Shelter, Water and Food of Increasing Importance for Haiti's Earthquake Victims
IOM is today jointly carrying out a second wave of distributions of
food and non-food emergency relief items with the UN's World Food
Programme (WFP) to victims of Haiti's earthquake for whom shelter,
water and food are now in desperate short supply.
The distribution of non-food items that include tarpaulins,
plastic sheeting, jerry cans, bladders, and some shelter material
by IOM, will be carried out in three locations around the capital,
Port-au-Prince to assist 8,000 people.
Yesterday, IOM and WFP carried out a similar distribution to
about 4,000 survivors who had gathered in the Prime Minister's
compound, in Place Boyer and at the Villa Creole, where a mobile
hospital has been established. However, the distribution at
Place Boyer had to be stopped due to overcrowding and security
concerns.
Due to ongoing operations in Haiti prior to Tuesday's
devastating earthquake, IOM had a stockpile of non-food items to
assist 10,000 families. However, a far greater level of support is
needed urgently to assist the hundreds of thousands of families
displaced or affected by the earthquake. Three days after the
powerful earthquake, many thousands of people are without any
shelter protection and tents in particular are desperately
needed.
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The most urgent needs for IOM are tents, jerry cans, aquatabs,
kitchen and hygiene kits, mosquito nets, plastic sheeting, water
bladders, and tools, which should allow the quick establishment of
temporary settlements where assistance will be provided to the
displaced.
Yesterday, an overflight of the city took place to help the
government identify preferred temporary settlement sites. A joint
IOM-WFP assessment will be carried out later today by car.
IOM will be leading the coordination of emergency shelter and
non-food items amongst humanitarian actors and is asking for around
US$30 million for its operations as part of the UN's Flash Appeal
due to be issued shortly. With the true scale of the disaster still
unknown, this figure is likely to change in the coming weeks.
With estimates of deaths reported in the tens of thousands,
IOM's Chief of Mission in Haiti Vincent Houver said the government
has mobilized heavy equipment and machinery to remove bodies lying
on the streets that continue to multiply as people extract more
dead and injured from the rubble.
He also identified access to fuel as an issue as was the lack of
electricity over concerns that fallen wires could cause more hazard
and fire.
IOM staff at Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic report
that although the situation is calm, there is growing traffic.
"The Haitian Immigration supervisor at the Jimaní border
post told us that he has seen a 10 per cent increase in the number
of Haitians trying to cross the border. He also noted an
increased number of people gathering around the Jimaní
hospital, mainly family members who brought in the wounded," said
Stephanie Daviot, of the IOM Mission in the Dominican Republic.
Daviot added that reports from the Dajabón border
crossing indicate that all is quiet. "The supervisor in
Dajabón said there are no Haitians trying to flee their
country. I received the same information from the Pedernales
border crossing in the south.”
A similar influx of people has been witnessed in the northern
Haitian cities of St Marc, Gonaives and Cap Haitien, which were
much less affected by the earthquake.
IOM has been working in Haiti since 1994. On-going
programmes and projects cover activities such as humanitarian and
emergency response, rule of law, early recovery, security sector
reform and post-crisis community stabilization.
IOM Haiti is part of the UN Country Team and works closely with
UN partners on emergency response and early recovery.
For more information, please contact:
Jean Philippe Chauzy
IOM Geneva
Tel: + 41 22 717 9361
+41 79 285 4366
E-mail:
"mailto:pchauzy@iom.int">pchauzy@iom.int
Jemini Pandya
IOM Geneva
Tel: +41 22 717 94 86
+41 79 2173374
E-mail:
"mailto:jpandya@iom.int">jpandya@iom.int
or
Niurka Piñeiro
IOM Washington
Tel: +1 202 862 1826 Ext 225
E-mail:
"mailto:npineiro@iom.int">npineiro@iom.int