This report is produced by OCHA in collaboration with humanitarian partners. It was issued by the Hurricane Matthew Emergency Response Team and covers the period from 25 to 30 November 2016. The next report will be issued on 02 December. Sign up to receive reports of the Emergency Response Team: http://eepurl.com/Kyey5.
Main Points
• Messages on the impact of looting and the scope of international humanitarian assistance were broadcast on 26 November through local radios in affected regions.
• Amidst tension on the reopening of schools and eviction of displaced population in Jeremie, the humanitarian actors will provide direct emergency assistance to displaced populations hosted in public schools to enable their safe return to their place of origin.
• Some 121 schools are being rehabilitated in Grand’Anse, Nippes, South, and North-West departments. These efforts will benefit approximately 40,000 children of the 150,000 who have been out of school since the hurricane.
• From 4 October to 22 November, WHO/PAHO registered 7,959 suspected cholera cases.
736,421 People vaccinated against cholera on a target of 817,000 (8 to 18 November)
280,950 Children vaccinated against cholera (from 1-14 years old)
112,500 Estimated children under the age of five at risk of general acute malnutrition
11,436 Emergency jobs created in Grand’Anse
Situation Overview
Evictions of displaced people from many of the temporary shelters where tens of thousands of people have been housed since the hurricane have generated urgent needs in zones of return. People, including unaccompanied children, elderly and disabled persons are being evicted from shelters with nothing, and without the means to rebuild their homes and re-establish basic livelihoods in zones of return. The Humanitarian Country Team is developing a joint strategy to ensure vulnerability-based assistance is delivered in zones of return across the affected area over the coming weeks. In Jeremie and Les Cayes, Return Task Forces are establishing a rapid and coordinated response to ensure that those leaving shelters and the most vulnerable people in zones of return receive a comprehensive package of basic assistance.
In Jeremie, the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator, local authorities, OCHA, humanitarian partners and student representatives met on 28 November to determine the modalities and timeline for the assistance to returns or relocation of people sheltered in public schools. It was agreed that more than 1,700 displaced families from five schools would be given vouchers for food and NFIs kits. The distributions started on 30 November for people sheltered in the Lycée Alexis, which hosts the highest number of families. Meanwhile a rapid survey conducted on 29 November of all 11 schools in Les Cayes, which had been thought to host displaced families, showed that all have been emptied. Requests for escorts by humanitarian actors in Grand’Anse region have sensibly reduced, without any increase in incidents. This is due mostly to increased engagement with communities, support from Haitian National Police (HNP) to secure distribution areas and the use of low profile transportation. In South region, a hot spot has developed between Les Cayes and Port-Salut. Convoys are reportedly targeted by groups seemingly well organized and presumably operating with some degree of support from local populations. It is worth noting that incidents happen despite the presence of MINUSTAH / HNP escorts. In those cases, armed escorts no longer provide a credible deterrent to enhance the safety of humanitarian personnel and capacity to provide assistance to beneficiaries without compromising their security or that of the affected people. In order to address the issue, MINUSTAH Civil Affairs Component will engage with local authorities, in coordination with key humanitarian actors.
As part of the implementation of the joint strategy on Communication with Communities (CwC) agreed in the Système national de Gestion des Risques et des Désastres, messages from international humanitarian organizations to communities affected by Hurricane Matthew have started to broadcast on 26 November on radio stations across Jeremie and Les Cayes. The communication focuses on managing expectations regarding what the international community can provide, especially regarding shelter, while raising awareness about protection issues and the impact of looting of convoys or during distributions. Preliminary results from an information needs assessment show that people's main concerns are regarding shelter and reconstruction, subsistence agriculture and security.
Initial findings from Internews' "Humanitarian Information Service'" indicate that general feedback from affected communities concern food security, shelter, aid in remote areas and survey fatigue. People expressed serious preoccupations regarding subsistence agriculture, needing seeds, tools and training to rehabilitate land. Needs regarding construction materials to rebuild houses were also expressed, with some people stating that "their priority is to have a house." People also complained that remote areas have not received enough aid in comparison to towns in affected areas. Near Jeremie, populations thought they had to travel in order to access distributions. Survey fatigue was also an issue brought up by many people, indicating that aid organizations had conducted many assessments but sometimes without any follow-up, whether with aid or communicating intentions. These issues were brought up at the week Humanitarian Country Team and an action plan will follow on how to respond to concerns expressed by communities.
Disclaimer
- UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
- To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.