Specific Vulnerability as a Result of Non-integration of Science and Technology into International Development Cooperation Policies The case of the 12th January 2010 Haiti Earthquake.

Abstract

While much was known about the vulnerability of Haitian society at the time of the earthquake in 2010, this paper aims to focus on a specific aspect of this vulnerability. With hindsight, recommendations will be made with a view to increasing resilience in the face of disasters to come, anda vindication will be made of the positive role that science and technology can play in risk management of disasters. Five types of vulnerability are normally considered: financial, natural, human, physical and social. It is essential to study the damage caused by the lack of integration of scientific knowledge and good technological practice since it can contribute to the mitigating the magnitude of a disaster. UN, EU and the Spanish government‟s cooperation policies with Haiti, both before and after the earthquake, have been closely analyzed in order to assess whether or not the seismic hazard and the measures put into place to mitigate and prepare for it had been taken into consideration in these policies. This research comes from the co-authors‟ B.A in Environmental Science dissertations, supervised by Dr. Marga Zango-Pascual. The conclusion was drawn that not only was scientific knowledge about seismic risks easily obtained, but that it already existed before the earthquake ever occurred. However, many of the policies that were analyzed were biased and therefore could not be used because they were lacking both scientific and technological information. Consequently, Haiti‟s vulnerability increased because seismic building codes were not compulsory in most of the development cooperation projects.