EU assistance to Haiti, one year after the earthquake

The European Commission has released new details of how European Union assistance to Haiti is being spent one year after the January 12 2010 earthquake which killed 222,750 and left 1.7 million homeless. In the immediate aftermath of the impact which mainly struck the capital, Port-au-Prince, EU Member States pledged almost €201M to emergency relief and the European Commission, €120M.

Further, to date the EU’s and 18 Member States (Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland , Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden) have pledged €1.24bn (EU Member States, €775M and the European Commission, €460M) of support for the country’s medium and longer-term reconstruction. EU officials put the total cost of the impact at €5.9bn. The EU also mobilised its Civil Protection Mechanism (MIC) in the aftermath of the earthquake comprising 12 urban search teams, seven assessment units, 38 medical teams and supplies, two field hospitals, six water sanitation units, 2,334 tents for approximately 20,000 people and one base camp for 300 people.

EU officials say that the EU and its Member States are jointly programming longer-term assistance. Priorities for the funds for long-term reconstruction are infrastructure, water and sanitation, education, health, governance, agriculture and rural development.

Spain, for example, is focussing on the provision of water and sanitation in Port-au-Prince and six smaller cities. Fifty-two per cent of Haitians do still not have access to water and sanitation. France is supporting the construction of the State University Hospital in Port-au-Prince whereas Germany is financing the construction of the Peligre power plant to improve energy generation. Slovenia is funding the building of childcare modular units in Port-of-Prince.The European Commission’s longer-term reconstruction programmes are especially helping to rebuild homes and roads. They also include €116.8M of financial support and technical assistance to the Ministry of Finance to enable it to resume operations including payment of salaries to teachers, health workers, policemen and other staff in the public sector.

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