Haiti
The violent earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, notably destroying a large section of Port-au-Prince marked GRET’s activities in this country in 2010 and the years to come.
The local branch office staff survived but was heavily affected by the disaster: family and friends lost, and the offices and homes of several employees destroyed. But beyond these individual traumas, the structure working actively for more than fifteen years to improve living conditions in the capital’s shantytowns was first worried and then deeply moved by the damages and losses in many of the settlements where it was active.
The very next day, on January 13, despite communication difficulties, first contact with the heads of the water committees—all miraculously alive—was made. There are fifty such water committees spread out in as many poor settlements in the metropolitan zone; they serve a population of nearly one million of the most vulnerable inhabitants. Baillergeau, whose water supply system had been inaugurated in 1995, was leveled by the earthquake. Jalousie was intact, although everyone expected it to have been lost. On the seashore, Cité l’Éternel, one of the most precarious settlements, built on landfill, was intact as well. Trou Sable and Fort National no longer exist, and Villa Rosa was also destroyed… The committees had no more water, the fountains were damaged. On all sides, the committees cared for the wounded, pulled people from the rubble, dug communal graves.
GRET’s team reacted, setting up a temporary office at the representative’s home, going into the field, helping as much as possible. At GRET’s headquarters, emotions ran high and everyone rallied. A unit was set up to help take stock of the situation, decide what action to take, formalize relevant funding requests, and participate actively in the many discussions on Haiti and its reconstruction. An action plan containing short- and medium-term objectives was produced in early February.
Heavily solicited by the poor settlements through the intermediary of the water committees, but lacking the logistical resources and skills of emergency relief specialists, GRET acted as an interface to guide relief NGOs in distributing water, food and shelters.
In January 2011, nine drinking water networks (Villa Rosa, Baillergeau, Village de Dieu, Cité l’Eternel Nord, Cité l’Eternel Sud, Simon Pele, Delmas 30, Cazeau and Trou Sable [underway]) have been repaired or built. Thirty-two community fountains, nineteen water towers and four large reservoirs have reestablished sustainable access to drinking water for more than 100,000 people. In Martissant, the sanitation and development works on the Leclerc spring, one of the largest in the capital, are nearing completion. The actions undertaken to fight cholera slowed the spread of the disease in the settlements even if it could not be fully prevented.
New projects aiming for sustainability were launched or under negotiation at the end of 2010.
Enseignement / recherche
Université Quisqueya (Uniq) / Université de Québec à Montréal (Uqam) Université d’Etat d’Haïti (UEH).
Institutions publiques et collectivités locales
Direction Nationale de l’Eau Potable et de l’Assainissement (Dinepa) /mairies d’Aquin, de Saint Louis du Sud, mairie de Delmas, de Pétion Ville et de Port au Prince.
Opérateurs / ONG / Bureaux d’étude
Concern /Fokal / Oxfam-GB /Geskio, Organisations professionnelles, groupements, organisations paysannes
Tous les comités d’eau de la zone Métropolitaine de Port au Prince / Collectif de femmes pour le développement de Villa Rosa (Kofad V) Organisation des femmes pour le dévouée de Jalousie(OFDJ)/ Conseil Administration de la 7ème Section Communale Haut Turgeau (CASEC) Coordination des Quartiers Pauvres Port au Prince (KOKAPOP), Fédération des Komits Dlo (FEKOD), Planteurs en Action pour le Développement de Saint Louis du Sud (PADASS).
Organisations professionnelles, groupements, organisations paysannes
Tous les comités d’eau de la zone métropolitaine de Port-au-Prince / Collectif de femmes pour le développement de Villa Rosa (Kofad V) / Conseil d’administration de la 7e Section communale Haut-Turgeau (Casec) / Padass (groupement de planteurs à Saint-Louis du Sud).
Collectifs et réseaux
Le Gret met en place dans le cadre du projet FILU un comité de sélection composé de professionnels issus d’ONG, d’organisations professionnelles, d’organisations de défense des droits de l’homme, de représentants des pouvoirs locaux et de représentants des services publics
Le Gret met en place dans le cadre du renforcement de sa représentation en Haïti, un conseil stratégique composé d’anciens responsables du Gret, de représentants de l’université et des autorités publiques, de fondations et d’organisations locales.
Le Gret est membre de la Plate-Forme Eau Potable et Assainissement (PEPA), de la Coordination Haïti Europe (COHE), du Comité de Liaison Inter ONG (CLIO) et du groupe de concertation sur les violences faites aux femmes.
Représentant : Jean LeDu Annacacis annacacis@gret.org, grethaiti@yahoo.fr
Tél. 00 (509) 29 40 25 44 / 00 (509) 29 40 25 43/ 00 (509) 36 47 90 67
16 impasse Ambroise, Rue Faustin 1er, Delmas75 - Haïti
Equipe :
L’équipe du Gret est constituée de 38 personnes, dont cinq expatriés.