IOM is extending its relief operations to help vulnerable
flood-affected families in Gonaives and south and south eastern
areas hardest hit by tropical storms Hanna and Gustav, following a
pledge of new funding and in-kind support from the US government's
Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA.)

The new OFDA pledge of USD 1.5 million will allow IOM to
reinforce its coordination role in the delivery of shelter,
non-food assistance and in the provision of emergency water and
sanitation for hurricane-affected families now living in appalling
conditions.

The funding will also allow IOM to provide affected communities
with basic tool kits and construction materials to help them
rebuild or reinforce homes, with the possibility of further
hurricanes striking Haiti over the next two months. 

IOM yesterday took delivery of a second OFDA consignment of 50
tons of non-food relief items, including enough plastic sheeting to
protect a further 7,000 homeless families.

An earlier OFDA 50-ton consignment of non-food and shelter
relief items has already been distributed to some 7,000 families by
IOM and partners including the Direction de la Protection Civile
(DPC), United Nations agencies and NGOs.

"We are grateful for the assistance sent so far, but much more
needs to be done. More than 100,000 people have been displaced and
another 150,000 are in need of some sort of humanitarian and
shelter assistance," says IOM Haiti's Vincent Houver.

IOM, on behalf of the emergency shelter and non-food items
cluster it leads, is appealing for USD13.18 million through the UN
Flash Appeal. This includes funding for the procurement,
transportation and distribution of vital non-food relief items, the
provision of self-help repair packages, and protection support for
displaced and affected populations, as well as the immediate
improvement of living conditions in temporary shelters.

IOM is currently working with its partners to reach stranded
people who were not able to make it to temporary shelters. This
includes many people in the city of Gonaives and in other coastal
villages and towns which remain cut off by the flood waters.

"Communities living in Les Anglais, Coteaux or Tiburon have so
far received no aid. We are currently working with our partners to
see how we can establish an aid hub in Les Cayes, where IOM has an
office, to provide a coordinated response," says Houver.

For more information, please contact:

Monique Van Hoof

IOM Port au Prince

Tel: +509 3702 38 47

E-mail: "mailto:mvanhoof@iom.int">mvanhoof@iom.int