The United Nations office dedicated to disaster risk reduction has called for urgent support to improve disaster risk management in Haiti, following a damage assessment that shows the country lost US$2.7 billion, or 32 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), as a result of Hurricane Mathew six months ago.
“Hurricane Matthew revealed disturbing truths about least developed countries which lack the capacity to respond adequately to climate change and the rising intensity and frequency of weather-related disasters,” said the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Robert Glasser.
His call came on the eve of the fifth Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas, which opened in Montreal, Canada, on Tuesday.
“While the government’s civil protection system prevented many deaths, it is unacceptable that over 600 people should have died in a hurricane that was so well-forecast,” he added.
The magnitude of the losses shown by a thorough government-led Post-Disaster Needs Assessment would be a devastating blow to any economy. It came on top of two years of drought affecting the food security of one million people and the 2011 earthquake, which cost 120 per cent of GDP, he said.
Glasser urged strong support for the three-year recovery plan developed by the Haitian government, the UN and other partners that seeks US$2.72 billion.
