Independent Review of the U.S. Government Response to the Haiti Earthquake

The aim of this review was to examine three broad areas of action primarily related to relief and recovery assistance to the Haitian Government and people: (1) internal U.S. Government
coordination; (2) partner coordination; and (3) response effectiveness. The timeframe of the report is from the date of the event, 12 January, through 30 June 2010. All data collected and analyzed correspond to this timeframe. The report draws on more than one hundred and fifty interviews and several hundred documents to identify lessons learned in the first six months of the response. Many of these lessons are shortcomings and need changes in the system, but many are successes. If the report focuses on the shortcomings, it is to learn from mistakes and make the management of catastrophes a little easier in the future than it was this time around.