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HAITI / EARLY RECOVERY
STORY: HAITI / EARLY RECOVERY
TRT: 1.52
SOURCE: UNDP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 19 JANUARY 2010, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI
1. Various shots, destruction
2. Wide shot, overlooking the Port-au-Prince.
3. Various shots, people cleaning up rubble.
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Patrick Masena, President of Accion Sanitarie:
"Given the difficult circumstances working in a community that's been ravaged...devastated homes, families out of work, everything's at a standstill but thanks to the funds made available by the un we're able to start recovery operations and hire 700 people on top of the 389 people who are already working. We’ve split the work into two groups working 6am - 12pm and 12pm - 6pm so that we can clean up the whole area. This is something that we're able to do as a community. The recruiting has been going on since this early morning. We’re able to do a lot with very little. There are two recruitment criteria. You have to be the head of a household and you have to have lost an immediate family member to the earthquake."
5. Various shots, people working in rubble recycling
6. Wide shot, people waiting on line to be recruited.
7. Wide shot, UNDP worker greeting local children.
8. Med shot, People singing "Haiti will never die" in back of truck
9. Wide shot, Port-au-Prince.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) employed nearly 400 Haitians in cash-for-work activities to jump start the local economy and facilitate the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance.
By the end of the week, this program will expand to include another 700 people working on rubble removal and the rehabilitation of essential social infrastructure, such as street repairs and electricity.
As the co-ordinator of the UN early recovery team, UNDP is also working with the Government of Haiti and other partners to assess damages and needs, devise plans for rebuilding, and begin these immediate responses.
The first phase of the cash-for-work program will focus on Carrefour-Feuilles, a neighborhood just south of Port-au-Prince. The initiative will soon be rolled out in other earthquake-stricken locations, including Leogane and Jacmel. Once fully operational, the project will employ 220,000 people, indirectly benefiting around 1 million Haitians.
Patrick Masena said that this program helps the local population.
"Given the difficult circumstances working in a community that's been ravaged, devastated homes, families out of work, everything's at a standstill but thanks to the funds made available by the un we're able to start recovery operations and hire 700 people on top of the 389 people who are already working. We’ve split the work into two groups working 6am - 12pm and 12pm - 6pm so that we can clean up the whole area. This is something that we're able to do as a community. The recruiting has been going on since this early morning. We’re able to do a lot with very little. There are two recruitment criteria. You have to be the head of a household and you have to have lost an immediate family member to the earthquake." Masena added.
Past UNDP cash-for-work programs in Haiti have laid the groundwork for this current initiative. After the 2008 hurricanes that killed 800 people and left 165,000 families homeless in Haiti, UNDP worked closely with the Haitian Government on reconstruction efforts, particularly focusing cash-for-work initiatives and watershed rehabilitation.
The cash-for-work program launched Tuesday builds on UNDP’s Briquettes Project, a cash-for-work program designed to combat climate change and reduce poverty.
To speed up the rubble clearing process, UNDP, as a first step, used the resources and staff previously employed by the Briquettes Project. But UNDP is currently in the process of selecting the additional 700 people to be employed by the end of this week.
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