As part of the cooperation with Japan and the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the "Resilience" project that has just ended after 2 years of existence, the Directorate of Civil Protection (DPC) has equipped the Departmental Emergency Operations Centers (COUD) of the North and North-East with a batch of equipment and intervention equipment in order to strengthen their emergency preparedness and response capacities and to disasters.

On this occasion, Ms. Yvonne Helle, Director of UNDP, and Jerry Chandler, Director of the DPC, accompanied by Japan's Ambassador to Haiti, Yoshiaki Hatta, visited the new facilities of the North-East COUN, in particular new dormitory built as part of the Resilience project which supported the National System for Risk Management at the central level and in both departments.

In his intervention, Chandler praised the effectiveness of Japanese cooperation and UNDP support, stating "The Haitian Government, through civil protection structures in particular, will continue to work with its partners, such as UNDP and the Government of Japan, in order to continue to build the resilience of our communities and our people."

For her part Ms. Yvonne Helle said "I would like to thank our partners in the Haitian Government for the trust placed in our institution [...] I particularly welcome the commitment and availability of departmental technical coordinators for their unconditional involvement in the implementation implementation of this project".

Remember that the DPC through the "Resilience" Project, has been able to improve the integration of knowledge of natural hazards in land use planning and urban planning through prevention and risk reduction plans of the cities of Cap-Haitien and Ouanaminthe. In the past two years, the capacity of communities to design and implement protection measures against natural hazards in the most vulnerable sectors as well as preparedness and response capacities at national and departmental level have been strengthened.

HL/ S/ HaitiLibre