FXB Center Initiative: South – South Conference on Children in Post-earthquake Haiti

Satchit Balsari (Fellow/India, Class of 2010) writes to request members of the network for input on a project he's currently working on with Harvard's FXB Center for Health and Human Rights and UNICEF.

The earthquake in Haiti has left the country in a dire situation from which it will undoubtedly require years to recover and rebuild. Reports estimate 250,000 people dead, 300,000 injured and 1,000,000 homeless. In relation to Haiti’s children, tens of thousands have experienced heightened levels of insecurity including separation and loss, abuse and exploitation, interruptions in education, food insecurity, and profound levels of psychosocial distress. Moreover, the damage the earthquake left behind to both buildings and infrastructure presents the Haitian Government with a formidable challenge to address.

Haiti’s leaders are of the view that the post-earthquake experiences of other countries would be helpful in informing the planning and strategy of Haiti’s rebuilding and reconstruction. Linked by commonalities in the challenges they face, countries from the “global south” can share their learned experience to help build upon previous successes and avoid previous mistakes. Policymakers and stakeholders from other earthquake affected areas have important stories to share and lessons to convey, so that the “building back better” of Haiti could be undertaken in the context of what has worked best elsewhere.

To support the re-building efforts of the Haitian authorities and to promote the potential of shared knowledge from other countries, the FXB Center plans to facilitate a three day, South-South Conference that could enable translation of the best practices in post-disaster recovery from the “Global South,” with a specific focus on responses to the needs of children. The Conference will address those issues that Haitians identify as the most central and problematic in their reconstruction. The participants will be from countries that have experienced a significant earthquake in the last 10 years, including possible representation from Pakistan, Algeria, China, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Indonesia, as well as Chile. Invitees will be selected by a conference steering committee of Haitian officials, UNICEF and FXB leadership. International organizations, such as WHO and PAHO, will also be invited. The conference would take place in June or July of 2010 at a location still to be determined.

The conference will aim to have immediate and practical application. Its focus on best practices will highlight the efforts that have been working in Haiti, as well as identify additional strategies that might help meet complex ongoing challenges. The conference will serve as the launch of a longer-term action undertaken by the Haitian authorities in collaboration with the UN and non governmental stakeholders to create an agenda for mapping need and measuring the interventions that are taking place.

In terms of addressing the needs of children post-disaster, conference participants will explore the vital components in protecting children, which necessarily include human security issues facing their families and communities. The conference will discuss different approaches and models to be used in ensuring protection, shelter, and care for orphans and vulnerable children. Participants will also investigate how livelihood protection and sustainability, women’s access to personal and financial security and access to land have fitted in with child protection programs in other earthquake settings. The conference will also examine best practices in dealing with child rights, legal identity, registration and tracing.