Taking the lead: Youth in Haiti take action in response to the recent earthquake

Chanel Bernard, 29 years-old, is from Pestel, a township in Haiti's Grand'Anse department, located some 80 kilometers from the city of Les Cayes. The 90,000 inhabitants of this town nestled between the sea and the mountains live according to the rhythm of the market days—Wednesdays and Saturdays— and the flow of ships unloading their goods from neighbouring cities into the port. 

With his high school diploma in hand, Chanel started studying at university in Port-au-Prince, like thousands of young Haitians every year. The capital city is home to most of the country's higher education programmes and university services. "I was happy to attend university, even though being apart from my parents and seven siblings was sometimes hard to experience", he says. An avid music fan, Chanel found a job as a DJ to finance the computer science classes he was taking at a private university.   

But in 2020, with rising insecurity in the capital and a deteriorating economic situation, Chanel had to stop his studies and return to live in Pestel. His is not an isolated case: Every year, poverty and insecurity, especially in Port-au-Prince, push many young Haitians to leave school or university. Girls and young women are particularly affected by this phenomenon. In June of this year, an outbreak of gang-related violence in Port-au-Prince displaced approximately 19,000 people. 

Far from getting discouraged, Chanel opened a beverage business upon his return to Pestel, while continuing to work as a DJ. It was in this capacity that he was called upon, one day, to help launch the local U-Report club. 

Launched in Haiti in June 2019, U-Report is a free tool developed by the United Nations through UNICEF and the International Labour Office (ILO), in partnership with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, the Institute of Social Welfare and Research (in French: “Institut du bien-être social et de recherches") and the National Telecommunications Council. The club allows young people to mobilize on social networks and via SMS to address problems in their communities, for example in the areas of child protection, health, education, water, hygiene and sanitation. Enthused by the initiative, which brings together 36,000 young people, Chanel did not hesitate to get involved. "My community needed me badly, and I wanted to make myself useful", he explains. 

A community engagement network 

On Saturday, 14th August, 2021, at around eight o'clock in the morning. Chanel Bernard was on his way to meet a sea carrier he places orders with, when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti’s departments of Grand'Anse, Sud and Nippes.  

"Everything started to move around me. From the way the ground was shaking under my feet, I quickly understood the severity of the disaster", he recalls. Understanding the need to take quick action, Chanel began pushing people to get leave their homes. "I went to the coast to tell people to go inland, as a tsunami could happen at any moment”, he explains. Chanel logged on to his Facebook account and used his distribution networks and the young U-reporters network to distribute water in the city.

"The situation in Pestel was already difficult before the earthquake, and that's one of the reasons why I had left for Port-au-Prince. But today, we lack everything, starting with drinking water. People sleep out in the open”. 

Overall, the earthquake left more than 2,000 dead, 12,000 injured and hundreds missing, and destroyed tens of thousands of homes. Overall, 800,000 people have been affected, among whom 650,000 have humanitarian needs. The U-Report initiative has been instrumental in the humanitarian response to the earthquake, including in data collection. According to the latest UNICEF situation report, which draws on the data collected by the U-Report network, among other sources, 72% of residents in the three most affected departments of the country indicated that the health facilities located near their homes were damaged by the earthquake, and at least 60% reported that health services were disrupted due to a lack of staff, medical equipment and supplies, and to the collapse or damaged caused by the disaster to the facilities. 

In August, the United Nations and its partners launched a $187.3 million emergency humanitarian appeal (flash appeal) to provide emergency assistance to 500,000 earthquake-affected people, including in terms of shelter, water and sanitation, emergency health care, food, protection and early recovery. As of September 3, nearly 46% of affected families have received humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). 

Grounds for hope  

For the United Nations, the community’s resilience and ability to mobilize to respond to the earthquake are grounds for hope.

"The local organizations, the grassroots organizations, the local authorities, the Civil Protection brigadiers, the many volunteers, including youth from the U-Report network, were the first to rescue the citizens in need, before the relief teams arrived. And all this solidarity between people, between communities, this konbit*, is still there as the humanitarian response and recovery process goes on. In fact, they are the main drivers of the recovery—and external support should be aimed at supporting these local efforts, not substituting for them. ", said Bruno Lemarquis, the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti. 

"The young U-reporters community’s commitment and involvement is the result of the UN System taking effective action in Haiti through UNICEF. This youth mobilization is for us a reason for pride and hope. Their enthusiasm, their determination, and most importantly their spontaneity in helping the neediest, especially children and women, are a lever of change for Haiti. This youth is the future of the country", said Bruno Maes, UNICEF’s Representative in Haiti. 

"I'm so proud that I helped my community", says Chanel, inviting young people like himself to become more involved in the life of their community. "We need to lend a hand. Together, we can achieve a lot! Haiti needs us!". 

* “Konbit” is a philosophical notion that essentially means people mobilize themselves in the spirit of helping each other to support one another and live together in harmony. 

 

French version by Jéruscha Vasti Michel, Communications Officer, Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Haiti. Editorial support by Ahmed Ben Lassoued, Development Coordination Office (DCO). English-To-French translation by DCO.