MORE FUNDING NEEDED TO MEET EARTHQUAKE SURVIVORS HUMANITARIAN NEEDS IN HAITI

(Cairo/New York, 8 February 2010): Countries from around the world have responded generously to the humanitarian appeal to assist the people of Haiti following the devastating earthquake, but more funds are needed.

The Flash Appeal, launched on 15 January by the United Nations three days after the earthquake, is due for a revision in mid-February and will be launched by United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti, Bill Clinton. It will reflect significantly increased requirements as the earthquake survivors will need humanitarian assistance at least till the end 2010.

"There are one million Haitians who have lost their homes and two million people need food assistance. Hundreds of thousands still need shelter, medical care, water, and other basic humanitarian relief," said Rashid Khalikov, Director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in New York. Mr. Khalikov recently visited the Middle East and was encouraged by the outpour of compassion for the survivors in Haiti from several Arab States. "The revised Appeal will provide the mechanism for translating the growing goodwill we have seen up to now into better and faster humanitarian results on the ground in Haiti," he added.

Some sectors of the relief effort have received little funding so far. They include nutrition, which has received just 2 percent of the required funding; security which is 6 percent funded; agriculture only 8 percent; and education and early recovery, which is 18 percent funded.

The original Appeal requested US$576.9 million and is 89 percent funded. The revised appeal will take into account the cost of providing improved shelter to ensure that those made homeless by the earthquake do not experience further misery during the rainy and hurricane seasons later in the year. Overall, the already enormous needs of those affected continue to grow.

The humanitarian community in Haiti, comprising more than 600 relief organizations, is working around the clock to assist the displaced and trying to reach the host families with whom they stay, and in providing basic relief and services such as food, water, sanitation, shelter and medical care. As of 4 February, over 1.6 million people had received food assistance since the start of the response, and almost 800,000 people had been provided with safe drinking water on a daily basis. In addition, 24,000 families had received emergency shelter material, but the needs remain very large. Mobile health clinics are being deployed in 250 sites where people have gathered spontaneously.

For further information, please call: Jens Laerke, OCHA-Cairo +20 2 2751 5016-17, mobile +20 19 555 8662,

laerke@un.org; Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 347 244 2106, bunker@un.org;

Nicholas Reader +1 212 963 4961, mobile +1 646 752 3117, reader@un.org;

John Nyaga +1 917) 367-9262, +1 917 318 8917, nyagaj@un.org

Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile +41 79 473 4570, byrs@un.org.

OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int.