Tuesday 26 January, 2010
As the search and rescue efforts wind up in Haiti and the full focus on the ground turns to humanitarian assistance, World Vision continues to provide food and essential relief supplies to thousands of families in desperate need, and is preparing to increase the distribution of food aid to reach 72,000 people this week.
The Government of Haiti has declared the search and rescue phase over, following the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January. It has been reported that over 120,000 people lost their lives and it is expected that the final toll will be tens of thousands higher.
World Vision has been conducting daily distributions of food and relief supplies, and is planning to increase the distribution of food packs to reach 20,000 people a day over the coming week.
Twelve shipments of World Vision emergency supplies have been airlifted from warehouses in Dubai, Panama, Germany, Canada, Denver and the US to Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic since the earthquake struck.
Corina Villacorta, World Vision Regional Vice-President for Latin America & the Caribbean has said: “It is clear that this disaster will have profound and lasting consequences for the Haitian people, and especially children.”
“Thousands of children are believed to have lost their parents, in addition to the 380,000 who were orphans or separated children before the earthquake,” Villacorta said.
Prioritising reunification
In Haiti today, children who have been separated from their families are in the streets, temporary camps, travelling to rural areas and lining-up for aid distributions on their own. World Vision is calling on the international focus to remain on reuniting children who have lost their families during the earthquake rather than adopting them out of the country.
Experience in such major emergencies shows that most children currently struggling to survive on their own will have family still alive, and efforts must be concentrated on tracing and reuniting families.
Heather MacLeod, child protection specialist managing the program response in Haiti said: “We expect that many children are separated from their families as a result of this disaster - although we don’t yet know how many, it’s clear that we must and will make these children a top priority in our emergency response.
“We will prioritise their basic survival needs while establishing a protective environment for their support and care.”
Thousands leaving Port-au-Prince
The number of people leaving Port-au-Prince to seek relief in Haiti’s rural communities is increasing daily, putting pressure on already vulnerable communities.
“This is not simply a Port-au-Prince disaster, but one of national proportions and implications,” said Paul Thomas, Acting National Director for World Vision Haiti.
World Vision has several long term development programs in rural areas including La Gonave and is planning a response to the influx of people returning to these areas.