Fifty thousand earthquake victims in areas that sustained extensive
damage will today receive non-food items from IOM.

Today's distribution of hygiene kits and jerry cans will benefit
26,000 persons in Leogane, a coastal town south of Port-au-Prince
where 80 per cent of the city was destroyed.  In the capital,
24,000 residents of the impoverished neighbourhoods of Martissant,
Belair, Fontamara, and Saint Martin will receive similar items.

IOM began distributing vital non-food items on 14 January from
stock it had prepositioned for the hurricane season.  On the
first day, 3,000 received relief supplies. Since then, IOM and its
partners have been distributing everyday and to larger numbers each
day.

Yesterday, IOM received additional tents, hygiene kits,
blankets, jerry cans, plastic sheeting, water bladders and kitchen
sets from USAID, tents, sleeping pads, water purifying kits, and
plastic sheeting from the Japanese government, and tents, blankets
and kitchen sets from the Turkish government.

Transportation of the relief items from the airport to
warehouses and then to distribution points remains a challenge with
trucks and fuel still in limited supply.

So far some 447 improvised settlements comprising at least
500,000 people have been identified in this city alone, out of
which 350 settlements have been assessed by IOM, the Haitian
government and humanitarian partners. One hundred and seventy nine
out of the 447 have improvised shelter material/tents and only
three have access to potable water.

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target="_blank" title="">Haiti Earthquake Flash Appeal
2010

"The situation is in flux and there is no one size fits all for
shelter solutions," says IOM Chief of Mission Vincent Houver.
"Tents will not work in May when the long rainy season begins and
later when hurricane season starts, but at this point there is not
much choice.  Assessments must take place and best
construction methods and durable materials need to be
discussed."

In the suburb of Croix des Bouquets, a Brazilian battalion
deployed with MINUSTAH continues to level the land for the setting
up of a large tented camp that would facilitate aid delivery to
large numbers of displaced and where the Inter-American Development
Bank is planning to build permanent houses for 30,000 people.
Displaced person would be employed to help build their houses under
a food for work scheme.

IOM believes camps should be established in the periphery of the
capital to allow people to remain close to areas where they were
making a living.

Thousands of people continue to leave the city to stay with
family or friends. Those who have nobody to call go from one area
to another in search of safety and support. IOM sub offices in
Gonaives, St Marc, and Les Cayes are reporting a continuous flow of
people in search of shelter and support.

IOM and its humanitarian partners providing shelter and non-food
assistance are working non stop to bring more assistance to
populations living in other affected areas such as Leogane,
Mirevalais and Petit Goave, where IOM, WFP and UNICEF are now
establishing a base.

As part of an initial appeal launched last week, the
Organization is asking for US$30 million to provide emergency
shelter, non-food assistance, track internal displacement and among
other things, establish a food-for-work programme that would
include rubble removal.

IOM has so far received pledges totalling USD 18.3 million from
the US government (OFDA/USAID), Sweden, Canada, France, the UN's
Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the Clinton Foundation and
Argos Cement Company of Colombia to support ongoing relief
operations and future rebuilding efforts.

Private donations can be made to IOM through the IOM
website at "http://www.iom.int" target="" title="">www.iom.int and in the
United States at "http://www.usaim.org/PROJECTHaiti.asp" target="_blank" title=
"">http://www.usaim.org/PROJECTHaiti.asp

For further information, please contact:

Niurka Pineiro

Port au Prince

Tel: + 509 3490 6678

E-mail: "mailto:npineiro@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">npineiro@iom.int

or  

Jean Philippe Chauzy

Tel: + 41 22 717 9361

       + 41 79 285 4366 

E-mail: "mailto:pchauzy@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">pchauzy@iom.int