IOM's emergency response to the earthquake that struck Haiti on 12
January has received a USD 3 million contribution from Community
Chest Korea, a private umbrella fundraising organization in the
Republic of Korea. The donation to IOM is the largest sum Community
Chest Korea has ever awarded to an international organization.

IOM will use the funding to provide temporary shelter, non-food
items and community centre solutions to 767 internally displaced
families in Léogâne and surrounding areas to enable
their return, relocation and resettlement. According to the Haitian
government, 80 per cent of the city of Léogâne had
been destroyed in the quake.

In addition to the transitional shelters, two community centres
will be built and furnished in order to help the families start
rebuilding their lives. Each family will also receive a hygiene
kit, a kitchen set, mosquito nets, flashlight, sleeping mats,
plastic sheeting and jerry cans.

Across Haiti, more than 313,000 homes were destroyed in the
earthquake. As a result, 1.25 million people are currently living
in organized or spontaneous settlements in Port-au-Prince and
surrounding areas, or residing with host families around the
country.

Eight months on, as the annual hurricane season peaks, the
humanitarian need is particularly acute.

Many families are in a state of desperation having lost their
homes and livelihoods and having amassed large debts because of the
quake. The hurricane season brings with it the added danger of
again exposing the population living in flimsy tents and
shelters.

Since January, IOM has been working with partners on the
provision of shelter and non-food relief assistance to the
displaced. The challenge now is help prepare them to leave the
settlements and find more suitable accommodation. The transitional
shelters, designed to be used for two or three years, should
provide a useful bridge in the transition out of settlements.

For more information, please contact:

June Lee

IOM Seoul

Tel: +82.10.9252.7771

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

or

Leonard Doyle

IOM Port-au-Prince

Tel: + 509 3702 5066

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