(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) As the Caribbean Community‘s (CARICOM) team in Port-au-Prince prepares to relocate to the town of Leogane, a Transition Mission is underway to facilitate the Community’s health initiative in Haiti.

CARICOM had identified health as the primary but not exclusive focus of the Community’s intervention in Haiti following the 12 January devastating earthquake. The Community’s intervention, which began on 14 January, was initially located in Port-au-Prince at two sites during the emergency relief phase.

Earlier this month, the Government of Haiti identified Leogane as the preferred site for CARICOM’s health intervention. Leogane, a town of 134,000 persons, is about 40 miles from Port-au-Prince and was gravely affected by the earthquake with some 90 percent of its buildings said to have been destroyed.

The Transition Mission, headed by Ambassador Colin Granderson, CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General, Foreign and Community Relations, comprises representatives of CARICOM, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the CARICOM Contingent in Haiti, a health sector representative from the Ministry of Health in Jamaica, and an engineer from the University of the West Indies (UWI).

Among the areas the Mission will be looking at are the scope and approach for the health care service delivery; deployment considerations such as the number of medical personnel and the duration of their rotation; the required logistical and support systems; management and coordination of the intervention; and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements.

The Mission will consult with local leaders in Leogane, including the Mayor, officials of the Ministry of Health and from the Civil Protection Unit of the Ministry of the Interior.

The Mission will also seek to foster partnerships with agencies working in the Leogane area to facilitate the delivery of tangible and timely assistance to the people of Haiti.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org