February 8, 2010
The needs in Haiti are immense, but the humanitarian aid pipeline is opening wider even though logistical problems still exist. Red Cross teams are assessing ways to meet immediate needs and also how to provide long-term recovery assistance, such as continued provision of household supplies and addressing emergency shelter.
· Four Red Cross warehouses (two in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and two in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) are open and operating at full capacity.
· The Red Cross is producing more than 1 million liters of water per day, enough for 300,000 people. Water distribution points are in 100 settlements with sanitation facilities in 8 settlements.
· Red Cross distributions of food and relief items (blankets, kitchen sets, hygiene kits, buckets, water containers, laundry soap/detergent, and mosquito nets) have reached nearly 32,000 families (or 170,000 people).
· To date, more than 76 flights carrying Red Cross aid from around the world have arrived in the Dominican Republic or Haiti.
· Shelter and sanitation remain urgent needs. The Red Cross is working to provide a range of immediate shelter assistance, and we also are working on a strategy to meet ongoing and long-term housing reconstruction needs. In addition, Red Cross Mass Sanitation teams are working to build latrines as quickly as possible in Port-au-Prince and Leogane. More than 100 have been completed, with 300 more under construction.
The American Red Cross has spent or committed nearly $78 million to meet the most urgent needs of earthquake survivors.
· This funding is aimed at immediate relief, and 71 percent of the funds spent or committed by the American Red Cross have been for food and water; 20 percent have been for shelter; and the rest are for health and family services.
The Red Cross is working to help survivors with health care to address community health needs and the emerging threat of the spread of infectious disease.
· A major vaccination program started this weekend to vaccinate 250,000 children, ages 6 weeks to 7 years, against measles, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus. Local and international Red Cross teams along with UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) are going throughout the city to vaccinate children. Along with vaccinations, the Red Cross will be teaching basic health skills, such as proper hand washing, waste disposal and safe food and water storage. Red Cross emotional support teams will also be on hand to help children with their emotional trauma caused by the earthquake.
· On average, 1,600 patients are being treated each day at the combined six Red Cross health facilities.
The American Red Cross is in Haiti as a part of the broader and coordinated Red Cross and Red Crescent network.
· The American Red Cross has more than 100 relief specialists and volunteers helping with the relief efforts in Haiti (including Creole interpreters on the USNS Comfort hospital ship). In total, more than 600 Red Cross and Red Crescent workers from at least 30 countries around the world are in Haiti working with more than 2,500 Haitian Red Cross volunteers in areas such as health, logistics, and relief supply distribution.
· Each Red Cross society team has its own roles and expertise on the ground. Working together, the global Red Cross network provides a very powerful engine for relief and recovery.
· This is already the largest single-country relief operation in global Red Cross history in terms of emergency response teams deployed. The number of teams in Haiti is greater than the number that responded to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which spanned 14 countries.
Because of the generosity of donors, people in Haiti will receive more than immediate relief — they will receive resources, support and training from the Red Cross that will help them recover and rebuild in the years ahead.
· It is clear that what took minutes to destroy will take many years and the collective support from governments and relief agencies across the world to help mend. The American Red Cross is working in close coordination with other organizations and will collaborate on and support long-term recovery projects.
· The American Red Cross is applying experience gained following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. For the past five years, we have been working with partners to construct water and sanitation systems, providing emotional support and healthcare, building shelters, restoring livelihoods, and preparing communities for the next disaster. We plan to offer a similar level of support in close collaboration with Red Cross partners and other international and local aid organizations in Haiti.
· The American Red Cross received $6 million from MTV’s Hope for Haiti Now telethon. This money will be used to assist 36,000 families (about 180,000 people) with basic shelter materials and relief supplies such as mosquito nets, family tents and hygiene kits.
· People 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.
· $10 donation would provide a first aid kit equipped with enough ointment and bandages for a Red Cross responder to treat 15-20 injured earthquake survivors. A $10 donation also can provide a family with two water cans to store clean drinking water, basic first aid supplies or a blanket.