A fresh social foundation is imperative for Haiti to emerge. In this perspective, the absolute priority in the Action Plan is to respond to the needs of disaster-stricken populations, whether those living in makeshift camps, those who have been displaced to various regions in the country, the injured and disabled who require appropriate care, or those who have lost their jobs and are no longer in a position to provide for themselves.

Housing for the population: temporary and permanent

Temporary and permanent re-housing of populations displaced by the after-effects of the earth-quake represents a significant challenge. To date, there are still some 1.2 million people in 460 spontaneously organised camps with over 25 families each. Of these, some 250,000 people live in 21 of the spontaneous camps presenting major risks for the well-being and safety of their inhabit-ants. Studies as to the areas of origin of these persons have revealed that over half of the housing in these zones may be repaired, with support in the form of a reconstruction kit. Consequently, it is planned that 100,000 inhabitants of Port-au-Prince will have to be transferred as soon as possible to more appropriate sites.

The government has identified five sites which urgently need to be made available to be able to accommodate 100,000 people or more if necessary. Initially, provisional shelters should be installed there. However, it is planned for these sites to become new, permanent neighbourhoods in which shelters are gradually replaced by permanent housing along with sustainable infrastructures and basic services. It is imperative for as many of the 21 sites mentioned above to be evacuated prior to the rainy season and in any case prior to the hurricane season. As to the inhabitants of other camps, several initiatives will be taken with the aim of improving the situation in these camps, con-tinuing to identify new, more appropriate sites or, where possible, encouraging refugees to return home. Assistance would need to be provided for such an initiative.

Technical assistance will be provided to local authorities in the form of multi-disciplinary teams, particularly for planning, land tenure and quality control of construction materials. A security fund will also be set up to support reconstruction efforts in municipalities and neighbourhoods. In addition, financial assistance will be granted including means of access to loans, by setting up a housing reconstruction fund.

Budgetary data for 18 months

Preparation of new sites: $140m*

Funds for reconstruction and other activities: $155m **

Total $295m

*not accounted for since they have already been taken into account by humanitarian and military stakeholders

**not accounted for since they are included under "Re-launching economic and financial circuits"

Creation of high-intensity labour jobs

With a view to mitigating the negative effects of the disaster on the living standards of the population,particularly women, who make up the majority of the informal economy, it is necessary to engage in massive job creation programmes as soon as possible. These programmes should be directed not only at stricken areas but also at areas accommodating displaced persons and, more generally, the whole of the territory under the principle of equity, in order to avoid further population displacements.

Over and above its economic effects, this creation of jobs addresses the desire to set Haiti on a course to recovery and shorten the humanitarian aid phase which, although vital, threatens to place a large part of the population in a situation of dependency. Creating jobs for the public good will re-store both meaning and dignity for all Haitians who wish to provide for their own needs on the basis of their work.

The existing situation offers many opportunities for high-intensity labour. This relates to activities in rural areas, with the restoration of production infrastructures (irrigation systems, farm tracks) and the development of watersheds (reforestation, setting up pastureland, correcting ravines in peri-urban areas, fruit trees). The road maintenance programmes also address this objective, using the same method as has been used for a number of years by the road maintenance fund, with an accelerated schedule.

Minor community-based infrastructures (tracks, paths, footbridges, shops and community centres, small reservoirs and feed pipes, etc.) and urban infrastructures (roadway paving, squares, drainage network cleaning) follow a similar logic, as do projects relating to the cleaning and recycling of materials engendered by the collapse of buildings in the areas most affected by the earthquake.

There is a considerable potential for job creation. The programme proposed by the MARNDR alone represents a job creation potential of several million people per day.

This job creation must take place observing a number of principles: (i) over and above direct employment, the choice for investments should take account of their social and economic interest and viability, (ii) particular attention should be directed to the support and accountability of local structures acting in the capacity of contracting authority, (iii) works must be properly organised and supervised by professionals, in order not to give workers and the population at large the negative impression that there is money to be earned by engaging in business which is either useless or poorly supervised, (iv) the salary paid must be decent, whilst not competing unfairly with those paid on the regular market in order to avoid the workforce migrating from its usual employment, (v) it is fundamental for Haitian children to be protected from child labour, particularly in its most harmful forms (observing fundamental rights andinternational labour standards) during the initial phases of reconstruction, especially in the light of the temptations arising as inhabitants rebuild their lives, (vi) families assisting disabled people should be the subject of priority attention to enable them to as-sume these responsibilities (viii) women who have suffered the worst from the after-effects of the earthquake should be recruited as a priority. Job creation does not relate solely to these type of works. It is also of interest for projects such as the constitution of a civil registry, land registry, surveys to be carried out by the National Observa-tory of Poverty and Social Exclusion (ONPES) and other structures, all of which are highly labour-intensive and well distributed across the national territory. Implementing this type of project should receive priority attention.

The State has a predominant role to play in restoring employment via HLI activities in the initial recovery phase of the country, and should be capable of employing some 200,000 people. Other in- ternational and national stakeholders should be capable of creating an equivalent number of HLI jobs.

Budget data for 18 months:

An average of 200,000 people employed by the Government:

$200m, of which $50m in the form of budget

200,000 people employed by other stakeholders: $200m

Total $400m including $200m previously identified

Remainder $200m of which $50m in the form of budget support