Emergency Community Assistance and Planning (ECAP) for Shelter and Settlement in Post-Earthquake Haiti

Funded by USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), ECAP was a nine-month emergency program designed to provide community-focused, on-the-ground technical support to the agencies of government tasked with overseeing Haiti’s post-earthquake shelter and settlement initiatives. The program was designed by Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) and the Development Innovations Group (DIG) in consultation with representatives from the Government of Haiti (GOH). ECAP addressed the capacity and technical needs of the GOH in the areas of shelter and settlement planning. By providing a cadre of Haitian professionals offering critical support to relevant ministries as well as national and local-level agencies, ECAP represented the first concerted and systematic effort to channel the skills of heretofore untapped Haitian Diaspora members. ECAP’s urban planners, architects, engineers and environmental experts also provided technical assistance to OFDA grantees that were working on shelter and settlement issues in Haiti. This support entailed: site planning studies; improved housing design and housing finance options; and new shelter and settlement policies.