Haiti Relief News Conference with US Response Leaders

February 17, 2010 | USAID Joint Task Force News Conference on CSPAN

Ambassador Lewis Lucke and Army Lt. General P.K. Keen, leading the U.S. relief efforts in Haiti, say significant progress has been made by cooperating with a number of international response partners, but much work remains.

Transitioning into the relief phase now, the focus will be on providing shelter, sanitation, rubble removal, reconstruction, medical services, and jobs.

Ambassador Lucke is the former US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Swaziland, served the US Agency for International Development for over 30 years and is the Haiti US Response Coordinator.

Army Lt. Gen. P.K. Keen is the Deputy Commander of US Southern Command in Miami and is currently serving as the Commander of Joint Task Force Unified Response in Haiti.

What Does “OODA” Mean Anyway?

Observe. Orient. Decide. Act.

That’s what OODA stands for. It’s a term coined by Colonel John R. Boyd (January 23, 1927 – March 9, 1997; pictured right), a United States Air Force fighter pilot and military strategist, whose theories have influenced both military and business strategies.

He used the term “OODA Loop” to describe the process that individuals and organizations use to react to events. The key to success is the creation of situations where one can make appropriate decisions more rapidly than others.
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Out of Disaster into Preparedness

The Time is Now to Capitalize on Risk Mitigation Opportunities

Major disasters provide important learning opportunities. People are motivated by the loss of life to be more receptive to new approaches and strategies for risk reduction in the aftermath of a crisis. In 2008, 321 natural disasters claimed more than 235,000 lives and cost the world an estimated $181 billion (according to The World Bank).

A long-term approach to building disaster resilience is critical, sadly however, disaster risk is often only fully acknowledged following a major event. The disaster recovery period thus provides an opportunity to once again sound the alarm and proselytize for increasing disaster preparedness and risk reduction funding at the federal, state and local levels.

Climate change now compounds the risks for natural disasters, but also provides an opportunity to empower communities to manage that risk. Consider that disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation funding can actually be integrated into relief and recovery budgets. How about an in-depth review of the relevant funding instruments and practices to ensure that those institutions most able to effect change have access to relevant funding  facilitated by local and national governments?

Let’s get serious about risk reduction partnerships and collaboration with practices that engage local government, civil society and NGOs in collective decision-making and tangible strategies to reduce risk and strengthen early warning. Technology MUST be utilized more effectively if we are to achieve enhanced resiliency and risk reduction with the limited funds we are currently willing to allocate.

This fleeting moment needs to be capitalized upon by policymakers, practitioners and the public alike – let’s do it together.

Télécoms Sans Frontières – Communications for Life

We applaud the work of Télécoms Sans Frontières …

Their Origin: During missions responding to the crisis in the Balkans and in Kurdistan during the 1st Gulf War, Télécoms Sans Frontières’ (TSF) founders realized that, in addition to medical and food aid, there was a critical need for reliable emergency telecommunications services. Conflicts and emergencies often led to massive civilian displacement and separated families. And affected populations are often left with no communications infrastructure in place to find assistance and loved ones. To address this need, TSF bought its first satellite phone eleven years ago and the organization was born. For all missions today, TSF offers a 3-minute call to any affected family.

TSF soon found that the international response teams that deploy to emergencies also had a critical need for reliable telecommunications services in the first days after an emergency. TSF, therefore, expanded its operations, improved its technology, and began to establish rapidly deployable emergency telecommunications centers to serve UN, government, and NGO humanitarian workers, and developed a reputation for being among the first to arrive after disasters.

Mission Haiti 2010: Deployed in Haiti the day following the terrible earthquake that struck the country, TSF teams remain mobilized, day after day, supporting the humanitarian community and the affected population. Three calling centers have been established in Port-au-Prince, Carrefour and Jacmel that are open for the people of Haiti: Union School in Port-au-Prince, Adventistes in Carrefour and Rue Febrile in Jacmel.

Everyone should know more about the work of this organization!

Resilient Cities

In the wake of the Haiti earthquake and the destruction of Port-au-Prince, we can wonder again at what it takes to create resilient cities and communities. In this day and age – do we even know what it takes to become resilient ourselves and thereby prepare our communities and our cities? Amidst the wonder, though, is a question of resolve. Do we have the requisite desire and the resources to do so? Haiti surely did not.

Thankfully there are those who are tackling these thorny questions. In October 2009 the 6th Gaining Ground Summit series attracted 600 people to Vancouver, BC to learn, talk about, and build connections around the theme of “Resilient Cities.”

Check out Mark Holland’s Resilient Cities Manifesto:

“I will open to the pain that I cause in the world through my ignorance and fear and the distance I seem to have from my internal dignity and nobility, and I will feel the pain, shock and injustice of participating in the death of so many, if only by accident – and then I will move past the grief to the restless serenity of my responsibility – to my planet, to my community, to my family, and to myself.”