OneWorld.net (U.S.)

DAKAR, Jan 21 (IRIN) - As aid agencies launch Haiti earthquake relief efforts, the Overseas Development Institute, a UK think-tank, has showcased an NGO report outlining 28 lessons learned over 30 years of earthquake responses.

The report covers the 1976 Guatemala earthquake that killed 23,000 people and the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake that left 5,749 dead. Earthquakes are uniquely challenging, with high mortality rates, severe road and infrastructure destruction, debris delaying recovery efforts and the risk of aftershocks, stated the aid accountability watchdog ALNAP in a 2008 report.

"Every time there is a major evaluation, it states [that] emergency responses did not apply lessons from previous emergencies," ALNAP head of learning and development, Ben Ramalingam, told IRIN. "Decisions we make now in Haiti can influence the way operations go for quite some time."

He has high hopes. Comparing Haiti now with the immediate aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, he says: "Now there is much more focus on what can be done better; there is a lot of debate about coordination and quality -- this is potentially unique."

Joy Portella from Mercy Corps and her Chinese colleague Guo Xin speak to an earthquake survivor in 2008 in Sichuan province. © Mercy CorpsThe most important lesson aid agencies must apply is to address emergency relief and longer-term recovery efforts together, ALNAP says. "Recovery is the overriding challenge. Agency planning should not overstate the need for relief, and should quickly move into recovery activities."

Physical recovery is likely to take three to five years in Haiti.

Recovery

"In Haiti recovery is also social, political and economic -- not just physical -- and there is a limit to what humanitarian assistance can do in this," Ramalingam said. "The entire international community needs to rise to this challenge."

Other immediate priorities for Haiti include identifying an institution -- be it existing government bodies, the UN or the American administration -- to lead the response, he pointed out.

And when planning their response all aid groups must not forget a simple lesson: "The majority of life-saving work in any disaster is done by populations themselves... the most important resource Haitians have is their own social capital. Agencies must give good information to communities so they can plan their own recovery from the start."

Some additional lessons from the ALNAP report:

• Give cash and buy locally wherever possible. Ramalingam warns this must be applied carefully in Haiti given security concerns.
• Do not overstate the risk of disease as this leads to misallocation of resources. Only three out of 600 geophysical disasters led to disease epidemics, according to research published in the Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal. The real risk posed by dead bodies after natural disasters is mental illness caused by shock and grief.
• Focusing on emergency shelter while neglecting permanent shelter is a mistake. The most sensible solution is "transitional shelter" that can be turned into permanent dwellings.
• Recovery operations are not neutral. They will reinforce or reduce existing inequalities and must be actively designed to do the latter.
• Listen to recipients and make sure the assistance is appropriate.
• Livelihoods are key to recovery; listen to affected populations about their priorities for livelihood recovery.
• Be prepared for land-ownership disputes.
• Try to build back better, for instance by improving building codes, but be realistic; disaster response is not a magic bullet.

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