prince and the rest of the country. General food distributions will gradually be replaced by
food-for-work and cash-for-work programmes targeting an estimated 1.1 million people.
• There is an urgent need to allocate funds to the Agriculture sector in time to support the
forthcoming planting season. This will not only provide food and income in the rural areas,
but will also contribute to alleviate a deteriorating food security and nutritional situation in
the country.
• Six child protection messages on prevention of violence, exploitation and abuse have been
transmitted by SMS in Creole to over 1 million cell phone owners and will be disseminated
further through national radio broadcast and printing on posters and leaflets.
• The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Vice
President of the European Commission, Ms. Catherine Ashton, and the EU Commissioner
for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, are visiting Haiti to meet
Haitian Government authorities, evaluate the impact of European humanitarian aid on the
ground and assess needs to be addressed in the future.

Full story here.