In the months that following the 2010 earthquake, the humanitarian community faced limits and challenges, which triggered reflections and discussions on intervention in such densely populated urban areas. A reorientation of the actions of NGOs was necessary so that they fit into an overall urban approach. A paradigm shift towards a coherent, organized and structuring reconstruction was needed.
In 2013, Solidarités International started an integrated project for the “reconstruction, urban planning and economic development of the Christ Roi neighbourhood” in Port-au-Prince. On the basis of internal discussions which also reflected that of other NGOs, SI tried to better understand the social and spatial organizations that underpin the dynamics of an urban environment before designing its intervention. The project it implemented, as part of the PARAQ funded by the European Union, contributed to the return of displaced persons to their neighbourhoods of origin by securing and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the neighbourhood’s living environment and by improving the living conditions of the inhabitants.
This case study focuses on two major keys of success of the project: the community approach it implemented throughout the project, and the work frame established with institutions. These two elements can be useful for any intervention in an urban context.
Links
Resource collections
- ALNAP focus topics
- Earthquakes
- Learning from crises
- Locally led humanitarian action
- UN Habitat - Urban Response Collection
- Urban Response - Urban Crisis Preparedness and Risk Reduction
- Urban Response Collection - Community Engagement and Social Cohesion
- Urban Response Collection - Economic Recovery
- Urban Response Collection - Environment and Climate Change
- Urban Response Collection - Housing, Land and Property
- Urban Response Collection - Urban Crisis Response, Recovery and Reconstruction
- Urban Response Collection - Urban Resilience