Review of Irish Aid's Emergency Response to the Haiti Earthquake in 2010
Publication
29 July 2019This assessment reviewed the €13.2m support provided by the Department over the period 2010-2012 in response to the Haiti earthquake of January 12th 2010. It assessed the rationale and efficiency of the response.
The assessment found that the decision by the Department to respond to the disaster was in line with the Statement of Strategy and agreed policies. Facilitated by the pre-positioning of funding; stockpiling of emergency supplies; maintenance of a Rapid Response Corps; and funding to specialist and experienced organisations, the response was considered prompt and efficient. Notwithstanding the Department's recognition of the role of partners already on the ground, divisions emerged between the internationally-led and Haitian-led recovery efforts. This demonstrated a need for greater local ownership of programmes to enable longer-term solutions.
While the assessment was largely positive the report identified opportunities to enhance the efficiency of future responses to sudden emergencies. Incorporated into the finalised Management Response these included:
While Irish Aid support to Haiti was largely timely and efficient, there is scope to enhance the efficiency of future responses to sudden onset emergencies. Areas identified are:
- Appraisal and approval processes for grant applications could be shorter. The assessment makes a number of recommendations in this respect. This is particularly important in the context of emergency response.
- Partner accountability mechanisms could be strengthened. Greater emphasis could be placed on external evaluations of partner programmes or including a greater focus on qualitative indicators of programme impact in monitoring frameworks.
- A strategic review of Irish Aid's approach should be undertaken on a regular basis to ensure that it continues to respond to emergent changes in the local context.
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