- - Brings Ireland’s total funding to the Haiti hurricane response to €1.7 million
- - Funding is being provided to experienced NGO partners
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan T.D. and Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development, Joe McHugh T.D. today announced that the Government is to release €1.5 million of humanitarian funding for Haiti in response to Hurricane Matthew.
Announcing the funding today, Minister Flanagan stated:
“Today’s announcement brings Ireland’s total funding to the Haiti hurricane response to €1.7 million through funding to NGO partners and provision of emergency stocks. I am very pleased that my Department, through Irish Aid working with partners, was able to respond to the initial stages of the crisis quickly with pre-positioned stocks and funding.
“The hurricane has hit Haiti at a particularly vulnerable time, with the country already experiencing an increase in cholera, food insecurity and malnutrition. The impact of the hurricane will have repercussions for many months to come and it is imperative that the international community works quickly and effectively with the local community to prevent further suffering”.
Minister McHugh added:
“I am particularly concerned about people’s immediate and long term access to clean water and food. The funding of €1.5 million is being provided to experienced NGO partners, who will be responding to people’s needs including shelter provisions for temporary accommodation and rehabilitation of existing dwellings, water, sanitation and health activities to ensure access to safe drinking water, and distribution of food or cash with which families can support their own needs.”.
Minster McHugh added:
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and hope to airlift further supplies into the country in the coming days.”
Notes to Editor:
1. On the morning of 4 October, the Caribbean's worst storm in nearly a decade – Hurricane Matthew - struck the southwest coast of Haiti at 0700 local time. Wind speeds of 230km/h were recorded from the Category 4 hurricane, which caused widespread damage, flooding, and displacement. At least 175,500 people have been evacuated or displaced and are living in 224 temporary shelters. At least 25 per cent of Haiti’s territory has been impacted by Hurricane Matthew and WFP estimates up to 80% of harvest lost in some areas.
2. The funding announced today is additional to €130,000 which was provided to Concern on 14 October to kick start their emergency operations in one of the worst-affected regions of the country.
3. Hurricane Matthew has resulted in the largest humanitarian crisis in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake and has affected some 2.1 million people - 19% of the population – leaving 1.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. At least 1,000 people are feared dead.
4. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade responded immediately by notifying partners of the availability of emergency non-food items pre-positioned in Panama City under the Rapid Response Initiative. One airlift, consisting of nine metric tonnes of tarpaulins and rope for shelter, blankets, soap and mosquito nets, as well as jerry cans and water tanks, has already been distributed by Concern to 1,000 affected families in Haiti. A further airlift is being planned.
5. Following the outcome of a competitive appraisal process, the €1.5 million in funding announced will be distributed to Concern, Christian Aid Ireland, Oxfam Ireland, Plan International Ireland, Action Aid Ireland and Haven.
6. Ireland has been a strong supporter of Haiti since the 2010 earthquake, providing a total of €23.9 million in humanitarian and longer term development funding to Haiti in the period since then. In addition to this, 19 members from the Irish Aid-administered Rapid Response Corps have been deployed to Haiti to assist in areas such as logistics, engineering and water and sanitation.
7. As part of Ireland’s Rapid Response Initiative, Irish Aid pre-positions emergency humanitarian supplies within the UN Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) Network of hubs around the globe. These hubs are strategically located near disaster-prone areas - in Accra (Ghana), Brindisi (Italy), Dubai (UAE), Panama City (Panama) and Subang (Malaysia) - within airport complexes, close to ports and main roads.
8. The Rapid Response Corps is a roster of highly-skilled and experienced volunteers who make themselves available to deploy at short notice to work with Ireland’s UN partners as surge capacity in their humanitarian emergency situations. The Corps currently comprises over 90 individuals with specialised skills in logistics, engineering, water and sanitation, humanitarian coordination and protection.
9. On 10 October, the UN issued a Flash Appeal for Haiti seeking $119 million to reach 750,000 people with life-saving assistance and protection over the coming 3 months. The Appeal targets vulnerable groups in identified priority sectors and takes into account capacities at national level and those of humanitarian partners on the ground. The appeal is currently 16% funded. This appeal is in addition to Haiti’s Humanitarian Response Plan for 2016, which is appealing for $193.8 million to meet the humanitarian needs of 1.3 million people in the areas of food security, cholera prevention, shelter and camp requirements and disaster response preparedness.
10. The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has released $5 million to address urgent life-saving needs of people affected by Hurricane Matthew. Since 2010, Haiti has received a total of $90 million in CERF funding. Ireland is currently the eight largest donor to the CERF.