Community Approach and Institutional Support in Urban Areas – The Experience of Solidarités International in Christ Roi neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

In the months that followed the 2010 earthquake, the humanitarian community faced limits and challenges, which triggered reflections and discussions on intervention in such densely populated urban areas. A reorientation of the actions of NGOs was necessary so that they fit into an overall urban approach. A paradigm shift towards a coherent, organised and structuring reconstruction was needed.   

In 2013, Solidarités International started an integrated project for the “reconstruction, urban planning and economic development of the Christ Roi neighbourhood” in Port-au-Prince. On the basis of internal discussions which also reflected that of other NGOs, SI tried to better understand the social and spatial organisations that underpin the dynamics of an urban environment before designing its intervention. The project it implemented, as part of the PARAQ funded by the European Union, contributed to the return of displaced persons to their neighbourhoods of origin by securing and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the neighbourhood’s living environment and by improving the living conditions of the inhabitants.

This case study focuses on two major keys of success of the project: the community approach it implemented throughout the project, and the work frame established with institutions. These two elements can be useful for any intervention in an urban context.