All actors should ensure that the people of Haiti have a central role in the process of reconstruction and that reconstruction is equitable.
The UN and the US government are trying to ensure that there is adequate fuel to support the relief effort. Fuel supply will remain a concern for humanitarian agencies in the near term. In consultation with NGOs, the UN should establish a system to determine who receives fuel, for what purposes and in what priority.
The Haitian government, UN and international military actors must work together to improve the security situation, preempting a potential deterioration of the situation, with increased patrols, transparency in operations and clear conjoined rules of engagement and chain of command.
Protection, particularly for women and children, should be mainstreamed into the design of all programs, including any camps for affected people or expansion of patrols, in consultation with affected people and local civil society.
The government, UN, donors and other actors must ensure that efforts to restore and improve public services, infrastructure and economic activity prioritize poorer communities. In a socially divided society such as Haiti, there is a real danger that the better off and politically influential will secure their needs first.
It is not too early to lay a new foundation for Haiti's reconstruction and development with complete debt forgiveness, aid in the form of grants not loans and a "pro-poor" approach that prioritizes livelihoods and sustainable development led by Haitians from the start.
]]>"The goal is to get people back into safe homes as soon as possible. While it’s easier to provide water, latrines, food and shelter in an organized camp than in the myriad vacant lots and churchyards where people have taken refuge, we can’t lose sight of the need for permanent housing.
“Three things will be needed to make these temporary camps work. First, no one should be obliged to move there; the choice must be voluntary. Second, the camps must be a real safe haven, with basic public services for all residents, including access to jobs, shops and school. Finally, there must be a clear exit strategy. The camps must not become warehouses of people waiting for permanent homes that never materialize.”
Notes to editors
Oxfam staff in Port-au-Prince are available for interviews.
Broadcast quality video of Oxfam water distribution at Petionville Club, Port-au-Prince filmed Friday, January 22nd available at: http://drop.io/haitivideo/media
Oxfam America has raised more than $9.6 million dollars since the earthquake. For more information on fundraising, contact Helen DaSilva at +1 617 331 2984 or hdasilva@oxfamamerica.org.
]]>“The end of search and rescue efforts does not mean we can slow down. Relief and recovery for the survivors is the priority now.
“Hundreds of thousands who lost everything but their lives need water for drinking and washing. They need latrines to contain the spread of disease. They need shelter and simple household items like cooking pots.
“Haitians are grieving, but they are also buoyed by the generous outpouring of support from around the world. Despite the losses they have suffered, they are working hard to turn the empty lots, golf courses and churchyards where they have taken refuge into places where they can live in dignity. Oxfam and other aid agencies are there working alongside them.”
To support Oxfam’s response in Haiti, please donate to the Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations can be made at www.oxfamamerica.org, by phone (1-800-77-OXFAM), by fax (1-617-728-2562), by text (OXFAM to 25383, to give $10) or by mail (Oxfam America, Haiti Earthquake Response Fund, PO Box 1211, Albert Lea, MN 56007-1211).
Media in Haiti, please contact Liz Lucas at +1 617 785 772 (call or text), llucas@oxfamamerica.org or skype: elizlucas
For further information, and to arrange interviews, please contact Maura Hart at +1 202 476 0093 or mhart@oxfamamerica.org.
Broadcast quality video of Oxfam water distribution at Petionville Club, Port-au-Prince filmed Friday, January 22nd available at: http://drop.io/haitivideo/media
Oxfam America has raised $9.6 million dollars since Tuesday’s earthquake. For more information on fundraising, contact Helen DaSilva at +1 617 331 2984 or hdasilva@oxfamamerica.org.
]]>Tickets for this show are only available through an auction at this link: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09004434FC1C86AC. The entire show is general admission, and auction winners will pay what they bid.
“Oxfam has seen such an outpouring of support, it is inspiring,” said Stephanie Kurzina, vice president for fundraising and communications at Oxfam America. “Radiohead fans will get a great show – and get to support critical work happening right now in Haiti.”
Proceeds will benefit Oxfam America’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. To donate and learn more about Oxfam America, visit http://www.oxfamamerica.org. To make a one-time, $10 donation to this fund, text OXFAM to 25383.
Oxfam is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. Together with individuals and local groups in more than 100 countries, Oxfam saves lives, helps people overcome poverty, and fights for social justice.]]>Oxfam is an international relief and development organization currently working in Haiti to deliver clean water and sanitation equipment to 92,000 people in seven camps.
Oxfam America is one of the beneficiaries of this evening’s telethon, “Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief.” The two-hour special will air on all major networks at 8:00 pm ET/PT and 7:00 pm CT. The line-up of stars includes musical performances by Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Oxfam Ambassadors Coldplay, Bono, and others. The special is being produced by George Clooney in partnership with MTV.
Oxfam America has the following staff available for interviews this weekend:
Liz Lucas, Humanitarian Response, Oxfam America
Liz Lucas is currently on the ground with Oxfam’s humanitarian response team in Haiti.
Raymond C. Offenheiser, President, Oxfam America
Mr. Offenheiser is a recognized leader on issues such as poverty alleviation, human rights, foreign assistance, and international development. He is available to comment on humanitarian response, agricultural investment in Haiti, reconstruction, and US development policy.
Michael Delaney, Director of Humanitarian Response, Oxfam America
Mr. Delaney has lead Oxfam America’s response to emergencies including Iraq, Afghanistan, the El Salvador earthquake and Hurricane Mitch in Central America. He is available to comment on Oxfam’s response in Haiti and broad issues regarding humanitarian response and reconstruction.
In this short interview from January 19, Oxfam Quebec’s Yves Gattereau talks with Coco McCabe about the threat of food shortages in Haiti’s rural areas. Reports indicate that thousands of urban earthquake survivors from Port-au-Prince have fled to already poor rural communities. "We’re going to see how much food … we can provide to them ahead of time," says Gattereau, “so we won’t have to intervene in another crisis in the countryside."
Source: CIA – the World Factbook
]]>" All people who are professionals in our area, in our organizations…the country has lost a group of key people that could help for development and of course thousands of children, women, men…but mainly women and children are the worst affected. Our people are now sleeping in the street. The government, even people from the international community in Haiti and of course poor people, we are all living outdoors in the streets.
“We are not just talking about the disaster affecting the country’s institutions…it affects the government, civil society and the international community.
"Our coordination with the international community is still working. Our concern now is not the size of aid coming to Haiti, it’s how to get adequate people and resources to manage it. How to get the aid in place and to manage it. It needs to be done quickly.
“My colleague [incoming country director, Claude St Pierre] was coming to Haiti to replace me and we were trying to ensure a smooth transition. He had just arrived in Haiti that afternoon and came to our office to say hello and to be introduced to staff. Unfortunately, we were in the door of my office saying hello when the earthquake started. We stayed hugging each other for that entire minute. Of course, since I have worked in emergencies, I understood it was an earthquake, but I have never experienced an earthquake of this magnitude.”
]]>It had been like this for the last three days, ever since Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, was hit by a devastating earthquake, said my colleague. Whether the inhabitants of the house, surrounded by collapsed buildings and debris, would ever come back was quite another question.
It's estimated that two million people were affected by the massive earthquake that hit the Haitian capital earlier this week. Thousands are thought to have been killed, many were injured and the rest of the city's dazed residents are still reeling from the shock of it all.
Many walk the streets, some barefoot, balancing on their heads bags containing what belongings they could grab before they fled and clutching plastic containers for water. Large numbers are also wearing masks to stop inhaling the thick grey smoke that lingered long after the quake. The masks also offered some protection from the thick stench of dead bodies that lined the streets in the immediate aftermath of the quake and are still turning up wrapped in sheets or pieces of clothing.
It's feared that as many as 100,000 may have been killed in the earthquake while others are still trapped under the debris of collapsed buildings.
Some foreign search and rescue crews who had been working to recover those trapped under wrecked buildings at what was the capital's top hotel, the Montana, told me that cries could still be heard from those buried beneath the rubble across the capital.
Some aid is now getting through to the city. Much of it is coming by truck from the neighboring Dominican Republic. Some supplies have started to be flown in via the capital's airport which was affected by the quake and has reopened for humanitarian flights after several days of closure
The aid agency Oxfam is flying in emergency experts and is starting to distribute water at some of the large makeshift camps that have sprung up at parks and outdoor areas and hospitals.
The needs are enormous as most basic services just aren't functioning. At the best of times, daily life in Haiti for the 80 percent or so of the population who have to live on less than two dollars a day, is a daily struggle.
The impact of the quake has made things even worse.
Haiti needs more than a quick fix of emergency aid. It will be many years before the country can really get back on its feet again and fully recover from this massive shock.
]]>Water
During earthquakes, like the one that rocked the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, water systems, with their extensive network of pipes and pumps, often collapse. Repairs can take time—time that people who depend on that water to stay alive don’t have.
Without water, people can’t last much beyond three days. That’s why Oxfam focuses much of its emergency response on rushing to provide survivors with a safe supply.
With years of experience responding to emergencies around the world, Oxfam’s water engineers know how to build temporary systems with speed and efficiency so that people can get the water they need. Oxfam trucks water into remote regions, drills for it through desert floors regions, erects massive storage tanks, hauls in generators, repairs pumps, lays temporary water lines, and hands out plastic buckets so people can tote water back to their homes.
And there’s an internationally accepted standard of delivery Oxfam strives to maintain in every crisis. It calls for providing survivors with about four gallons of water per person per day—an amount intended to cover just essential needs.
Here are some of the critical components of an effective emergency water system:
Sanitation
Ensuring that disaster survivors living in camp conditions have safe ways to dispose of waste is crucial to helping them live in a healthy and dignified environment, so creating latrines is a key element of Oxfam’s humanitarian programming.
As quickly as possible after an emergency, we begin constructing simple latrines consisting of holes or trenches in the ground surrounded by light structures of poles and plastic sheeting to provide privacy. As soon as we have the time and resources to do it, we add concrete slabs to stand on to make the latrines cleaner and easier to use.
Oxfam also builds bathing facilities that are designed to be safe and private.
Oxfam makes sure that the displaced communities themselves are involved in the construction and maintenance of their sanitation structures, and in order to help ensure that women and girls feel safe using these communal facilities, we take care that women in particular are involved in decision-making about their location, design, and construction.
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