The devastating impact of the 12 January earthquake, which killed
between 217,000 and 230,000 people according to Haitian government
estimates, injured another 300,000 persons and made homeless 1.5
million persons, continues to be felt throughout the island six
months on, with many survivors still living in camps and
spontaneous settlements throughout the country.

In order to collect as vital information as possible on the
displaced, to better identify and prioritize their needs, IOM
established in February a partnership with Haiti's Civil Protection
Directorate to register displaced Haitian families. The aim of this
ambitious programme was to identify specific short and medium term
humanitarian responses to address the most urgent needs of homeless
families.

In the Port-au.-Prince neighbourhood of Carrefour, a large crowd
has gathered in the courtyard of a school run by Salesian brothers
and sisters. All have come to be registered by IOM. They queue
patiently under the burning sun, each with a story to
tell.  

"I used to live in a little house with my two children", says
Résia Elois who lost her house and all her worldly
possessions on 12 January. "Three days after the quake, I found the
body of one of my children in the morgue set up in the building of
the Haitian Navy in the neighbourhood of Bizoton. He had suffered
severe head wounds. The leg of my second child was badly wounded
and he subsequently lost two toes. The little I managed to salvage
from the rubble was stolen at the hospital. Today, I have nothing
left".

Speaking to an IOM registration team, she said all she now
needed was a safe shelter for her and her surviving child.

"For the past couple of months, we have been living under a
tent. It's not ideal, but there's little choice. We have to stay in
this camp for the time being".

The living conditions of many homeless families remain dire, and
IOM has deployed teams to systematically register the displaced.
Since February, more than 137,000 families or nearly 600,000
individuals have been registered in over 190 sites.

The registration takes place in three phases. Initially, IOM
registration teams distribute coloured coupons to heads of families
living in a camp or spontaneous settlements. Then, the teams meet
family heads to register all family members living under the same
roof. The collected information is then entered into a database,
which is accessible by all governmental and humanitarian partners
providing relief to quake victims.

"Registration allows us to collect vital information on the size
and composition of the family and on their place of origin", says
IOM's registration officer Jean Sébastien Jérome.
"This is crucial to track secondary displacement. We also ask about
their future intentions, which is important for planning
purposes".

Overall, IOM registration staff has reported that most quake
survivors say they wish to be sheltered in camps as close as
possible to their former homes.

Resia Elois who comes from Belle Anse says she'd rather go to
the nearby commune of Croix-des-Bouquets. Her neighbour, Michelson
Denis who lives in the capital's district of Cote-Plage with his
two children, simply wants his family to be registered. 

"We're ready to go as far as Léogane but no further as we
would be too far from relatives. Ideally of course, I'd like to
stay in the neighbourhood of Carrefour, because that's where I can
find work".

IOM's Jean Sébastien Jérome notes that the initial
stages of the registration process were plagued with
misunderstandings. "Initially, some people thought we were
registering them so they could get food or shelter. Others were
reluctant to come forward because they simply did not understand
the reasons behind the registration process. This is why it was
crucial to set up communication strategies for our community
mobilizers who regularly visit families in camps and
settlements".

He says the oncoming rainy and hurricane season has put a
special urgency on the registration programme. "We have to do as
much as possible now because bad weather will seriously limit our
operations", says Jean Sébastien Jérome.

The data collected is crucial in planning the relocation of
quake affected communities away from areas at high risk of flooding
or landslides. To date, it has contributed to the smooth relocation
of vulnerable displaced families to the newly established sites
in  Tabarre Issa and Corail-Cesselesse, located 10 and 20
kilometres respectively from the capital Port-au-Prince. 

When completed, the registration data will provide invaluable
information to the government of Haiti and to all humanitarian
actors who continue to seek appropriate medium to long term
responses to the many needs of the displaced.