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Emergency reconstruction and development action, and the fact that they exist side by side in times of crisis, have been a topic of discussion in the world of international solidarity for several years. Everyone agrees that these two types of intervention really complement each other..
An earthquake means destruction, injured people and even deaths whether it occurs in Central America or India. However, our response cannot be the same. The policy adopted by Handicap International in a crisis situation is to tailor the response to that particular environment.
We are therefore called upon to intervene at all stages of a crisis, but to do so in a way characteristic of development actions. This marks us out as "facilitators" rather than direct players, so that the disaster stricken population can form its own response.
The way in which we intervened after the earthquakes in January 2001, which within the space of a fortnight devastated El Salvador (Central America) and Gujarat (India), illustrates our desire to involve the local communities. One year later, the programmes run by Handicap International in these countries have been integrated into a development and disaster prevention scheme. | 
