To date there has been little formal, empirical research that has been conducted on capacity building for disaster risk management (DRM), an d as a result international actors lack robust, evidence-based guidance on how capacity for DRM can be effectively generated at national and local levels. This country study on Haiti is part of a research project that has been designed as an initial step towards filling that knowledge and evidence gap. Two programmes emerged as appropriate case studies:

Red Cross Consortium:Reinforcement of DRM Capacities and Resources of the Haitian Populations (DIPECHO/9)
GOAL:Operationalising a Neighbourhood Approach to Reduce Urban Disaster Risk in Two High-Risk Neighbourhoods in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Four National Societies comprised the Red Cross consortium programme: Spanish, French, German and Haitian Red Cross, as well as IFRC Haiti. This programme was selected because, upon closer investigation, it was noted that one of the main objectives was the creation, institutionalisation and standardisation of DRM systems in Haiti. The team saw an opportunity to learn how the programme enabled government and other DRM actors in Haiti to make better decisions on DRM and how the programme influenced the DRM context. The project included different actors and scales across national, regional, provincial, and community levels, working specifically on capacity building for DRM.