Nine months of action by Handicap International: Haiti situation update

An earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale hit Haiti at 4:53 PM (local time) on January 12, 2010. Handicap International's 100-strong team, present in the field when the earthquake struck, escaped unharmed and launched an immediate response to the emergency. Over the following weeks, Handicap International rolled out a vast program of emergency aid - the biggest in its history. Nine months after the earthquake, the association's response is continuing and evolving.

The association places a particular emphasis on mobile teams whose task is to ensure the followup of the most vulnerable people, amputees, quadriplegics and paraplegics. The goal is to ensure that these people, who are particularly vulnerable or have been weakened by the disaster and who live in highly disadvantaged situations, have access to a complete range of services and benefit from aid specific to their needs.

Handicap International is committed to a three-year to five-year strategy designed to ensure the long-term sustainability of its actions and the emergence of local skills, particularly in relation to the case-management of people severely affected by the earthquake.