IRELAND’S MINISTER of State for Overseas Development Peter Power will pledge €13 million from Ireland for Haiti at the donor conference at the United Nations this morning.
“I will reassure the conference and the people and government of Haiti that the solidarity of the Irish people will be with them for years into the future,” Mr Power said.
“In addition to the very rapid and comprehensive response since January 12th, we want to engage with Haiti as part of the international community to ensure immediate and long-term reconstruction, and to make sure the country is not vulnerable to natural disasters in the future.”
On January 12th, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake killed more than 200,000 Haitians, destroyed 105,000 homes, 50 hospitals and health centres, 1,300 schools and university buildings and much of the government infrastructure.
The pledge of €13 million over three years includes €4 million already spent by the Irish Government. UN agencies and Irish NGOs, including Concern, Haven, World Vision, Plan Ireland and Goal received €3 million in direct emergency funding. Mr Power said two consignments of 130 tonnes of emergency supplies of shelter and sanitation equipment represented “the biggest airlift ever from Ireland”. Also included in the €13 million is €1 million towards cancelling Haiti’s €68 million debt to the World Bank.
Mr Power was concerned by “the immediate possibility that natural catastrophe be compounded by humanitarian crisis. The rainy season threatens hundreds of thousands of people in temporary shelter, which would be destroyed if hit by a hurricane”.
Ireland is giving top priority to shelter and sanitation. “Equally, we must remain focused at all times on protecting the most vulnerable: women, children, the elderly and disabled,” Mr Power said.
The Haitian government is seeking $3.9 billion for reconstruction over the next two years, for a plan based on the post-disaster needs assessment completed by the UN, EU, World Bank and others.
The plan will attempt to decentralise the country’s economic development outside the devastated capital, Port-au-Prince. The plan would renovate the damaged airport and port, build a new airport and two new seaports, and 600 kilometres of road.
Mr Power said it was “very important that any reconstruction plan following a natural disaster be country-owned, that there be a buy-in from the people through their public representatives.”
At the end of the process, Mr Power said, “when there’s an exit strategy, it’s important that you hand over to a government that was part of the process and is able to take over seamlessly”.