Aid in urban contexts: case studies in Nepal and Haïti (for British Red Cross)

As part of the “Learning from the city” project, the British Red Cross asked Groupe URD for support via two studies:

• One on preparing urban contexts for major disasters (with the case of Katmandu in Nepal and the risk of earthquakes);
• The other on economic recovery in an urban context (cash-for-work, micro-credit, support for small businesses, with the case of Port-au-Prince in Haiti).

The case of Katmandu was unusual, with a strong inter-agency component (the Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium or NRRC), a major role for the Nepalese Red Cross and the other institutions of the International Red Cross Movement, serious consideration of risk management issues on the part of the national authorities and real investment on the part of the donors (DFID, USAID, ECHO).