Management of crises: the case of earthquake in Haiti

• Grant number: 10/19794-9
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2011
• End date: March 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - International Politics
• Principal Investigator: Sérgio Luiz Cruz Aguilar
• Grantee: Sérgio Luiz Cruz Aguilar
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Marília. Marília , SP, Brazil

Abstract

On January 12, 2010, an earthquake of major proportions caused the loss of hundred thousands of lives and destroyed a considerable part of the projects that were ongoing in Haiti. During the earthquake, the country was under UN mandate on behalf of the peacekeeping operation established since 2004 (MINUSTAH), and the military command was the Brasil. In addition to the precarious structure of the country to deal with a crisis situation, the earthquake caused the death of high UN officials, the ineffectiveness of government systems, communications and logistics. Along with the chaos established, the willingness of governments, international organizations and NGOs led to the influx of people, materials, equipment and humanitarian aid in general in an amount beyond the capacity of management who took control of the actions in the country. The project, being developed within the Group for Study and Research on International Conflicts, intends to analyze how was performed the management of the crisis that has taken place in Haiti through the prism of the relations established by the internal and external actors present. The research will made from reports and documents of UN and MINUSTAH, reports of brazilian militaries and UN Military Command, documents of the major governments directly involved with the crisis and interviews with people directly involved with its management. It is understood that the study of the crisis management in Haiti in a highly complex environment has fundamental importance and applications in many fields, especially in international politics and international relations. (AU)