As of this week, the Camp Management and Camp Coordination cluster
(CCCM) in collaboration with the Government of Haiti has registered
more than half-a-million displaced Haitians in Port-au-Prince and
surrounding regions.

One hundred and fifty sites have been registered to date,
representing 125,000 families and close to 540,000 individuals
(based on an average estimated family size of 4.3 individuals). Of
the 150 sites registered, 51 are in the regions outside of
Port-au-Prince, including 25 sites in Léogane, 15 in Grand
Goâve, 5 in Petit Goâve, and 6 in Jacmel.

The registration process is led by the Government of Haiti,
through the Ministry of Interior, Department of Civil Protection
(DPC) in partnership with IOM and the CCCM cluster and represents
one of the key activities carried out under the CCCM, in support of
humanitarian organizations providing services for displaced Haitian
communities.

Registration data captured ranges from simple demographic
information – 53 per cent of those registered are female and
47 per cent male with 36 per cent under the age of 18 years, and 8
per cent being children under 5 years old – to information
regarding return/relocation intentions of the displaced. The data
is logged in the CCCM Displacement Tracking Matrix which serves as
a source of real-time information for humanitarian actors.

"To date registration data has been used in many capacities for
a range of assistance provision including distributions of non food
items, voluntary relocation movements to new camps and individual
support to families. Camp Managers and other service providers can
regularly access the registration data needed for their activities
in the camps. Beneficiaries are cooperating with our teams in line
with the slogan "Register and help restore Haiti together," says
Vlatko Avramovski who heads IOM's registration department.

Priority sites for registration are identified by camp
management agencies and the IOM Camp Management Operations (CMO)
department. CMO recently expanded its operations to include camp
specific mobile teams, which focus on assessment of displaced
communities in Port-au-Prince's seven communes.

The first phase of the registration process, which includes
registration of all displaced populations at the larger sites in
the Port-au-Prince area, is expected to be completed by the end
July 2010. 

Registration of the remaining smaller sites, and of displaced
living with host families in the capital and the regions, is
expected to be completed by November 2010. Information on
registration updates can be found on the "paragraph-link-no-underline-bold" href=
"http://groups.google.com/group/cccmhaiti/web/site-planning-and-assessments?_done=%2Fgroup%2Fcccmhaiti%3F"
target="_blank" title="">CCCM website.

IOM employs a range of communication tools including messaging
through a MINUSTAH  "soap opera," a running comic strip, and a
Community Mobilizer Team expanding to more than 60 outreach staff,
to effectively engage displaced communities and disseminate
information regarding displacement issues, needs and humanitarian
responses.

"Our role is to communicate the best available information to
displaced persons and to solicit regular feedback regarding their
needs and wishes," says Community Mobilizer Junior Aly.

Additional CCCM efforts include ongoing preparation for the
hurricane season through site mitigation efforts, an outreach
campaign to provide information on upgrading existing shelters, and
through involvement in a Joint Task Force which will provide
emergency responses to developing situations.

Meanwhile, the camp mitigation task force, which is chaired by
UNOCHA and includes members of the Shelter, Wash, CCCM, early
recovery Clusters and other relevant agencies, continues to
identify camps most at risk and to undertake mitigation work.

According to IOM Site Assessment and Planning Department Head,
Shaun Scales, "severe risk" is defined as areas where camps will be
rendered uninhabitable for long periods due to flooding. This
indicates that in addition to the immediate flood danger, there is
a risk of chronic standing water with all of the inherent health
risks. 

The site assessments are currently looking at 6 camps per day
(out of 130 sites currently identified in the Port-au-Prince area
for assessment) with 56 sites assessed to date, comprising 121,000
people, 62,000 of whom were deemed to be at risk, and 54,000 at
severe risk.

The information collected is being shared with partners to
address identified needs, from small pick and shovel operations to
larger site mitigation issues. Information regarding site
assessments can be found on the "paragraph-link-no-underline-bold" href=
"http://groups.google.com/group/cccmhaiti/web/site-planning-and-assessments?_done=%2Fgroup%2Fcccmhaiti%3F"
target="_blank" title="">CCCM website.

IOM is also conducting ongoing canal clearance activities in
Port-au-Prince as part of its flood mitigation activities. The task
force aims to eventually expand assessments to include sites in
Léogane and Jacmel.

IOM has also joined MINUSTAH and UNOCHA to form the Critical
Incident Response Team in preparation for the impending hurricane
season and has arranged for two engineers to be on 24-hour standby
as part of a rapid response team. "The Team seeks to get
‘eyes' on the ground in response to critical incidents,"
Scales says.

IOM Director General William Lacy Swing will take part in the
Summit for the Future of Haiti, which opens tomorrow in Punta Cana,
Dominican Republic. The summit, called by the Government of the
Dominican Republic, seeks to spearhead the beginning of the
reconstruction work and to create permanent ties of solidarity
between the international community and
Haiti.   

For further information, please contact:

Jared Bloch

IOM Haiti

Tel: +41 79 812 7734

E-mail: "mailto:jbloch@iom.int">jbloch@iom.int