By William Tucker
In my previous post, I stated, The government of Haiti has a difficult time enforcing the writ of the state in the best of times and nearly ceased functioning in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. Haiti has had a troubled past to say the least, and is currently playing host to a UN peacekeeping contingent to help manage a country that has been divided all too frequently.
Following the January earthquake the UN peacekeepers were able to continue functioning in a limited fashion when the status of the Haitian government was unknown. The loss of the UN building in Port-au-Prince, which killed many UN staff members, further compounded relief efforts.
Although most of the Haitian government survived, it required international assistance to operate. Perhaps most importantly the President survived leaving the country with an executive leader and heading off the factional fighting that could have taken place in his absence. But without a fully operational government and a recovering UN contingent, it fell to the U.S. military to take charge of Haitian airports and sea ports.
The U.S. military is unique in that it can move troops and equipment to any corner of the globe within hours of a crisis. Thus, it is no accident that the U.S. was able to respond in the manner it did. Although this serves to explain why the U.S. took action, it does not explain the authority under which it acted. At the present, it is safe to assume that the Haitian government provided that authority, but it wasn’t adequately explained publicly.
Making matters worse, neither the Haitian nor U.S. governments have stated what the mission of the U.S. military is at this point. These gaps in information have only served to increase political tension in the international response. This is where involving the UN can help alleviate these issues.
Enter the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team. UNDAC is a team of disaster management professionals who deploy to disaster stricken nations and help with coordinating international relief. UNDAC does not take on a governing role; rather it works with the local government to coordinate with international relief organizations and foreign militaries. When a crisis involves an international response UNDAC can step in and overcome language barriers and aid in mission clarification. Anything that enters into the realm of security falls to the local government, and in Haitis case, both the national government and the UN peacekeeping forces operating under the mandate of the UN Security Council.
The criticism of the U.S. in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake is really unwarranted because Haiti did not have a working government and as a poor nation has limited infrastructure; however the U.S. could have done a better job of explaining its intent. Miscommunication such as this can lead to unwanted distractions from the job at hand and even lead to diplomatic rows with other nations. When it comes to emergency management the focus needs to be on helping the afflicted people in the most efficient manner.
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