The Secretary-General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Bekele Geleta, has held a series of high-level meetings with the Haitian authorities during his four-day visit to Port-au-Prince. It is the second time that Bekele has been in the Haitian capital since the earthquake struck the capital and surrounding areas on 12 January 2010. Claire Doole, IFRC communications coordinator, caught up with him at the end of his visit.
What is the purpose of your visit?
I am responsible for ensuring the smooth transition from our emergency response to a long-term operation. For the first three months, we had 21 emergency response teams made up of specialists from around the world. This phase went extremely well, but now we have to organize ourselves to take over from them, and finding sufficient numbers of qualified people is one of our biggest challenges.
We also have to intensify our dialogue with the national authorities because we will need to transition some parts of our operation to them – to the Haitian Red Cross and to the communities – as well as phasing out some emergency programmes that have already served their purpose.
We need to be sure that we continue moving in the right direction.
What has come out of the high level meetings you have had with the Haitian authorities?
The heads of the Haitian, American and Canadian Red Cross and myself have had very fruitful discussions with the President and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff. They have full respect for and trust in our Movement, but are understandably keen that the pace of recovery continues to increase, and for all organizations involved in this operation to coordinate more coherently with the government’s recovery and reconstruction strategy.
What progress has been made on the issue of land?
We have to be pragmatic. Every usable open space inside Port-au-Prince is taken up with makeshift shelters. The rest of the land is taken up by houses; many of them damaged or ruined. Where is the government going to get the land from? People can’t be moved en masse out of the city to areas that have no services, no economic life, and no access to health or education.
There are some prospects that the Red Cross will be allocated land, albeit limited. But we can’t sit back and wait for solutions to present themselves. We have to find solutions with the communities in the camps.
For how long will the Red Cross be providing emergency relief and when will recovery begin?
We will be providing emergency relief for another year. But recovery is already beginning. National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are building transitional shelters in quake-affected areas outside Port-au-Prince and the IFRC is doing the same in the capital itself. Since the earthquake we have been trucking water into the camps, but within six months we plan to hand that over to the government. Over the next three to five years, the Haitian government’s water and sanitation authority, Dinepa, must be supported so that it can fully take on its role and responsibility as the regulator and provider of water and sanitation services.
How long will IFRC remain in Haiti in support of the Haitian Red Cross?
We were in Haiti for many years, as were some National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The IFRC expects to be here for between five and ten years. Our presence is inversely related to the strength of the Haitian Red Cross Society – as they are able to do more and more, we will need to do less and less.
A month after the quake you talked about moving from tragedy to opportunity, what opportunities do you see now?
The people of Haiti have suffered immensely with great loss of life and livelihoods. But in the future, as a result of increased technology and expertise, they will be better prepared to face disasters. The Haitian Red Cross will also come out as a stronger National Society in terms of skills, infrastructure, systems, accountability, voluntary manpower and outreach.
I believe that the long-term legacy of this disaster will be positive.
Recovery and development takes time. Six months is too short a period to demonstrate real progress, but progress is there. When I came in January, it was a terrible sight, but people are no longer living in the open in the streets.
One of the problems is that we have not been talking enough about the challenges of rebuilding a capital city where many buildings were destroyed and which had underlying infrastructural weaknesses. Urban disasters are very complex. This is an opportunity to effect large-scale change where it is so desperately needed. It is also an opportunity to put power into the hands of the people affected by the disaster and to ensure that they are true partners in their recovery.
What is your message to the 1.5 million Haitians affected by the quake?
We know that their lives are very difficult particularly during the hurricane season. Once reconstruction begins, their lives will be better. We are already seeing signs. Today, I visited a clinic in a camp supported by the Finnish Red Cross, but completely run by Haitian doctors and nurses. They told us that there has never been a clinic in the area and that for the first time people are getting free water and healthcare. The recovery process will take years – perhaps even a generation – but we will be with you and your National Society, the Haitian Red Cross Society, for every step of the difficult journey ahead.