Humanitarian logistics response to the Haiti earthquake…

Humanitarian logistics response to the Haiti
earthquake Haiti_was_hit_by_a_disastrous_earthquake_of_7.0_magnitude_on_12_January_2010._It_caused_
more than 120,000 deaths, more than 300,000 injuries and more than 1.5 million
people to become homeless. The country of Haiti (established in 1804) has
always experienced political instability, especially after the occupation of
the US army in 1913. Since 1934, when the USA withdrew their troops (albeit
keeping the fiscal control until the late 1940s), democratic elections have not
guaranteed a stable government and the UN has interveened to

Humanitarian logistics response to the Haiti
earthquake Haiti_was_hit_by_a_disastrous_earthquake_of_7.0_magnitude_on_12_January_2010._It_caused_
more than 120,000 deaths, more than 300,000 injuries and more than 1.5 million
people to become homeless. The country of Haiti (established in 1804) has
always experienced political instability, especially after the occupation of
the US army in 1913. Since 1934, when the USA withdrew their troops (albeit
keeping the fiscal control until the late 1940s), democratic elections have not
guaranteed a stable government and the UN has interveened to restore political
continuity. The economic conditions of Haiti are also poor, with around 72 per
cent of the population living on less than $2 a day. Its clear that the Haiti
population was already enduring a degree of poverty before the disaster, now
let us consider the three phases of the disaster response. Preparedness phase
Due to its geographical position, Haiti has been affected by severe floods and
hurricanes in the last few decades, the effects of which have been exacerbated
by the poorly governed urbanisation. Funds from donors have been substantial
after the disasters, although donors have always preferred to link their
donations to specific projects rather than capacity building. By the late
2000s, still 86 per cent of the urban population was settled in slums, where
the weak and unstable institutions have failed in creating and sustaining an
adequate public service although, in 2001, a national plan for disaster risk
management was developed, followed by the raising of public awareness, an early
warning and evacuation system and training to reduce loss of life. However, the
ongoing political instability and the widespread poverty (as suggested by
political indicators in Figure 10.4) have reduced the effectiveness of such
measures.

Immediate response phase Within three days
of the earthquake, $575 million was requested in the appeal and within one
month all the funds were secured. The UNs Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) was coordinating 12 clusters made up of UN agencies
and international NGOs to respond to the emergency. Each cluster had a very
high number of members due to the presence of hundreds of relief organisations.
To aid the smooth running of the operation, subclusters were created. However,
the many and varied organisations, most of them with very limited knowledge of
the country, tended to pursue their own agendas. The logistical response was
hindered by the condition of the facilities:

_ Sea port: The port of the city was
very badly damaged by the quake. The US Army provided a number of carriers as
floating airports, together with helicopters, for relief operations. Supplies
of food, medicines and troops were ferried to and from the island. The carriers
also served as hospitals.

_ Airport: despite the severe damage
to the small airport, up to 100 flights per day operated, but the airport had
no warehouse facilities for storage of the delivered aid. Further, disputes
among different countries and agencies for landing priorities were reported.

_ Roads: the road connecting Haiti to
the Dominican Republic was crowded with Haitians trying to leave the country
and relief supplies entering the country. The average driving time between
Santo Domingo and Port au Prince (160 miles) was 18 hours, due to the road
conditions.

_ Airdrops: Since the ground was so
devastated, landings were impossible, so the US army airdropped thousands of
ready-meals and water supplies to a secure patch of land. It created riots
among beneficiaries, as there was no control in the distribution.
Reconstruction phase Funding for aid work has been declining since 2010. UN
agencies and their partners appealed for US$382 million in 2011 but only
received about 55 per cent of the required funding. In 2012, they received
about 45 per cent of the required funding of $151 million. This years appeal
for $144 million, which has not received any funding yet, will focus on the
most critical needs including supporting people affected by the food crisis
(OCHA, 2013; www.unocha.org/top-stories/all-stories/haiti-three-yearsafter-earthquake).
Haiti was affected by hurricanes after the earthquake, which further hindered
the reconstruction effort. The number of people living in camps and temporary
shelters has decreased considerably from the peak of 1.5 million (as
illustrated by Figure 10.5). However, the living conditions are far from being
back to how they were before the earthquake. The living conditions in the camps
are violent and very difficult. It is said that foreign relief officers brought
cholera to the country and the disease is now widespread (as shown in Figure
10.6) and continues to kill thousands of Haitians.

Questions

1 Discuss the key issues hindering the
logistics efforts in both the response and reconstruction phases.

2 How were the agile and lean principles
applied?