The United Nations and humanitarian agencies in Haiti have pledged to help set up a structure for effective planning of progressive camp closures and for identifying alternative housing solutions.
The proposal aims to prevent the eviction of those displaced by the devastating earthquake of January 2010 from the camps sheltering them without adequate housing alternatives.
The proposed structure will link Haiti’s ministries, local authorities, national police, the private sector and humanitarian groups.
The U.N. statement came after the eviction — some of them forcible — of nearly 70,000 earthquake survivors from camps. This, U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Haiti Nigel Fisher said, is a violation of their rights.
Since the earthquake, 67,162 people have been affected by evictions, with the number of camps under threat increasing 400 percent over the past year, from 87 in July 2010 to 348 camps in July this year, according to the United Nations.
Haiti President Michel Martelly, meanwhile, requested municipalities to show patience on the situation.
Read more:
New World Bank-Supported Programs for Haiti’s Reconstruction Launched
In Haiti, Oxfam Staff Axed Over Misconduct, But Earthquake Funds Intact
Haiti Wins Donor Financing for Agriculture, Quake Rebuilding
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