Haiti Disaster Relief Update June 2010

Five months after the Haiti earthquake, the Red Cross is providing relief to vulnerable Haitians and preparing people and communities for what is expected to be an active hurricane season. The Red Cross continues to provide clean drinking water, latrines, medical treatment, emergency shelter supplies and other services on a large scale. For example, one-third of all of the tarps distributed so far in Haiti for emergency shelter have been from the Red Cross.

The Red Cross is currently conducting two in-depth training programs to camp residents: one on disaster response and the other on health and first aid. Volunteers are directing residents to dig drainage ditches, secure embankments, and install early warning systems. The Red Cross plans to prepare 25 at-risk camps in coming weeks.

In addition, the Red Cross is prepositioning disaster-relief stocks in 10 cities and towns across Haiti, with additional stocks being readied at the Red Cross’s regional disaster-response headquarters in Panama. This way, the supplies will be close at hand should a hurricane or other disaster strike.

Shelter is a top priority. As with any other humanitarian organization working in Haiti, the Red Cross is waiting until there are cleared plots of land available with clear legal rights before building large numbers of transitional shelters. In the meantime, the Red Cross is shipping building supplies for thousands of shelters, and has been training Haitian Red Cross staff and volunteers to construct these shelters.

At the same time we are distributing emergency relief, the American Red Cross is working on projects and programs for long-term recovery of Haitian families and communities.

The American Red Cross will support earthquake survivors in many ways in the months and years ahead, and will be there in Haiti until the last donated dollar is spent. We’ll also continue work in Haiti that has been ongoing for many years, such as programs in health, disease prevention, disaster prevention and disaster response.

Since the earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, the American Red Cross has spent approximately $117 million. About half of the money has been spent on food and emergency services; about a third for shelter; and the remainder has gone towards livelihood development through activities such as cash assistance, as well as water, sanitation and health programs.