IDP Response

IOM Haiti is implementing numerous emergency activities with the aim of supporting mobile populations and strengthen protection, in particular in the context of internal displacement due to gang violence. 

Gang attacks on neighborhoods are part of daily life for Port-au-Prince residents. While some manage to find refuge with relatives or friends, many IDPs have no choice but to settle in public squares or on the streets, in conditions of extreme vulnerability. To provide shelter to these people, IOM distributes non-food items and building materials to displaced households and helps the most vulnerable households to leave informal sites to rent accommodation in other areas of the Metropolitan Area of Port-au-Prince, thus improving their situation, particularly in terms of security and dignity. By co-leading the shelter/ NFI sector and by operating the Common NFI pipeline, IOM promotes a coordinated and coherent response based on needs. 

IOM is also working to improve conditions at displacement sites and collective shelters through the rehabilitation of infrastructure, especially in the area of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). IOM closely involves communities in this to identify gaps in local infrastructure and include the needs of host communities. IOM is applying cash-for-work schemes to carry out labor-intensive rehabilitation works such as the cleaning of channels and supporting affected households. IOM also carries out sensitization campaigns in displacement sites to promote hygiene practices, including the prevention of the spread of cholera and distributes hygiene kits, blankets, and water purification tablets. As a measure of last resort and where alternative water sources are not available IOM also provides water to new displacement sites as an immediate response to displacement. 

Furthermore, IOM provides medical services through mobile clinics and psychosocial support to IDPs to alleviate their suffering, strengthen their personal capacity to improve their situation, and assist IDPs in obtaining identity documents. While some IDPs have never possessed documents, others lose them during their flight.  

IOM also plays a central role with regard to coordination on the national level. Jointly with the government, IOM co-leads the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) cluster and supports the Directorate General for Civil Protection (DGPC) with the development of an IDP strategy to provide a comprehensive response to the displacement in the Metropolitan Area of Port-au-Prince. At the level of individual displacement sites, IOM supports local site committees with the management of the sites by training committee members and local authorities.