IOM Monitoring Provides a Vital Overview of Situation in Camps
As in many spontaneous settlements, the needs are familiar; they
include food, housing, water and sanitation. For the past month, a
group of five young women have been up early in the morning touring
Accra Park in the Delmas 32 district of Port-au-Prince as part of
IOM's ninety strong team of environmental health monitors,
operating in many of the estimated 1,000 camps and spontaneous
settlements.
"The displaced families are always ready to cooperate with us",
says IOM's Roselaure Charles. "Sometimes, we meet people who are
less cooperative and simply ask for food coupons. That being said,
the overwhelming majority of the camp's 20,000 residents understand
the need for us to constantly monitor living
conditions".
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target="" title="">Migration Summer 2010
Accra Park appears to be relatively well organized, with schools
and latrines recently set up by international organisations. IOM's
environmental health monitoring role is part of a Swedish
International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) funded
project.
IOM's monitoring officer Jean Max Baulière believes this
activity is crucial to the wellbeing of camp residents. "Before the
onset of the rainy season, many organizations had not paid enough
attention to the quality of ground on which the shelters were
built. In some cases, those were built on refuse and waste. This
explains why latrines and other structures collapsed as soon as
rain fell". In this case, the information collected by IOM monitors
was immediately shared with the organization in charge of managing
the camp and very soon, latrines were dug in another area.
"Monitoring allows the daily collecting of information on
critical situations so as to reduce the response time of
organizations present on the ground", adds Baulière.
Charles Dérivois is a member of the local camp committee,
charged with managing Accra Park. Barely twenty years old, he
arrived on the site on 12 January. For him, IOM's monitoring
activities are important in more than one way.
"Before, it was up to us to evaluate the water and sanitation
needs of the camp and then put pressure on local NGOs to meet these
needs".
He says things have changed for the better as IOM monitors
report existing needs and assistance gaps directly. "As a result,
our needs are promptly met".
Every morning at 8 o'clock, IOM monitors begin their tour of
Accra Park to check if latrines are in working order, to check the
quality of water and the overall cleanliness of the site, including
the removal of waste. They then write a report which clearly
indicates what follow up actions must be taken before returning to
the camps later in the afternoon to check if identified needs have
been met.
This activity has also allowed many unemployed young people to
find a new job. Twenty year old Magalie who lost her job as a
result of the earthquake, is delighted to be given this
opportunity. "This initiative is great because it gives hope to
young people who feel they are useful to the relief effort", she
says.
IOM monitors are selected on several criteria, including most
importantly their residence in the camp they will monitor. "It is
important to employ someone who lives in the camp to ensure
continuity in the monitoring and to promote a sense of purpose",
says Jean Max Baulière.
Selection of the environmental monitors is carried out in
coordination with the camp management coordination committee. Once
selected, the new recruits attend training on practical monitoring
and reporting techniques in the camp and in shelters.
"IOM's monitoring programme also provides an excellent overview
of environmental health needs, which evaluates, informs and guides
our programme responses", says IOM's Christian Poteau. For him,
this programme provides an invaluable bird's eye view of conditions
that prevail in camps.
He adds that although at times, monitors feel undervalued
because they do not actually provide direct assistance, their role
is essential to identifying the needs of affected
families.
"Findings from our monitoring teams also help to shape our plan
of action", adds Poteau.
To date, 90 monitors have been trained to cover the camps
supervised by IOM. But only half are deployed, the other half are
currently on standby to cover emerging needs. As a rule, one
monitor is needed per 5,000 displaced persons.
For Félix Diesner, who manages the programme, monitoring
is vital, not only because it provides daily reports but because it
helps communities to manage their needs.
"Or daily presence in the camps and our contact with
beneficiaries allows us to anticipate water shortages, for
instance. It also allows us to identify their medical needs which
are linked to poor hygiene, such as diarrhoea and skin
infections."
He adds that much remains to be done, despite the presence on
the ground of an increasing number of agencies. To meet those
challenges, IOM and its partners are setting up more rapid reaction
teams that will be able to rapidly address the needs of the
displaced.
"Furthermore, the system which has been set up will be useful
beyond this immediate emergency because it will allow officials to
monitor the health and hygiene conditions in the communes in
general", Diesner says.