Making Community Engagement a Priority: A Case-Study on Earthquake Response in Simon Pelé, Haiti: Summary Report

The Urban Crises Learning Partnership (UCLP) was a two-year (2015–17) learning initiative aimed at improving humanitarian preparedness and response in urban areas. It is a partnership between Habitat for Humanity GB, Oxfam GB, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), and University College London (UCL). The project has carried out primary research in Haiti and Bangladesh through the National Offices of Habitat for Humanity in both countries, and Oxfam in Bangladesh.

The UCLP has two primary objectives: to improve the way stakeholders in urban crises engage with each other to form new partnerships and make better decisions; and to improve disaster preparedness and response in urban areas by developing, testing, and disseminating new approaches to the formation of these relationships and systems. The project has addressed these objectives by exploring four related themes: the role of actors who are not part of the formal national or international humanitarian system; accountability to affected populations (AAP); urban systems; and coordinating urban disaster preparedness.

This case study makes a valuable contribution to the second of these themes – AAP. By tracing the evolution of Habitat for Humanity Haiti’s post-earthquake intervention in one part of Port-au-Prince, the case study demonstrates how community engagement at every stage of project design, planning, implementation, and evaluation is central to its chances of success. The paper contains valuable lessons for humanitarian and development organisations planning participatory approaches in the recovery phase of urban crises.