Disaster Response and Recovery

 Haiti earthquake occurred in January 2010 and caused economic, political and social impacts. In response, national and international actors offered humanitarian assistance. The research found that half of the population live in extreme poverty and Haiti does not have the ability to cope with natural disasters (Taft-Morales et al. 2010). One of the contributing factor to the Haiti earthquake is the massive poverty. It is important to note that prior to the earthquake struck, Haiti was a nation that had the lowest social-economic status in the world. The nation was already suffering from environmental crisis and these claims show that Haiti was vulnerable to natural disasters. Due to the economic and political instability and dysfunctional management, the foreign nations could not provide humanitarian assistance effectively (Taft-Morales et al. 2010). Poverty is the root cause of response and recovery hindrance in that the natural disaster damaged the buildings, skilled personnel, and equipment. The international organizations experienced difficulties in supplying materials and delivery of services. Such as water, health, and electricity. The higher poverty level hindered coordination with agencies that were ready to offer assistance. The poverty level was influenced by governmental factors such as corruption and lack of transparency (Taft-Morales et al. 2010). These issues led to a higher unemployment rate, low-level manufacturing, higher migration and lack of population support.

In recovery and response, the U.S government played a significant role by appointing USAID Administrators who led in planning and execution. During this period, President Obama developed a ‘whole of government' response where the federal agencies and military offered humanitarian assistance immediately after the event (Taft-Morales et al. 2010). UN offered a slow response despite the fact that UN should be the first responder to natural disasters. UN peacekeepers were not involved in humanitarian relief within the 72hours of the disaster occurrence (Taft-Morales et al. 2010). Finally, the Haiti government asked for assistance from the international level. The government used international communication equipment to coordinate with foreign officials in offering response and recovery (Taft-Morales et al. 2010).

There is a need for cooperation and coordination among the countries in order to offer to prevent and manage the disaster. As an emergency manager, one method that I would propose to increase cooperation is using the Disaster Management Information System (DMIS).This information system will provide the operators and managers with information related to disasters, threats, indicators, emergency response, recovery plans, crisis management, and task assignment (Palanivel et al. 2015).The system will strengthen cooperation and offer technical solutions.

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

 

Palanivel K., Saravanavel J., & Gunasekaran S. (2015). Disaster Management. Allied Publishers

 

Taft-Morales, M., Margesson, R., & Library of Congress. (2010). Haiti earthquake: Crisis and response.

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