Haiti -  IOM has completed the construction of 72 housing units in a vulnerable neighborhood in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince heavily affected by the 2010 earthquake.

Funds were provided by the Government of Haiti’s Bureau of Monetization of Development Aid Programs (BMPAD) as part of a USD 16 million project coordinated by the country’s Unit for Housing and Public Buildings Construction (UCLBP) which focuses on rebuilding earthquake-affected communities.

Through the same project, IOM also assisted the return of 9,000 displaced families and carried out extensive construction and rehabilitation work in several communities of return (i.e., Saint Martin, Carrefour Feuilles and Cité Soleil), including:

·         the construction of 200 housing units;

·         the rehabilitation of 367 latrines; and

·         the construction of 11 canals, 12 roads, 16 footpaths, a basketball court, a public square, and the installation of 85 solar lamp posts.

The newly completed community is comprised of 72 apartments or 36 double units connected to water and electricity, an open common space with benches and a play area, and rainwater collection and waste water management systems.

Based on the concept of incremental housing, this type of construction allows residents to expand their house by building an additional bedroom at a later stage. Each apartment has one bedroom (which could be used as a living room once the additional bedroom is built), a veranda, a kitchen and a bathroom.

“This is a holistic, 360-degree project.  We focused on a highly vulnerable and marginalized community, and transformed it into the core of a harmonious urban development,” explains Alberto Preato, IOM Haiti Durable Housing Solutions Programme Manager. 

“This project is the result of a close collaboration between the Government, through UCLBP, the international community, and the local community, who was actively engaged in the decision-making process and the project implementation.  It is an example of how unity makes strength and allows to achieve remarkable results,” said IOM Haiti Chief of Mission Gregoire Goodstein.

The construction provided jobs to nine construction firms and over 250 local laborers, mostly from the neighboring community of Delmas 18, an area prone to violence and with limited access to income-earning opportunities.  The recipients of these housing units will be identified by the Public Enterprise for the Promotion of Social Housing (EPPLS).

For more information, please contact IOM Haiti, Ilaria Lanzoni, Email: ilanzoni@iom.int, Tel. +509 370 250 66; or Alberto Preato, Email: apreato@iom.int, Tel +509 370 178 28