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DFID Blog of Action in Haiti
The Department for International Development has been working on the ground since the earthquake struck in Haiti. Below is the most recent entries, but you can read the rest and subsequent posts here.
22 Jan 11:00 GMT
The UK Fire Service Search and Rescue (SAR) team is expected to arrive back in the UK early tomorrow morning.
The search for survivors in Haiti is coming to an end. Following consultation with the UN, the UK team, like other international search and rescue teams, is now leaving. They have done all they can and the rescue effort is now moving on to another phase.
A further DFID flight carrying equipment for UK government teams in Haiti including vehicles, tents and generators flew from France to the Dominican Republic yesterday. Two more DFID flights carrying relief goods are scheduled to fly tomorrow and on Tuesday.
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20 Jan 13:20 GMT
UK search and rescue team moves to epicentre of second earthquake
A second earthquake of 6.1 on the Richter scale hit Haiti at approximately 6am local time (11am GMT). The UK search and rescue team (SAR) was immediately deployed to Petit Goave, the epicentre of this quake, about four hours west of Port-au-Prince. They are expected to remain there overnight.
The head of the UK SAR has been asked to take command of the German and Polish SAR teams for this mission, as well as the UK team.
UK search and rescue team packing their heavy lifting and breaking equipment to help search for anyone buried by new falling buildings in Petit Goave.
Petit Goave - epicentre of the second earthquake (MapAction)
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20 Jan 11.40 GMT
UK to send Royal Navy ship loaded with aid for Haiti
The UK will send a Royal Fleet Auxiliary Supplies ship loaded with aid to help with the relief operation in Haiti, International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander announced today.
The ship, RFA Largs Bay, is being despatched at the request of the United Nations and will sail from the UK carrying relief supplies that will be needed by the people the people of Haiti in the weeks and months ahead.
It will have the capacity to carry supplies and goods on behalf DFID's partners in the UN and NGOs.
The ship, which is due to sail before the end of the month, is expected to stay in the region for some weeks to help the UN ferry bulk supplies around small small outlying ports in Haiti.
The UK Government has already promised £20 million to help those affected by the earthquake victims.
International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said:
“This ship will provide a lifeline of essential supplies to sustain the recovery effort over the coming weeks to keep Haiti running. The focus until now has rightly been on the immediate task of trying to save lives but we must also plan for the future.
“Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them desperately poor to begin with, have been left with nothing. It will take many months for them to rebuild their lives and the international community stands ready to help.
"I am proud that the Royal Navy has been able to respond so quickly to the UN's request to ferry vital supplies to the scene of one of the worst natural disasters in living memory. Their professionalism and capability will make a real difference to the suffering people of Haiti."
DFID also announced it will:
Allocate Oxfam with £1 million, Action Against Hunger with £1 million, and Handicap International with £500,000. These allocations come from the £20 million already pledged by the UK Government.
Pledge help towards rebuilding Haiti’s Government. A team of civilian experts from the UK will help restore vital Government functions, such as the Justice, Interior and Finance Ministries. This will help the Government of Haiti to re-establish law and order and improve infrastructure. This support from the UK Government will include extra communications, office equipment, logistics and other vital equipment.
Read the full press release
Royal Fleet Auxiliary Supplies ship RFA Largs Bay. Photo credit: Royal Navy
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19 Jan 16.40 GMT
UK medics in Haiti
A further nine medics from the UK are due to arrive in Port-au-Prince later tonight to continue with the aid effort in Haiti, DFID announced today.
The UK team will be working alongside international teams treating those wounded in the earthquake, who still require urgent medical attention.
The team, from medical aid agency Merlin, includes two consultants, a plastic surgeon, an anaesthetist, and four nurses.
It has been funded with £199,000 from DFID, as part of the UK Government's help with the international rescue mission.
DFID is also giving assistance to the International Red Cross to help with another airlift into Haiti, which will include blankets, plastic sheeting, hygiene kits and cooksets for 135,000 people.
Yesterday the UK announced it was trebling its funding for the immediate humanitarian response to the Haiti earthquake.
International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said the total sum would rise from $10 million to £20 million (over $30m) based on the latest assessments of the scale of the disaster from our team on the ground.
Among the support pledged so far by the UK’s Department for International Development is:
£1m for the Haitian Red Cross to provide food, shelter, clean water and other immediate needs for 20,000 families;
£2m for the World Food Programme for transport, communications and base camps to help with the logistics of getting relief where it’s needed;
£300,000 for the World Health Organisation for disease surveillance, to help prevent the spread of epidemics such as malaria and dengue fever;
£1m to help the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs bring in more than 30 extra staff to help bolster humanitarian coordination;
The rest has been used to transport and deploy the UK search and rescue team and the humanitarian assessment team.
DFID has despatched a team of 64 search and rescue experts from fire services around the UK.
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/
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