Challenge
Recorded as Haiti¡¯s most devastating natural disaster in recent history, an earthquake on January 12, 2010, killed an estimated 230,000 people, injured 300,000 more, and displaced more than 1.5 million as a result of collapsed buildings and infrastructure. Damages and losses stemming from the 7.0 magnitude earthquake were estimated at US$7.8 billion, representing 120 percent of Haiti¡¯s gross domestic product, and reconstruction needs reached US$11.3 billion.
The unprecedented damage throughout the country weakened the government¡¯s ability to respond to the crisis. In addition to the loss of one-third of its civil servants, Haiti suffered partial or total collapse of key administrative buildings, including the National Palace, the National Penitentiary, the Parliament, and all but one of its ministries. Much of the service delivery infrastructure in and around Port-au-Prince was destroyed, including critical stretches of the primary road network linking the capital to heavily damaged southern cities.
Approach
The Infrastructure and Institutions Emergency Recovery Project (IIERP) was designed to support Haiti¡¯s government in its post-disaster sustainable recovery efforts through interventions to rebuild key institutions and infrastructure. The International Development Association (IDA) not only financed urgent actions needed to provide relief to the population, to enable early recovery assessments and works, and to restore key government functions, it combined these actions with institutional strengthening including training, capacity building, and reconstruction urban planning, a crucial step in addressing the need for improved long-term reconstruction planning. After the immediate crisis, IDA provided Haiti with substantial support ¡ª through flexible tools, a stronger footprint on the ground, and a tailored capacity-enhancement approach and by forming an implementing entity to supplement government capacity ¡ª enabling the government to enhance its long-term governance reform agenda and to rapidly reconstruct its key infrastructure. This innovative approach integrated emergency activities with long-term reconstruction planning and became a model for subsequent IDA-financed post-disaster emergency projects in Haiti.