As the relief operation in Haiti continues to move forward, focus is now turning to the long term impact last month's devastating earthquake will have on its most vulnerable inhabitants; Haiti's children.
Thousands have been left orphaned, and countless more have just one surviving parent. Conor O'Loughlin is working on the ground in Haiti with Trocáire. Speaking from Port-au-Prince he said the time of day the earthquake struck had a serious consequence on families.
''It's very unusual for an earthquake to strike during office hours. A lot of people were at work, and a lot of the 200,000 people killed were parents. As the dust settles, we are definitely going to find a lot of children with no parents. In many cases, it may have been the money earning parent who was killed.''
Cracks in the walls
Sr Helen Ryder, who originally hails from Banagher in Co. Offaly, has been working in Haiti for the last 14 years. She is based at a school in the capital Port au Prince, where she and two other Irish nuns from the La Sainte Union carry out charity work. Her school miraculously survived the quake. ''We've a few cracks in the walls, but we're ok,'' she told The Irish Catholic.
Two of their students have been confirmed dead, but Sr Ryder says many more have been injured or separated from their parents. She says it's difficult to say whether all the children will survive. ''Some will and some won't. The aid is very erratic. We are doing what we can in our parish, but it's a very difficult situation.''
Conor O'Loughlin explains that as many children would have gotten their daily meals in school, getting them back into education is a real priority. But Sr Ryder says at the moment, that is simply not an option. ''During the day we are in and out of the building, but at night we are staying in tents. There will be no going back to school until the aftershocks stop, and no one knows when that will happen.''
Horrific plight
When considering the scale of the problem, it's impossible to ignore the horrific plight that was facing many children in the Caribbean nation before this most recent disaster struck. UNICEF estimates that there were at least 50,000 orphans in Haiti before the quake. Executive Director of the organisation's Irish branch Melanie Verwoerd says the situation was already perilous.
''The exploitation of parents and expectant mothers was a reality. Street children and children working as domestic servants were also numerous, and the sale of children and child trafficking were givens,'' she told The Irish Catholic. ''With the earthquake and in its aftermath UNICEF's concerns have increased manifold.''
Three months
Humanitarian organisations have started registering separated and unaccompanied children, but UNICEF says it will take at least three months to get a clear picture of the size of the problem.
Ms Verwoerd says it's an extremely labour intensive process: ''We are coming across many complicated cases; from babies who were just born the day of the earthquake, to injured children who are difficult to place - all of whom have become unaccompanied.''
UNICEF says its immediate priority is to keep children alive, well-fed and safe. In time, a programme will get underway to trace the families of children, if they exist.
''It is essential that all unaccompanied and separated children are registered, traced and reunited with family where possible and appropriate,'' says Ms Verwoerd. ''And it's imperative that the inappropriate or illegal removal of children from Haiti is prevented.''
UNICEF is just one of a number of international organisations which has cautioned against any drive to speed up inter-country adoptions for children orphaned in the quake. People from Ireland and across the world have expressed a desire to take orphaned children to their home countries to care for them, but the potential for exploitation is huge.
Primary goal
Melanie Verwoerd says while foster care and inter-country adoption may be an option in the medium to long term, the unnecessary separation of families must be avoided. ''The primary goal is to trace and reunify children with their families, before any other permanent solution is pursued.''
The Minister for Children Barry Andrews has already said that the Government has no plans to negotiate a bilateral adoption agreement with Haiti, meaning Irish couples are unlikely to have the option to pursue a Haitian adoption.
For those struggling to survive in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, Conor O'Loughlin says groups like Trocaire are trying to create as safe an environment as possible. The Irish aid agency is currently distributing food to 50,000 people at a camp in Petionville, where up to 100,000 people are living.
Basic measures
Conor says small measures are being put in place for the vulnerable where possible: ''We're installing lights along the pathways in the camps, so women and children don't have to walk in the dark at night. And we're setting up gender divided latrines, so women don't have to share toilets with men. A lot of these things seem basic, but when hundreds of thousands of people flock to a camp, these things are often forgotten.''
As developed countries consider how best to rebuild Haiti, UNICEF's Melanie Verwoerd says they have been given a real opportunity. ''By addressing systemic problems that have hindered Haiti's development, the international community and the Haitian people could build the country back better than before - laying the foundation for its children's future.''
