UK Charity says help in Haiti needed now more than ever

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SOS Children’s Villages UK has called for more funding and long-term investment in Haiti, one year after the devastating earthquake which destroyed the country and claimed more than 200,000 lives. Since the earthquake, which hit Haiti on 12 January 2010, the charity claims far too little has been done to improve the living conditions of the population, and stress that emergency relief is simply not enough: "The people of Haiti have needs that go far beyond emergency aid" says Andrew Cates, CEO of SOS Children, “in spite of intensive efforts on the part of countless international and local NGOs, governments, the Haitian authorities, and multilateral organisations, a systematic reconstruction process which provides economic and social security for the people of Haiti is yet to begin.” SOS Children's Villages is one of the only international NGOs with permanent residence in Haiti, registered with the authorities since 1979, offering new homes for lone children, looked after by local SOS 'mothers'. The charity say they are committed to helping with long-term reconstruction. Cates urges other NGOs to do the same: “Faced with massive societal breakdown in Haiti, NGOs need to be more thoughtful and focus beyond fire-fighting with the next meal or short term give-aways. We should work on how we are going to change lives sustainably. Longer-term projects are needed to play a major role in rebuilding the broken society in Haiti, focussing on achieving lifelong change.” A year after the earthquake, more than a million children and families are still living in deplorable conditions in temporary tent camps. Hundreds of thousands of children and their families depend on aid; access to clean water, electricity and medical supplies.  The charity say they have witnessed in the camp cities the appalling risks faced by children who are without parental care. Violence, sexual exploitation and abuse are on the increase and an estimated 1.2 million children were victims of psychological and physical violence even before the earthquake. Cates says: “there is a lot of work to do by both NGOs and the authorities to make these camps safer.” Systematic reconstruction, which will take many years to complete, has not yet begun, according to SOS. However, Cates insists this presents an opportunity, “This situation actually represents a historic chance to lay aside the many social and political evils of the past and eradicate the huge shortfalls in the infrastructure of the country. One thing which will undoubtedly be required is the active participation and involvement of the citizens of Haiti - who, for years, have been suffering at the hand of deprivation, resignation and hopelessness.” As well as providing acute emergency provision for the past year, SOS Children have designed a 12-year reconstruction programme which focuses on medical and community services, child protection and housing. Education also plays a major role. They plan to build at least ten state schools over the next years. As well as widespread school collapse, the Ministry of Education was destroyed, many school records were lost, more than 1,300 teachers and some 38,000 pupils died. Cates says: “In many areas, the earthquake has only made worse what was already in tatters. That is certainly true of education for example, which has been neglected for many years. Today, three million children are without any form of education.”  SOS Children plans to cover all the costs of ten new schools for a period of five to seven years (including construction costs, salaries, teacher training and teaching materials). SOS Children's Villages has been working in Haiti since 1979. Before the earthquake, over 4,000 children were supported at its two sites in Port-au-Prince and Cap Haïtien, which provide alternative care for children, education and training, and family support through a range of social programmes. The charity’s services have multiplied since the earthquake. In Port-au-Prince alone hundreds of unaccompanied children were taken into SOS families and over 150 children have now been returned to their families, who now receive continued support through SOS Family Strengthening Programmes if required. SOS Community and Social Centres have been expanded, and there are now over 100 food points where as many as 14,000 children a day are provided with hot meals (at peak times the figure was 24,000). The SOS School in Santo has doubled its capacity, with over 900 pupils being taught in two shifts. www.soschildren.org