THE
HUMANITARIAN
COALITION

"You want to get people working rather than looting," said Ryan, a UN Development Programme assistant secretary-general who oversees a team of experts rebuilding countries around the world affected by natural and man-made catastrophes. Cash-for-work and food-for-work programmes have been used successfully in Liberia and in Haiti itself after the country was struck by a series of 2008 hurricanes, he said.

He spoke with AlertNet as the UNDP prepared to launch an appeal for $40 million in funding for the programme and other early recovery efforts in quake-devastated Haiti.

Q: Search and rescue and other immediate humanitarian efforts are obviously the focus in Haiti at the moment. At what stage does work on recovery and redevelopment start?

A: The idea is to embed what's termed 'early recovery' as early as possible. How do you make sure the capacity of national actors is strengthened? If recovery is going to be sustainable the national actors have to be engaged and involved from the outset. As I'm sure the Haiti case will prove, you can promote a sense of hope and stability with programs like food for work and cash for work. There's lots of rubble on the streets and UNDP will try to get people employed to clean up the city, to start building back. We need to use labour intensive practices, put people to work, get some money in their pockets, have them rebuild schools where their children can have a safe environment, get the hospitals and clinics back up.

When people can see things getting cleaned up and people have the opportunity to get involved, it builds stability and a sense that things can get better. Right now there is desperation for so many who have lost so much and are worried about the future of their children and themselves.

Q: How soon do you see cash-for-work programmes getting underway and how big will they be?

A: We're looking at trying to engage a couple hundred thousand people quickly. That's the order of magnitude. We're looking to raise about $40 million, and maybe $35 million of that would go for early recovery, including food, rubble removal and so on. A large chunk of it would go would go to idea of cash for work.

Q: How effective do you think such a programme will be?

A: We have experience with this programme in Haiti in the aftermath of the 2008 hurricanes. Apparently it worked quite well. Some of the mechanisms for it exist, the protocols and approaches. (The programme employed nearly 100,000 people, many in Gonaives, the worst-damaged city, to clear debris and clean up the water system, UNDP officials said)

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