As in many spontaneous settlements, the needs are familiar; they include food, housing, water and sanitation. For the past month, a group of five young women have been up early in the morning touring Accra Park in the Delmas 32 district of Port-au-Prince as part of IOM's ninety strong team of environmental health monitors, operating in many of the estimated 1,000 camps and spontaneous settlements.

"The displaced families are always ready to cooperate with us", says IOM's Roselaure Charles. "Sometimes, we meet people who are less cooperative and simply ask for food coupons. That being said, the overwhelming majority of the camp's 20,000 residents understand the need for us to constantly monitor living conditions".      

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Accra Park appears to be relatively well organized, with schools and latrines recently set up by international organisations. IOM's environmental health monitoring role is part of a Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) funded project.

IOM's monitoring officer Jean Max Baulière believes this activity is crucial to the wellbeing of camp residents. "Before the onset of the rainy season, many organizations had not paid enough attention to the quality of ground on which the shelters were built. In some cases, those were built on refuse and waste. This explains why latrines and other structures collapsed as soon as rain fell". In this case, the information collected by IOM monitors was immediately shared with the organization in charge of managing the camp and very soon, latrines were dug in another area.

"Monitoring allows the daily collecting of information on critical situations so as to reduce the response time of organizations present on the ground", adds Baulière.

Charles Dérivois is a member of the local camp committee, charged with managing Accra Park. Barely twenty years old, he arrived on the site on 12 January. For him, IOM's monitoring activities are important in more than one way.

"Before, it was up to us to evaluate the water and sanitation needs of the camp and then put pressure on local NGOs to meet these needs".

He says things have changed for the better as IOM monitors report existing needs and assistance gaps directly. "As a result, our needs are promptly met".

Every morning at 8 o'clock, IOM monitors begin their tour of Accra Park to check if latrines are in working order, to check the quality of water and the overall cleanliness of the site, including the removal of waste. They then write a report which clearly indicates what follow up actions must be taken before returning to the camps later in the afternoon to check if identified needs have been met.

This activity has also allowed many unemployed young people to find a new job. Twenty year old Magalie who lost her job as a result of the earthquake, is delighted to be given this opportunity. "This initiative is great because it gives hope to young people who feel they are useful to the relief effort", she says.

IOM monitors are selected on several criteria, including most importantly their residence in the camp they will monitor. "It is important to employ someone who lives in the camp to ensure continuity in the monitoring and to promote a sense of purpose", says Jean Max Baulière.

Selection of the environmental monitors is carried out in coordination with the camp management coordination committee. Once selected, the new recruits attend training on practical monitoring and reporting techniques in the camp and in shelters.

"IOM's monitoring programme also provides an excellent overview of environmental health needs, which evaluates, informs and guides our programme responses", says IOM's Christian Poteau. For him, this programme provides an invaluable bird's eye view of conditions that prevail in camps.    

He adds that although at times, monitors feel undervalued because they do not actually provide direct assistance, their role is essential to identifying the needs of affected families.      

"Findings from our monitoring teams also help to shape our plan of action", adds Poteau.

To date, 90 monitors have been trained to cover the camps supervised by IOM. But only half are deployed, the other half are currently on standby to cover emerging needs. As a rule, one monitor is needed per 5,000 displaced persons.

For Félix Diesner, who manages the programme, monitoring is vital, not only because it provides daily reports but because it helps communities to manage their needs.

"Or daily presence in the camps and our contact with beneficiaries allows us to anticipate water shortages, for instance. It also allows us to identify their medical needs which are linked to poor hygiene, such as diarrhoea and skin infections."

He adds that much remains to be done, despite the presence on the ground of an increasing number of agencies. To meet those challenges, IOM and its partners are setting up more rapid reaction teams that will be able to rapidly address the needs of the displaced.

"Furthermore, the system which has been set up will be useful beyond this immediate emergency because it will allow officials to monitor the health and hygiene conditions in the communes in general", Diesner says.