Via ReliefWeb, OCHA has published Haiti Humanitarian Bulletin, Issue 25 - December 2012. Click through to download the PDF. The highlights:
• US$144 million is required to address the humanitarian needs of over 1 million Haitians in 2013.
• The downward trend in the cholera epidemic continued in 2012, but 118,000 people could face cholera in 2013.
• Some 358,000 people remain in IDP camps where urgent humanitarian needs persist.
• Progress continues in moving to Haitian-led humanitarian coordination.
Here's what OCHA says about cholera in 2013:
OCHA says nothing about how WHO/PAHO reached that estimate of 118,000 cholera cases; in April 2012, PAHO was predicting 200,000 "moderate" cases and 40,000 "severe" ones. The actual MSPP number by mid-December was 105,307. That was likely a severe undercount, but I doubt that MSPP is capable of keeping a second set of books with the real case count, and that it's sharing that count with PAHO.Cholera care and management has been identified as a key priority in the 2013 Humanitarian Action Plan by the Haitian government and the humanitarian community. Current national capacity in terms of health facilities, trained personnel and availability of stocks for quick response to outbreaks remains very weak. This raises serious concerns at a time when WHO/PAHO estimates that 118,000 people may be at risk of contracting the disease in 2013.In its national strategy for the fight against the epidemic, the MSPP prioritizes the integration of cholera management in the national health system by strengthening the early warning system and increasing oral rehydration points (PRO) in remote areas. In this, it is strongly backed by humanitarian partners; especially the United Nations which on 12 December 2012, with the Government, launched a ten-year $2.2 billion fund to eradicate the epidemic. Among other goals, the campaign seeks to achieve a 70 per cent improvement in sanitation and drinking water supply.
So when a major UN agency issues a number like 118,000 and backs it up with nothing but arm-waving, it only increases my skepticism about the good faith of such agencies. It doesn't help that OCHA blandly repeats the "$2.2 billion fund" story, which the UN has been recycling for a year, without mentioning that the $2.2 billion is a sum devoutly to be wished, not money in the bank.
Nor does the UN show any sign of admitting its responsibility for bringing cholera into Haiti in the first place.
