Earthquake-resistant construction training in Haiti

As part of their training programmes, the ILO and the British Red Cross are involved in capacity building in hurricane- and earthquake-resistant construction techniques. The overall strategy of the training and construction programme aims to support the two following axes: • To provide sustainable housing solutions and to improve living conditions for the residents of the neighbourhoods of Delmas 19; • To qualify workers to participate in the rebuilding process of their neighbourhood and to government certifications. ILO and BRC join their efforts to facilitate the implementation of this integrated programme. Under this approach, the ILO’s main responsibility is to improve the socio-economic situation of targeted areas through qualification of residents and enterprises in the reconstruction process and to offer a range of services necessary for social cohesion in neighbourhoods. The importance of the reconstruction of housing and the search for housing solutions that accommodate several families become obvious if one considers that with the return of displaced persons to their declared areas of origin the housing shortage will worsen. In the context of reconstruction of houses, it is also necessary to increase the number of professionals in construction. The ILO identified a huge deficit in the number of specialized workers and that only a small number of entrepreneurs, foremen, technicians and workers in the construction sector have the capacity to be involved in the reconstruction of Port-au-Prince in particular and in the country generally. Strengthening the technical training of foremen, skilled workers and semi-skilled workers based on government standard norms in seismic- and cyclonic-resistant constructions will help build safe and sustainable housing and improve the living conditions of the population. It will also allow trained workers to increase and certify quality of technical offer in their respective fields. Not providing professional qualifications in the workforce or management skills and network with local businesses would undermine hopes of economic recovery in the areas despite financial injections in the reconstruction process. In addition, to fill the gaps in general knowledge on earthquake-resistant construction to residents of the area of Delmas 19, teams of trainers in reconstruction projects will host twice a month the activity ‘Open construction site’

Project symbol

HAI/13/04/BRI

Admin unit

DWT/CO-San Jose

Start date

01/06/2014

End date

07/08/2015

Total allocation

134683

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

124866

Development Partners

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Country/Countries

Haiti

Outcomes

Promoting workplace compliance through labour inspection