| Red Cross Aid Reaches 2 Million Haitians | ||||
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updated April 12, 2010 The American Red Cross and its partners have now delivered emergency materials to 90% of the 1.3 million Haitians who were left homeless by the Jan. 12 magnitude 7 earthquake. Efforts are on track to get tarps or tents to the remaining 10% by May 1. Due to the many complexities of this disaster – and the extraordinary needs of the Haitian people – the emergency relief phase could last for up to 12 months. And because of its permanent presence in Haiti, the Red Cross expects to be involved in recovery efforts for much longer than that. Locally, the American Red Cross in Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe and Palm Beach counties has assisted 13,694 US citizens who have been flown to South Florida by the United States government, served 9,885 meals and offered mental health services and support to 1,932people. Red Cross relief teams are doing what they can to prepare communities to meet the various challenges they could face from heavy spring rains during the rainy season and the approaching Caribbean hurricane season; however, without adequate land to build safer transitional shelters the Red Cross is unable to move forward with the next phase in shelter construction. We are doing our best to mitigate the impact of the rains through disaster preparedness activities such as: pre-positioning of relief stocks on higher ground, replacing latrines with elevated toilets, digging new drainage gullies and cleaning out existing ones, putting in place early warning systems (alert systems, evacuation routes) and looking for ways to establish hurricane shelters temporary structures or possibly newly cleared buildings. We are hopeful that the Haitian government can resolve land disputes and quickly identify locations where transitional shelter settlements can be established to re-locate people living in highly vulnerable areas susceptible to flooding from rains and other potentially dangerous locations. The IFRC is negotiating with local mayors to reach agreement to start building emergency transitional shelters – small wood-frame houses – at several small sites in Port-au-Prince. Like many others, we wish that the pace of help could be faster. But it’s important to understand that even if work had started to assemble transitional shelters the day after the earthquake, there still would not have been enough time, land or skilled instructors and workers to build shelters for 1.3 million homeless. The American Red Cross will continue to support earthquake survivors in the months and years ahead — until the last donated dollar is spent. We announced a three-to-five year plan last week (on March 29th) to spend the remaining funds that have been donated to us for Haiti relief and recovery. In less than three months, the American Red Cross has allocated more than $108 million on food and water, shelter, and health, water and sanitation, and livelihoods. 49% of the money has been for emergency relief, which includes food and relief supplies; 40% has been for shelter; and 6 percent has been for water and sanitation and health services; and 5% for livelihoods. Looking ahead, approximately 35-40 percent of the planned spending for the recovery period will be for shelter. Initially, we will be focusing on providing transitional shelter for the most vulnerable people. This includes providing emergency shelter supplies to repair homes, as well as transitional shelters that are safe and robust. Over time, we will be looking to provide more permanent shelter solutions. To improve the water supply and sewage systems, the American Red Cross plans to spend approximately 20-25 percent over the next several years for water and sanitation projects in Haiti. In addition, the American Red Cross multi-year spending plans place a growing emphasis – estimated to be between 15-20 percent of our spending on Haiti’s recovery – on helping families rebuild their lives through cash grants, loans and other financial assistance that they can use to buy essential items and empower them as they rebuild their lives. Other spending areas in the multi-year American Red Cross plan will include developing health programs, building the capacity of the Haitian Red Cross to provide humanitarian assistance to the Haitian people, and helping Haitian communities prepare for future disasters such as floods, hurricanes and earthquakes. How your donations are helping in Haiti: The American Red Cross has spent more than $110 million helping the people of Haiti recover from this terrible earthquake.
Restoring Family Links: The Red Cross has the unique responsibility and expertise to help reconnect separated families in Haiti. Caseworkers are helping people register at the official family linking website, place phone calls to loved ones abroad and find family members scattered throughout different settlements in Port-au-Prince. So far, nearly 33,000 people have been assisted in this way. The American Red Cross is also supporting Haitian-Americans and others living in the United States who are looking for immediate relatives in Haiti. Long-term Recovery The American Red Cross relief and recovery plan, which must remain flexible and responsive to the needs on the ground, also includes funding dedicated to building the capacity of the Haitian National Red Cross Society. Drawing on our experience in the United States, the American Red Cross will guide the local Red Cross in areas such as volunteer management, health and safety, disaster preparedness, contingency planning and restoring family links. This support will ultimately improve the ability of the Haitian National Red Cross Society to save lives in future emergencies. You can donate in support of the relief effort in Haiti at www.redcross.org or by calling 1-800-REDCROSS. Mobile donors can text “Haiti” to 90999 to make a $10 contribution. Donations can be sent to the American Red Cross P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013 or made by phone by calling 1-800-REDCROSS or online by clicking here. Other New Developments:
The aftermath of Tuesday’s earthquake has posed logistical challenges for all humanitarian organizations, and the Red Cross workers is working around the clock to overcome them and ensure aid reaches the survivors. In the first 48 hours since the earthquake struck in Haiti, the American public pledged more than $37 million in donations to the American Red Cross in what has been an unprecedented outpouring of support. More than half of the donations have been through online contributions, with strong support as well from corporations and record-setting activity over the past two days in mobile giving. The First Lady Michelle Obama has released a Public Service Announcement asking people to join her in supporting the Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti. The American Red Cross has already released $10 million for relief efforts in Haiti. That is only our initial commitment, and based on the growing amount of pledges, we will certainly add more. Future allocations will be made once we know more about the situation on the ground in Haiti and the greatest needs in both the short-term and in the long-term. Challenges the Red Cross is facing: Due to the challenging conditions in Haiti of damaged or destroyed transportation and power systems, it is taking longer than we or other relief agencies want, but we are working as hard and fast as we can to get staff and supplies in there. The people we already have on the ground - and the Haitian Red Cross - are doing everything possible under the most difficult of circumstances. The airport tower is unreliable therefore many flights are being diverted and the cranes needed to unload boats have been damaged, rendering them inoperable. Many areas are accessible, but some roads are covered with debris, making travel within the capital city difficult. There is a near-total blackout in Port-au-Prince. Due to limited electricity, communications remain difficult with land and cellular lines down, which are critically important to coordinate and direct a massive response such as this.
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