January 12, 2010, the day a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, is still fresh in the memory of Renold Telford, Haiti’s Director of Basic Education. Report by Mariana Palavra
VIDEO: UNICEF reports on the situation for children two years after Haiti's 2010 earthquake.
The education system – like many of the country’s essential systems and infrastructure – was crippled by the disaster. “I was overwhelmed by the destruction and by the daunting task we had before us,” he recalls.
But two years later, UNICEF Representative in Haiti Francoise Gruloos-Ackermans has no doubt that the situation facing children is slowly improving. “There is evidence of little victories everywhere, although serious gaps and inadequacies in Haiti’s basic governance structures remain,” she said.
And with continued efforts, these victories offer the promise of lasting, meaningful progress – even surpassing pre-earthquake conditions.
Victories for children
“By planning together with UNICEF, children were able to go back to school shortly after the earthquake. The Ministry was able to move quickly to start up schools in tents and then in semi-permanent structures,” said Mr. Telford.
Since the 2010 catastrophe, UNICEF has helped more than 750,000 children to return to school. Some 80,000 of these children now attend classes in 193 safe, earthquake-resistant schools constructed by UNICEF.
In addition, with UNICEF support, over 120,000 children are enjoying structured play in 520 child-friendly spaces. More than 15,000 malnourished children have received life-saving care through 314 UNICEF-supported therapeutic feeding programmes. And 95 rural communities have launched programmes to improve sanitation.
A UNICEF report released on 9 January 2012 about the disaster’s lingering after-effects notes that more than 500,000 people are still living in displacement sites in quake-affected areas. The country’s cholera epidemic also continues to burden Haiti’s limited infrastructure.
And despite recent progress, the most vulnerable and hardest-to-reach children are in danger of being left behind, particularly those living in camps, residential care centres, on the street or in rural areas far from the earthquake zone, where access to health, nutrition, sanitation, education and protective services are limited.
Read the full report by Mariana Palavra on our blog