1 GENERAL OVERVIEW
• Cholera in Haiti – one year after. On 22 October 2010 the Government of Haiti (GoH) confirmed a Cholera outbreak in the Département Artibonite. By mid-November the epidemic had spread throughout all ten Départements. Back then WHO/PAHO estimated that approximately 400,000 persons would be affected by the disease during the first year. This month, the Ministère de la Santé Publique et de la Population (MSPP) is reporting 473,649 cumulative cholera cases, including 251,885 hospitalisations and 6,631 deaths, since the beginning of the epidemic (source: http://www.mspp.gouv.ht, 14 October 2011). If current trends continue, the Health Cluster is expecting around 75,000 more cases by the end of the year. “The epidemiological tendency of Cholera has followed the anticipated course, beginning with localised outbreaks in highly populated areas and then spreading to rural zones” (source: Health Cluster bulletin, October 2011).
• Tropical weather forecasts for the Caribbean are continuously monitored. No Hurricanes or Tropical Storms have threatended the country over the past month. However, torrential rains in the Départements Nippes and Sud on 11 October 2011 caused flooding in several areas. This resulted in road blockages and temporarily prevented movements especially between Port-à-Piment and Les Chardonnieres.
• The Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster (CCCM) issued the latest versions of its monitoring tool, the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) on 21 October 2011. Since the height of the displacement crisis caused by the earthquake (est. 1.5 million individuals in July 2010), 36% of the original camp population remains in IDP sites. “Overall, (...) the population living in IDP sites and informal settlements has further decreased from 594,811 in July 2011 to some 550,560 individuals in September 2011. The majority of the IDP population (60 %) remains clustered in 61 large sites hosting over 500 households”.
• Upon request from the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), the Haiti Reconstruction Fund (HRF) Committee allocated USD 267 million of available funds for 15 different projects countrywide. The UN serves as Partner Entity for nine projects; the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank each supervise three. The implementation of 12 projects has started (source: HRF, 16 October 2011).
• Five months after President Martelly took office, Haiti has a Prime Minister. The third candidate put forward by Martelly was approved by the Senate on 04 October 2011. Garry Conille has been serving as chief of staff for Bill Clinton who, as the UN special envoy for Haiti, is a key player in deciding how the impoverished country will spend millions in international reconstruction aid.
