The initial response focused on creating temporary housing camps for homeless survivors and ensuring they had adequate clean water and sanitation to prevent outbreaks of disease.
Many of the survivors had been living in slums on land without clear legal ownership. Re-building permanent housing of better quality has therefore required clearing tonnes of rubble and resolving land ownership issues.
A cholera outbreak that started in October 2010 killed more than 4,000 people and infected about 216,000 others.
The need for swift action to minimise the spread of the disease meant that other planned projects to support longer-term recovery had to be put on hold.
In the recovery phase of the response, funds are increasingly being used to help people create or rebuild livelihoods where there was previously unemployment of up to 80 per cent, but aid money is continuing to pay for clean water, sanitation and shelter.
HAITI EARTHQUAKE RESPONSE ACHIEVEMENTS
- 1.8million people reached by DEC funded aid
- 890,000 people given access to safe toilets
- 720,000 people given clean water
- 187,000 medical consultations
- 100,000+ people provided with emergency shelter
- 236 construction teams trained
- 39 schools up and running within six months