Professional organisations respond to the Haiti disaster

The Blue Shield response

“The Blue Shield expresses its sorrow and solidarity with the population of Haiti for the loss of lives and the destructions caused by the earthquake which occurred on 12th January.”

The Blue Shield is the protective emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention. The Blue Shield network, network, organisations dealing with museums, archives, audiovisual supports, libraries, monuments and sites, has issued a statement on heritage

The International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS), founded in 1996, comprises representatives of the five Non‐Governmental Organisations (NGOs) working in this field:
- The International Council on Archives (http://www.ica.org),
- The International Council of Museums (http://www.icom.museum),
- The International Council on Monuments and Sites (http://www.icomos.org), and
- The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (http://www.ifla.org)
- The Co‐ordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (http://www.ccaaa.org)

The full Blue Shield response is downloadable below.

Message from the ICOMOS President following the earthquake in Haiti

The horrifying news about the earthquake in from Haiti gives all indications of major devastation and loss. Once the immediate human relief effort is over, I call on all ICOMOS to come together in solidarity to help in whatever way we can with the heritage recovery process. It is the right time now to identify individual ICOMOS members and groups of members who would be willing to form part of volunteer teams to be deployed to Haiti as needed when the time comes and the heritage needs are manifested by our Haitian colleagues. For that reason, I ask all National and International Committees to circulate this letter to their full membership. Anyone interested in considering being a volunteer should drop me a line and let me know who you are so that we may keep you informed about the opportunities that arise as we learn more about the situation.

For those National Committees from countries with disaster recovery experience, we also ask that you urge your government and other national institutions to be generous with their assistance.

For me personally, Haiti is a special place where I began my professional conservation life. It was at the Citadelle and later at the Palais de Sans-Souci in Cap Haitien that I had my very first projects as head of the OAS heritage assistance mission after graduation. I know the Haitians to be a good people, possessing great dignity and generosity while living amid extreme poverty. For this reason, I put my own name down as the first volunteer to assist in whatever way I can.

Thanks to all,
Gustavo Araoz, ICOMOS President

http://www.international.icomos.org/risk/Haiti_ICOMOS_Pres_Statement_20100113.pdf

Response report, 25 Jan 2010 by US ICOMOS
http://blog.scad.edu/history/2010/01/25/haiti-update-from-usicomos/

Message from ICOM

ICOM shares the grief of the Haitian people so deeply affected by the earthquake on 12 January and wishes to thank all those, citizens, ICOM members, National or International ICOM Committees, partners from other associations and organisations who expressed their solidarity and wish to help Haitian people and cultural heritage. ICOM and the other Blue Shield partners are making every effort to assess the needs and prepare the most appropriate actions to be taken.

Update from ICOM, Thursday, February 11, 2010

You will find on ICOM’s website a first damage assessment: http://icom.museum/icbs-press/100121_haiti_damages_statement_UK.pdf

ICOM Secretariat and ICOM Disaster Relief For Museums Task Force (DRFM) have immediately reacted to the Haiti earthquake and were extremely busy in seeking direct or indirect information about museums in Haiti. As every other NGO, ICOM faced enormous difficulties in getting reliable information directly from Haiti. Particular helpful were the nearby ICOM National Committee of the Dominican Republic and the Museum Association of the Caribbean (MAC).

Based on a list of Haiti museums (2008), we know of 14 institutions in the earthquake region: 4 museums open to the public, 6 museum projects with valuable collections and 4 other museum projects. On ICOM website you will find a regularly updated “Status Report” in three languages: http://icom.museum/risk_management.html

On the special Haiti webpage you may read details about museum colleagues, museum buildings and collections. We have received pictures from the Parc historique de la Canne à sucre museum. You can find them here: http://icom.museum/disaster_relief/haiti.html

On the initiative of ICOM Haiti, a crisis unit “Patrimoine en Danger” has been established to co-ordinate support activities and take the most urgent actions. A list of urgent demand has been compiled and is under study. Most important is the quick salvage of collections from collapsed or unstable buildings, because the rain season is expected latest by March. With only two appointed architects to evaluate the damage to the public buildings, our colleagues in Haiti stress that they need foreign experts of building static. Additional security measures are a common need as well, because the ordinary ones are disrupted or weakened.

There had been promising talks between ICOM DG Julien Anfruns and Alain Godonou, new Director of the Division of Cultural Objects and Intangible Heritage at UNESCO, concerning
- needs of a UN embargo on Haitian cultural goods to avoid (or reduce) art trafficking
- protection of damaged sites in the meantime (“cordon de sécurité”)
- search for storage places
- preparation of a better coordination with various entities UNESCO/Heritage NGOs ...

The Association of the national committees of the Blue Shield has created web 2.0 tools for heritage assistance:
1) a special web site in English, French and Spanish, where volunteers may apply online: “Haiti 2010 Blue Shield Solidarity”. http://haiti2010.blueshield-international.org
About 450 volunteers have already joined! This initiative is based on the great success last year, when two BLUE SHIELD teams assisted the collapsed Cologne City Archive; more than 100 international volunteers took part at the two “international weeks”.

2) This website is accompanied by the “Haiti 2010 Blue Shield Solidarity” group on Facebook with more than 800 members. This is the best information source for Haiti heritage damage: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&gid=247281734340

3) On Twitter you will find “Blueshieldcoop”: http://twitter.com/blueshieldcoop.

General Web link:
On January 16th, UNOSAT has published a satellite analysis of 110 major public buildings in Port-au-Prince - more than half of them are destroyed or damaged
http://unosat-maps.web.cern.ch/unosat-maps/HT/EQ20100114HTI/UNOSAT_HTI_EQ2010_BldDamages_v1_LR.pdf

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