HELP RED CROSS AND UNICEF HELP VICTIMS OF NATURAL DISASTERS

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UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN CHILE ON 13 MARCH 2010

 

ARD Text: RECONSTRUCTION COSTS 22 BN EURO

President Piñera estimates the costs of reconstruction after the massive earthquake in Chile to be about 22 billion EURO. The work will take years, he said in his first speech after his inauguration.

 

Chile will be reluctant to take advantage of foreign loans/credits.

 

In connection with the 8.8 magnitude earthquake on 27 February 2010 , at least 500 people died, and many buildings were destroyed. On Thursday 11 March there were strong aftershocks.

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DR1 News (live): HAITI:

A reporter from DR1 News is in HAITI and talked to a man who was very sad because some dear ones (family members or friends) had died today:

 

Some poor and very hungry Haitians had gone into the ruins of the Ministry of Finance to collect some planks and firewood as they needed money for food. 11 of them were killed as the roof of the damaged Ministry of Finance collapsed.

 

The situation in HAITI has not become better as President Preval has ordered the distribution of food stopped. He encourages the population to start working, but there is NO WORK available for them for the time being!! The population is very hungry and desperate.

 

 

 

TV2 News / live: HAITI ON THE WAY TO NORMALCY.

TV2 News has a reporter in HAITI – he has been there since the devastating earthquake that killed 230,000 Haitians and left more than 1 million Haitians homeless.

 

The homeless are still living under poor conditions living in bad-quality “tents” or under tarpaulins.

 

Danish Red Cross’s team of 4 persons are distributing tents. We see a young girl – pregnant in the seventh month – receive a big 5-person-tent (weight: 25 kilos). She has to carry the tent herself. Her next problem is to find out how to erect it – but she succeeded in doing that.

 

There are several lines at the distribution point: One for pregnant women, one for other women and one for men. The worst problem is that of security.

 

Danish Red Cross also distributes packages with boards and tarpaulins.

[nancyk58]

UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN JAPAN and the PHILIPPINES ON 14 MARCH 2010

 

Danish TV2 text and DR1 text plus Swedish SVT text and German ZDF Text:

 

JAPAN: BUILDINGS IN TOKYO SWAYING IN STRONG EARTHQUAKE IN NORTH JAPAN

 

An earthquake has hit Japan's largest island HONSHU. Japan's capital, Tokyo, is located on that island. The quake was measured at magnitude 6.6 on the Richter Scale, and the epicentre was in the Pacific Ocean in a depth of 40 km off the coast of the Fukushima prefecture North of Tokyo, according to the Japanese TV channel NHK.

 

There were strong tremors in Fukushima, but no reports of substantial damage.

 

The Danish journalist Thomas Hoej Davidsen, who is in Tokyo for the time being, told us that the buildings in Tokyo began to sway. Despite the strong earthquake no buildings collapsed, and there were no casualties. "There is no panic in Tokyo".

 

"Japan experiences about 1,000 quakes each year, so people here are used to earthquakes", he explained.

 

Japan lies in an earthquake-prone region. About 6,400 people died in 1995 by a magnitude-7.2 quake.

 

Danish TV2, Sunday evening: NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE AFTER EARTHQUAKE

 

There are no reports of material damage or casualties after the magnitude-6.6 earthquake in Northern Japan. Buildings were swaying menacingly. No tsunami alert was issued.

 

The earthquake occurred at 17 o'clock local time in the Pacific Ocean off the Fukushima prefecture on the Eastern part of the island of Honshu.

 

 

STRONG QUAKE ROCKS CENTRAL JAPAN, RATTLES BUILDINGS IN TOKYO

 

(03/14/2010 | 04:34 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

(UPDATED) TOKYO — A strong earthquake hit off the eastern coast of central Japan on Sunday, rattling buildings across a broad swath of the country, including the crowded Tokyo capital.

 

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, and the government said there was no danger from tsunamis.

 

The quake had an initial estimated magnitude of 6.6, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. It hit at 0808 GMT on Sunday, or 5:08 p.m. local time.

 

The earthquake was centered about 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the eastern coast of central Fukushima Prefecture, and struck at a depth of 25 miles (40 kilometers).

 

It was strong enough to gently sway buildings in Tokyo, about 185 miles (300 kilometers) to the southwest, for several seconds.

 

Television images from the regions near where the quake was centered showed no damage, with cars driving normally.

 

Japan's early warning system predicted the earthquake just before it hit, with public broadcaster NHK interrupting a sumo match to warn residents to take cover.

 

The country is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. In 1995, a magnitude-7.2 quake in the western port city of KOBE killed 6,400 people. — AP

 

 

PHIVOLCS: MAGNITUDE-5 QUAKE ROCKS SURIGAO

 

(03/14/2010 | 08:52 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

A magnitude-5 quake rocked Surigao del Sur province in Mindanao Sunday evening, with state seismologists warning of possible aftershocks.

 

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the quake was recorded at 5:50 p.m., with the epicenter traced to 38 km southeast of Tandag.

 

It said the quake was tectonic, and was felt at Intensity III in Lingig, Surigao del Sur; and San Francisco, Agusan del Sur.

 

The quake was also felt at Intensity II in Bislig, Surigao del Sur; and Barobo, Surigao del Sur.

 

While Phivolcs said there was no damage to property expected, residents should expect some aftershocks.

- KBK, GMANews.TV

 

 

The following article from Filipino GMA News.TV is posted on the "Update of the situation in Southeast Asia" and "the Philippines" thread:

 

EL NIÑO DRIVES MONKEYS AWAY FROM SANCTUARY

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HELP RED CROSS AND UNICEF HELP VICTIMS OF NATURAL DISASTERS / FIJI ISLANDS

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN THE FIJI ISLANDS ON 15 MARCH 2010

 

Danish TV2 TTV: CYCLONE TOMAS RAVAGES THE FIJI ISLANDS

A strong category-4 cyclone with winds at the speed of 175 kilometres per hour destroyed homes and crops and forced thousands to flee to evacuation centres according til FMS, Fiji's Meteorological Service. Some gusts of wind led to chaos in the northern part of the nation of islands situated between Hawaii and New Zealand.

 

German ARD Text: CYCLONE RAVAGES FIJI ISLANDS

A strong cyclone swept over the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific and ravaged fields and villages. About 5,000 people were removed to a safe place in evacuation centres before the cyclone hit in particular the northern islands with winds reaching a speed of 175 kilometres per hour. The cyclone was a category 4 cyclone on a scale of 5 categories. 7m high waves were seen at sea.

 

Swedish SVT Text: THOUSANDS EVACUATED DUE TO CYCLONE

A strong cyclone (category 4) hit the northern part of the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific. Thousands left their homes and fled to evacuation centres. The winds reached speeds of close to 50 metres per second. According to Fiji's Meteorological Service there were no reports of the extent of the damage. It is known that a woman drowned. The cyclone is expected to become worse later Monday and Tuesday. Winds of speed up to 55 m/sec. are to be expected.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in CHILE on 15.3.10

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN CHILE ON 15 MARCH 2010

 

German ZDF Text: MILLIONS OF CHILEANS PLUNGED INTO DARKNESS BY POWER CUT

According to the Chilean electricity distributor Transelec, 80 to 90 % of the 17m population were affected by the power cut. The reason for the power cut was an accident in a transformer. One hour later some cities had light again - also in greater Santiago. In Santiago some people had to be rescued out of subway cars.

 

German ARD Text: POWER CUT IN CHILE

2 weeks after the strong earthquake in Chile, almost all of Chile was hit by a power cut on Sunday evening. 80% of the 17 million inhabitants were affected. According to the government the power grid was so affected by the earthquake that it finally failed Sunday. Suddenly all light went out in the capital Santiago just before 21 o'clock local time (1am Central European Time / CET). The Metro and several shopping centres were evacuated.

 

SVT Text: MASSIVE POWER CUT IN CHILE

80% of Chile's 17m inhabitants were affected by the power cut which covered a 2,000-km (= 1.250-mile) -long area. CONCEPCION which was hard hit by the recent massive earthquake and the capital Santiago were affected.

 

The power cut caused worries among Chileans still experiencing aftershocks after the devastating magnitude-8.8 earthquake that triggered a tsunami on 27 February 2010. The power was quickly restored.

 

 

Danish DR1 (updated at 4pm): A LARGE PART OF CHILE WITHOUT POWER

At 4pm Central European Time, power has been restored for 80% of Chile.

 

Early Monday there were dark villages across Chile. Problems with a 500 kilowatt transformer caused the lack of power according to Chile's Minister of the Interior, Rodrigo Hinzpeter.

 

The telephone network is still down in parts of Chile.

 

The power cut has no direct connection to the massive earthquake in February, but Hinzpeter would not dismiss the possibility of the earthquake being the indirect cause of the lack of power in Chile.

 

 

BLACKOUT LEAVES MILLIONS OF CHILEANS IN DARKNESS

 

(03/15/2010 | 11:54 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

SANTIAGO, Chile — A power failure plunged nearly the entire Chilean population into darkness Sunday night, rattling a country already anxious after last month's 8.8-magnitude quake.

 

The outage struck around nightfall and affected a 1,200-mile (2,000-kilometer) stretch from Taltal in the north to Chiloe in the south, according to the Interior Ministry's emergency office.

 

Officials blamed a transformer failure that caused a ripple effect and ultimately a total collapse of the Central Interconnected System grid.

 

An hour after the blackout began, lights began to come back on in some cities — including sporadically in greater Santiago, which is home to 7 million people.

 

Officials there initially reported having just 8 percent of the supply needed to meet demand for a normal Sunday evening.

 

Officials said it would take several hours to fully restore service.

 

Between 80 percent and 90 percent of Chile's 17 million people get power from the system and were affected, said Eduardo Andrade, vice president of electricity distributor Transelec.

 

"We hope to restore electrical supply in the coming hours, though we cannot anticipate a specific timeframe," Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter said. "We are working very hard so that happens as soon as possible."

 

Hinzpeter said the blackout did not coincide with one of the dozens of powerful aftershocks that have jolted the nation since the Feb. 27 quake and subsequent tsunami, which killed at least 497 people and caused an estimated $30 billion worth in damage.

 

Hundreds more are still missing, and President Sebastian Pinera said Friday that the death toll is likely to rise.

 

Like the initial quake and some of the stronger aftershocks, the outage sent many Chileans out of their homes, shopping malls and movie theaters and into the streets. Dozens of passengers were evacuated from subway cars in the capital, but there were no reports of any injuries.

 

Authorities were investigating, but Presidency official Cristian Larroulet said that "the most likely thing is that the blackout is the result of a weakness in the (transmission) lines as a result of the earthquake." - AP

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8567910.stm

 

Page last updated at 11:37 GMT, Monday, 15 March 2010

 

CHILE PLUNGED INTO DARKNESS BY POWER CUT

 

A fundraising concert was in full swing when the outage happened.

 

A massive power failure has plunged quake-hit Chile into darkness, stretching 2,000km (1,250 miles) and affecting up to 90% of the population.

 

In Santiago thousands were evacuated from the Metro and the failure affected a benefit concert for quake victims.

 

Power went out at 2050 (2350 GMT) on Sunday, when a key transformer failed, and began to return after an hour.

 

Chile's infrastructure was devastated by the quake on 27 February that killed about 500 and cost up to $30bn (£20bn).

 

The power cut is another reminder of the immense tasks facing President Sebastian Pinera, who was inaugurated last week.

 

FLOODLIGHT FAILURE

 

The BBC's Gideon Long in Santiago says the power cut stretched from Taltal in the north to the island of Chiloe in the south, the equivalent of London to Athens.

 

The entire area hit by the earthquake, including the badly affected second city of Concepcion, was plunged into darkness.

 

As well as halting the benefit concert, the big Sunday night football match in Santiago was abandoned after the floodlights failed.

 

The operators of the electricity grid said the blackout was caused by the failure of a high-voltage transformer about 700km south of the capital.

 

Officials said the blackout was not directly related to the earthquake.

 

However, Energy Minister Ricardo Rainieri said Chile's power grid remained fragile and he called on people to restrict their energy consumption.

 

Electricity to about 90% of the country had been restored soon after midnight.

 

One nanny in Santiago, Claudia Morales, told Reuters news agency: "Everyone started to say aloud maybe there had been another quake. Everyone was really panicked."

 

After taking office last week, Mr Pinera said it would cost at least $30bn to rebuild the country, nearly 20% of Chilean GDP.

 

He said loans and budgetary savings would be used to rebuild infrastructure, homes and industry.

 

 

CHILE PUTS QUAKE DAMAGE AT $30BN

 

Page last updated at 21:46 GMT, Friday, 12 March 2010

 

Chile's new President, Sebastian Pinera, has said it will cost at least $30bn (£20bn) to rebuild the country after January's earthquake.

 

Speaking on his first full day in office, he said loans and budgetary savings would be used to rebuild infrastructure, homes and industry.

 

Other nations would be asked to help, Mr Pinera told reporters in Santiago.

 

The 8.8 magnitude quake on 27 February killed nearly 500 people, with hundreds others missing and 1.5m homes damaged.

 

A 6.9-magnitude aftershock rattled the country as Mr Pinera's inauguration was being held.

 

The businessman is the first centre-right politician to come to power in Chile since the end of military rule in 1990.

 

COPPER INCOME

 

Mr Pinera told Friday's news conference that a special fund would be set up to rebuild around 300,000 houses plus hospitals, schools and roads.

 

He acknowledged that he would have to re-allocate funds from other projects to pay for the reconstruction, and that the process would take years, not months.

 

Some of the work would be paid for with income from exports of copper, of which Chile is the world's biggest producer. Fortunately we have had a strong, stable price for copper," he said.

 

As well as budget trimmings, the country would raise money through debt issues and would dip into savings from past copper income saved in investments abroad.

 

Finance Minister Felipe Larrain earlier said that the government had not yet determined how much debt the government would issue.

 

Chile, a model of economic stability in Latin America, can raise money relatively cheaply on international markets because it has an investment grade rating and is considered low-risk, Reuters news agency notes.

 

But $30bn represents nearly 20% of Chilean GDP and would make a significant dent in the state coffers, the BBC's Gideon Long reports from Santiago.

 

Shortly after he was sworn in on Thursday, Mr Pinera flew to some of the areas worst affected by the original quake.

 

In the city of Rancagua, he urged residents to remain calm as the government continued its efforts to reach all those in need.

 

"I want to tell all Chileans that the government will always respond in an effective and timely manner in catastrophes such as the one we have witnessed in order to save all the lives that we can and so that we can quickly reach those people needing help," he said

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MAGNITUDE-4.4 QUAKE SHAKES SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

 

(03/16/2010 | 11:06 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

LOS ANGELES – An earthquake east of downtown Los Angeles rippled across Southern California before dawn Tuesday, jolting millions of people awake and putting first-responders on alert.

 

UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN THE PHILIPPINES ON 16 MARCH 2010

 

STORM WITH ONDOY's STRENGTH CAN SOLVE MINDANAO's WATER, POWER SHORTAGE

 

(03/16/2010 | 08:33 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

A storm with the magnitude of Ondoy — which submerged three-fourths of Metro Manila — will immediately solve Mindanao’s water and power shortages, Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) chief Prospero Pichay Jr. said on Tuesday.

 

“It will just take one Ondoy," Pichay said, referring to the storm which inundated Luzon, killed 337 persons, and damaged P10.45 billion worth of crops and infrastructure.

 

“One day, if not three to four days," he added, referring to the amount of rainfall needed. “[if that happens], nature will be able to address the calamity in Mindanao."

 

Pichay also expressed hope that a low pressure area near Mindanao will pass by the island and bring large amounts of rainfall although not as much as those brought by Ondoy.

 

However, the website of the government weather bureau — the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services — showed a cloudless satellite picture of the Philippines.

 

Extreme northern Luzon is currently experiencing a cold front while strong northeasterly to easterly winds are flowing in Luzon, Visayas and eastern Mindanao.

 

Last March 12, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Proclamation 2022.

 

Besides placing Mindanao under a state of calamity, the declaration also allowed the use of calamity funds of local government units, which are expected to alleviate 11-hour blackouts in the country’s second largest island.

 

Mindanao requires an additional 700 megawatts of electricity.

 

Currently, Lanao Lake, which powers the Agus hydroelectric complex, needs to be desilted so that water flow could provide more electricity. The Agus 2 plant is only producing 100 mWs of electricity, instead of its capacity of 800 to 900 mWs.

 

When water levels are low, especially during El Niño, there will definitely be a lot of shortage, he said.

 

In the meantime, to solve Metro Manila’s water issues, Pichay proposed drilling deep wells along Laguna de Bay to provide an alternative when Angat Dam — the capital’s main water source — reach critical lows.

 

Water from Laguna de Bay is expected to be clean because it would be purified when it passes through the soil, he said.

 

“Mindanao, even without El Niño is already in a critical stage. The Visayas does not have much problem. Luzon, in the next five years if you do not address, will also have the same problem," he said. - GMANews.TV

 

 

UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 16 MARCH 2010

 

Recent HEADLINES CONCERNING HAITI (most articles posted here)

 

ALL 33 HAITIAN ‘ORPHANS’ WITH BAPTISTS HAD PARENTS

(02/21/2010 | 11:14 AM)

 

HAITI LEADER SAYS QUAKE TOLL COULD REACH 300,000

(02/22/2010 | 09:55 AM )

 

US TROOPS WITHDRAWING EN MASSE FROM HAITI

(03/08/2010 | 10:01 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — US troops are withdrawing from the shattered capital, leaving many Haitians anxious that the most visible portion of international aid is ending even as the city is still mired in misery and vulnerable to unrest.

 

As troops packed their duffels and began to fly home this weekend, Haitians and some aid workers wondered whether UN peacekeepers and local police are up to the task of maintaining order. More than a half-million people still live in vast encampments that have grown more unpleasant in recent days with the early onset of the rainy season.

 

Some also fear the departure of the American troops is a sign of dwindling international interest in the plight of the Haitian people following the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake.

 

"I would like for them to stay in Haiti until they rebuild the country and everybody can go back to their house," said Marjorie Louis, a 27-year-old mother of two, as she warmed a bowl of beans for her family over a charcoal fire on the fake grass of the national stadium.

 

US officials say the long-anticipated draw down of troops is not a sign of waning commitment to Haiti, only a change in the nature of the operation. Security will now be the responsibility of the 10,000-strong UN peacekeeping force and the Haitian police.

 

A smaller number of US forces — the exact number has not yet been determined — will be needed as the UN and Haitian government reassert control, said Gen. Douglas Fraser, head of US Southern Command, which runs the Haiti operation.

 

"Our mission is largely accomplished," Fraser said.

 

American forces arrived in the immediate aftermath of the quake to treat the wounded, provide emergency water and rations and help prevent a feared outbreak of violence among desperate survivors. They also helped reopen the airport and seaport.

 

There has been no widespread violence but security is a real issue. A UN food convoy traveling from Gonaives to Dessalines on Friday was stopped and overrun by people, who looted two trucks before peacekeepers regained control, U.N. officials said.

 

They managed to escort the other two back to Gonaives. There were no reports of injuries.

 

The military operation was criticized by some Haitian senators and foreign leaders as heavy-handed and inappropriate in a country that had been occupied by American forces for nearly two decades in the early 20th century. But ordinary Haitians largely welcomed the troops, many out of disenchantment with their own government.

 

"They should stay because they have been doing a good job," 35-year-old Lesly Pierre said as his family prepared dinner under a tarp at an encampment in Petionville. "If it was up to our government, we wouldn't have gotten any help at all."

 

US soldiers said they had nothing but warm encounters with the Haitian people.

 

"They're real good people. They just want help," Army Private First Class Troy Sims, a 19-year-old from Fresno, California, said as he prepared to board a flight back to the US. "I feel that us being here helped a lot. If we weren't here, things probably would have gotten out of control."

 

There are now about 11,000 troops, more than half of them on ships just off the coast, down from a peak of around 20,000 on Feb. 1. The total is expected to drop to about 8,000 in coming days as the withdrawal gathers steam. The military said more than 700 paratroopers left this weekend.

 

Soldiers are now gone from the General Hospital, where they once directed traffic and kept order amid the chaos of mass casualties. There are no more Haitian patients on board the USNS Comfort, which treated 8,600 people after the quake. At a country club in Petionville, where some 100,000 Haitians are living in rough shelters in a muddy ravine, only a few soldiers remain of the several hundred there after the disaster.

 

Alison Thompson said she was nervous about the smaller US troop contingent.

 

"Soon we are not going to have any security," said Thompson, medical coordinator of the Jenkins/Penn Relief Organization, which runs a field hospital at the edge of the ravine. "Everybody is just so worried that they are pulling out because it's going to get dangerous."

 

It was the same concern for Louis at the national stadium.

 

"If the troublemakers see that there is some kind of force here, they will think twice before they do anything," she said. "They are already getting ready to stir up trouble."

 

But Ted Constan, chief program officer for Partners in Health, said that the way to address security is to get adequate shelter and other aid to the hundreds of thousands of people who are now stranded in squalid encampments.

 

"The real solution is to deliver services ... rather than turn Haiti into a military state," he said. - AP

 

NOT MORE QUAKES, JUST MORE PEOPLE IN QUAKE ZONES

(03/09/2010 | 11:24 AM)

 

HAITI: KIDNAPPERS RELEASE 2 EUROPEAN AID WORKERS (03/12/2010 | 11:07 AM)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Kidnappers have freed two Swiss women snatched off the streets of Haiti's capital and held for five days, officials said Thursday.

 

It is the first reported kidnapping since Haiti suffered a magnitude-7 earthquake with catastrophic damage on Jan. 12. More than 5,000 prisoners fled jails that collapsed or were damaged in the temblor. Only about 200 have been captured.

 

Doctors Without Borders confirmed the kidnapping. Agency spokesman Michel Peremans said the victims were released Wednesday night and are "in good health." He would not say if a ransom was paid.

 

Doctors Without Borders is one of hundreds of international aid agencies that have flooded into Haiti to help.

 

UN CHIEF SEES DANGERS UP-CLOSE IN HAITI QUAKE CAMP

 

(03/15/2010 | 09:01 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon promised Haitians on Sunday that the world has not forgotten the quake-torn nation as it suffers from a shortage of shelter and growing violence in teeming camps for the homeless.

 

Security issues and the risk of flooding and disease in the squalid tarp-and-tent cities are pressing concerns for governments and international aid groups struggling to help hundreds of thousands of victims of the Jan. 12 disaster, which killed an estimated 230,000 people and left 1.3 million homeless.

 

Making his second visit to Haiti since the quake, the UN leader met with President Rene Preval and discussed plans for a UN donors conference in New York on March 31 to fund Haiti's reconstruction.

 

Ban said his message to Haiti's government and people is that "even if time passes, the world has not forgotten. The world is always at their side."

 

Haiti needs money for schools, infrastructure, roads, ports and electricity, Ban said at a news conference.

And "for the foreseeable future, the government will need international assistance simply to cover its payroll," he said. A government statement said the tax department expects to collect only a third of its expected annual take of 13 billion gourdes ($330 million). Duties on imports are the government's main source of income.

 

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said last week that the United Nations is struggling to raise the $1.44 billion needed to help earthquake victims this year. Ban said only 49 percent has been raised.

 

Preval raised concerns that Haiti's farmers would be hurt by continuing imports of food aid. Already, rice farmers have told The Associated Press they cannot sell their harvest because of rice handouts.

 

"It was absolutely necessary that international aid arrive" after the earthquake, Preval said, but "we are now in a new reality."

 

Ban later toured a makeshift camp where more than 40,000 people are living under a tapestry of blue, orange and white tarps and tents sprawled across a valley golf course — emblematic of the mixed results of a $2.2 billion international aid effort.

 

Behind the tents is a country club that became the base of the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division in the days after the disaster. Only a few soldiers are left, but Ban said the withdrawal of US and Canadian troops "will not compromise the mission."

 

He said Haitian police and UN peacekeepers who have been on a stabilization mission in the country since 2004 are doing "an excellent job" providing security.

 

But with no electricity or security, the camps are growing increasingly dangerous at night, particularly for women and girls. Aid workers said a 7-year-old girl raped in the camp was being treated Sunday at its tent hospital.

 

"We will make every effort to ensure that IDP camps remain safe and secure, most especially for women and children," Ban said, referring to "internally displaced people."

 

Ban has also become concerned by reports of increasing gang activity, spokesman Yves Sorokobi said. More than 5,000 prisoners fled jails that collapsed or were damaged in the temblor, and only about 200 have been captured. Two European women with the Doctors Without Borders aid group were kidnapped last week and held for five days. It was not clear if a ransom was paid.

 

Thousands of people in the camp came down from their broken homes in the hills above the capital to be near food and water distributions overseen by the US soldiers. Those distributions, like those run by the UN World Food Program and others, were largely a success — though many were marred by small-scale violence and corruption by local officials.

 

The camp has been a hub of activity by humanitarian groups, with schools, medical clinics and social programs setting up under canvas tents. But the valley is at major risk for floods and landslides when the rainy season starts in earnest next week.

 

Ban said 60 percent of Haiti's quake homeless have received plastic sheets or tents to protect them from deluges.

 

"This is not enough," he admitted. "We are a little bit behind schedule but we are moving very quickly." He called for a "better structured" and "much more efficient way" of distributing emergency shelter.

 

The trouble is that the homeless have nowhere to go. Despite two months of efforts to establish government-run relocation camps on Port-au-Prince's outskirts, not one has yet opened.

 

Aid groups say they are ready to build but don't have the land. Government officials insist they are making progress on finding sites in closed-door negotiations with private landowners. - AP

 

 

HAITI LEADERS RUSH TO FINISH POST-QUAKE PROPOSAL

 

(03/16/2010 | 11:06 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti's government and business community are finalizing details of a reconstruction plan that economists say could cost nearly $14 billion.

 

Haitian Chamber of Commerce President Reginald Boulos says he told the prime minister and international financiers at a meeting Monday that the private sector's earthquake losses alone totaled more than $2 billion.

 

Inter-American Development Bank economist Ericq Pierre says no definitive total was agreed on Monday. The bank estimates Haiti's total damage from the Jan. 12 quake between $8.1 billion and $13.9 billion.

 

The plan will be refined later this week at a meeting in the Dominican Republic. That meeting is to prepare for a March 31 aid conference at the United Nations. - AP

 

UPDATE ON THE SITUATION ON FIJI ON 16 MARCH 2010

 

Danish DR1 Text: The FIJI islands are in a STATE OF EMERGENCY.

Tuesday 17,000 people fled to evacuation centres on the second day of the group of islands being ravaged by cyclone "Tomas". According to the authorities there have been a few deaths. - "I think that a few inhabitants lost their lives - only a few, but we hear that the devastation, wind and storm were too much", says an official from FIJI. - The death toll cannot be established before the communication between the nation's islands have been restored.

 

ZDF Text: FIJI RAVAGED BY CYCLONE "TOMAS"

One of the strongest cyclones in 30 years caused substantial damage on the FIJI islands in the Pacific Ocean. The cyclone "Tomas" - with wind gusts of 230 km/h - passed the capital SUVA. 7 m high waves flooded villages on the second largest island, Vanua Levu. Tuesday, the governor declared state of emergency for the northern and eastern regions. 17,000 people had fled to emergency/evacuation centres. Tourists had not been in danger according to authorities in charge of tourism.

 

Swedish SVT TTV: FIJI: STATE OF EMERGENCY AFTER STORM

The military regime in FIJI has declared state of emergency since the cyclone "Tomas" hit the group of islands. 17,000 inhabitants were forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in evacuation centres.

The storm that hit FIJI Tuesday is the worst within living memory. The storm has caused substantial damage, says the leader of the regime, Voreqe Bainimarama. It is not clear whether the cyclone cost any human lives. Nor is the extent of the material damage clear.

 

UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN CHILE ON 16 MARCH 2010

 

ZDF Text: A NEW STRONG AFTERSHOCK IN CHILE

3 weeks after the massive earthquake, Chile was - Monday evening - shaken by a strong magnitude-6.7 aftershock off the Pacific coast about 70 km northwest of CONCEPCION according to USGS. The epicentre was in a depth of about 35 km. According to the Chilean ministry in charge of disasters there were no reports of damage, and no tsunami was expected. CONCEPCION was severely damaged by the massive magnitude-8.8 earthquake on 27 February 2010 when about 500 people died.

 

Danish DR1 TTV, TV2 TTV and Swedish SVT Text: CHILE HIT BY A MASSIVE AFTERSHOCK

Monday evening Chile was shaken by a strong magnitude-6.7 earthquake. Its epicentre was 72 km northwest of the city, CONCEPCION. The quake occurred in a depth of 34 km. According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, historic data indicate that aftershocks do no trigger tsuamis, but countries with Pacific coasts should be on alert as there is a risk of gigantic waves.

On 27 February 2010 a massive earthquake with a magnitude of 8.8 on the Richter scale hit Chile and cost more than 800 human lives. CONCEPCION was one of the worst-hit cities.

[nancyk58]

Help Red Cross and Unicef Help Victims of Natural Disasters / FIJI news on 16 and 17 March 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN FIJI MARCH 2010

 

FIJI DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY FOR CYCLONE AID

 

(03/17/2010 | 07:54 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

SUVA, Fiji – Australian and New Zealand air force planes began airlifting emergency supplies Wednesday to cyclone-battered Fiji, where a state of emergency has been declared and troops ordered to launch relief operations in northern regions hit by a powerful cyclone that forced thousands of people to flee into shelters.

 

Cyclone Tomas' onslaught was weakening Wednesday, but the scope of destruction was not clear because communications were cut to outer island groups and to northern areas of Vanua Levu, the group's second-biggest island, that were hardest hit, officials said.

 

One death has been reported, and a nationwide curfew was due to be lifted Wednesday.

 

Fiji's National Disaster Council declared a 30-day state of emergency for the country's northern and eastern divisions Tuesday, ordering troops to be deployed as soon as possible to provide relief, including food, water and basic supplies.

 

Packing winds of up to 130 mph (205 kph) at its center, and gusts of up to 175 mph (280 kph), Cyclone Tomas continued to blast through the northern Lau and Lomaiviti island groups and the northern coast of Vanua Levu on Tuesday, the nation's weather office said.

 

Matt Boterhoven, Fiji's Tropical Cyclone Center's senior forecaster, said sea surges of up to 23 feet (7 meters) were reported in the Lau island group, which was hit head-on by the cyclone, causing MAJOR FLOODING. The surges would take at least 36 hours to subside, he said.

 

Hercules cargo planes from Australia and New Zealand left early Wednesday for Fiji with relief supplies, including tarpaulins, food and water treatment tablets.

 

The planes would then carry out reconnaissance work and damage assessment.

"It appears that after the initial reconnaissance work's undertaken ... it'll be necessary to fly some supplies from Nadi or Suva to the affected areas," New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully told National Radio.

 

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith pledged $1 million dollars in initial aid, adding that, "Australia will consider further assistance for reconstruction once damage has been more fully assessed."

 

Meanwhile, tourists on Australia's Heron and Lady Elliot islands off the Queensland state coast were told to evacuate Wednesday as another cyclone, named Ului, made its way toward the continent.

 

The storm was packing sustained winds of up to 115 miles per hour (185 kilometers per hour) with gusts up to 162 miles per hour (260 kilometers per hour), the Bureau of Meteorology said.

 

Ului was expected to impact the Australian coast over the weekend, the bureau said.

 

In Fiji, National Disaster Management Office spokesman Anthony Blake said power, water, sewage and other services were disrupted in many northern areas, with all airstrips and airports closed and storm surges smashing into coastal villages and schools. More than 17,000 people were in 240 government shelters, he said.

 

Initial damage assessments will be made Wednesday, when airplanes are expected to survey the northern islands and Vanua Levu, Blake said.

 

The country's military leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarara, has appealed for international assistance, and the governments of New Zealand, France and Australia were trying to determine how best to help.

 

The capital, Suva, has been lashed by high winds and rains, and the government extended a nationwide curfew to Wednesday morning to keep people in their homes.

 

Flights resumed on Tuesday into the main international airport at Nadi, on the main island of Viti Levu. There were no immediate reports of tourists being caught in the cyclone.

 

Late Friday, a 31-year-old woman was swept away by strong ocean currents in Vanua Levu's Cakaudrove province after she saved her two children from a storm surge, police spokeswoman Atunaisa Sokomuri said. — AP

 

 

CYCLONE CAUSES EMERGENCY IN FIJI (16 Mar 10)

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas

 

A state of disaster has been declared in parts of Fiji, as Cyclone Tomas blasts through the north and east of the Pacific island country. At least 5,000 people have had to leave their homes, and 50 properties have so far been destroyed.

 

CYCLONE CAUSES EMERGENCY IN FIJI (16 Mar 10) - Asia-Pacific

A state of emergency has been declared in northern and eastern parts of Fiji, after Cyclone Tomas blasted through the Pacific island nation. The National Disaster Council said troops would take food, water and other necessities to worst-hit areas.

 

CYCLONE TOMAS DEVASTATES FIJI (16 March 2010, evening)

Cyclone Tomas has cut a swathe of destruction through the Pacific island nation of Fiji. A state of emergency has been called in the northern and eastern parts of the country, and thousands of people have been forced into shelters.

 

AID FLOWN TO CYCLONE-STRUCK FIJI (17 March 2010 at 1am) Asia-Pacific

 

Australia and New Zealand have begun airlifting aid to the Pacific island nation of Fiji, battered by a powerful cyclone which sparked sea surges. The planes will take relief supplies including tarpaulins before carrying out an assessment of the damage.

 

A state of emergency was declared after Cyclone Tomas struck on Monday and Tuesday, battering the north and east.

 

The country's military leader, Voreqe Bainimarama, described the damage as "overwhelming".

 

The director of the country's National disaster management office, Pajiliai Dobui, said there were unconfirmed reports of a "few" deaths, AFP reports.

 

"Those who have experienced other cyclones say this is the longest and the strongest they have come across - and the most destructive," Mr Dobui said.

 

Australia's foreign ministry pledged $1m in aid and said the country would consider offering additional assistance after the damage had been assessed.

 

Cyclone Tomas, a category four storm, is weakening as it moves away though, according to Fiji's tropical cyclone centre, the sea surges have caused significant flooding and will probably take up to 36 hours to subside completely.

 

A nationwide curfew imposed on the island was due to be lifted later on Wednesday

 

The eastern Lau group of islands bore the brunt of the storm and the country's second largest island, Vanua Levu, was also hard-hit.

 

 

NEW ZEALAND AID ARRIVES IN FIJI (17 March 2010 at 11.30pm Central European Time)

 

A New Zealand airforce plane has arrived in the Pacific island nation of Fiji carrying aid and supplies after cyclone Tomas devastated the region. The planes will take relief supplies including tarpaulins before carrying out an assessment of the damage.

 

------------------------

Later today I will post some articles on the situation in HAITI: 2 articles about sexual assaults in Haiti and 2 articles with the title: "Haiti estimates $11.5 billion needed for reconstruction"

[nancyk58]

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 17 MARCH 2010

 

Danish DR1 Text TV: SEXUAL ASSAULTS IN HAITI

 

HAITI is ravaged by crimes after the massive earthquake that shook Haiti on 12 January 2010.

 

In the capital, Port-au-Prince there are reports of an increase in the number of sexual assaults. Women and children as young as 2 years are victims of rapists in the many badly secured makeshift/temporary camps without electricity.

 

It is dark from 6pm to 6 am, and Haitians are living in fear all night long, and sexual assaults are inevitable when there is noone to keep order. This is reported by Thomas Ubbesen, Danish DR's special correspondent.

 

German ZDF TTV, Swedish SVT Text and Danish Text TV: HAITI WILL NEED $11.5 BILLION TO REBUILD HAITI

 

2 months after the earthquake in HAITI a draft for a reconstruction plan has been submitted. Financially about $11.5bn is needed. The plan was submitted by the Haitian government together with the United Nations as part of preparing the Haiti donors conference on 31 March.

 

In addition to direct emergency aid also long-term goals were listed such as for instance "the rebuilding of the state and society in the interest of all Haitians" and a reform of Haiti's judicial system. Before the earthquake HAITI was already a very poor country with a weak central authority.

 

 

HAITI ESTIMATES $11.5 BILLION NEEDED FOR RECONSTRUCTION

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8571593.stm - Page last updated at 10:29 GMT, Wednesday, 17 March 2010

 

Haiti will need $11.5bn (£7.5bn) to rebuild after the devastating earthquake in January, the country's government estimates.

 

The amount is a rough estimate of money required for a complete overhaul of the impoverished country, officials say.

 

The plan, co-authored by international aid agencies, will be put to donors at a conference on Haiti on 31 March.

 

More than 220,000 people were killed in the quake, which is thought to have caused around $8bn of damage.

 

"This is a process. This is not a final document," Haiti's Tourism Minister Patrick Delatour was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

 

Estimates for the total reconstruction could be as high as $14bn, he added.

 

'UNPRECEDENTED'

 

The reconstruction plan, known as the Preliminary Damage and Needs Assessment (PDNA), will be discussed at a major conference on Haiti in New York at the end of this month.

 

The document put the total cost of earthquake damage at $7.9bn - 120% of Haiti's GDP.

 

More than 70% of those losses were sustained by the private sector. But damage was widespread, affecting schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, buildings, ports and airports.

 

"The earthquake has created an unprecedented situation, amplified by the fact that it struck the country's most populous region and its economic and administrative centre," the assessment said.

 

The plan emphasises that the SHORT-TERM PRIORITY is to prepare those left homeless by the quake for April's HEAVY RAINS and for the JUNE HURRICANE SEASON.

 

Nearly 220,000 quake survivors are living in temporary camps in the capital city of PORT-au-PRINCE, where there is a HIGH RISK of FLOODING and LANDSLIDES.

 

 

WOMEN, GIRLS RAPE VICTIMS IN HAITI QUAKE AFTERMATH

 

(03/17/2010 | 09:17 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – When the young woman needed to use the toilet, she went out into the darkened tent camp and was attacked by three men.

 

"They grabbed me, put their hands over my mouth and then the three of them took turns," the slender 21-year-old said, wriggling with discomfort as she nursed her baby girl, born three days before Haiti's devastating quake.

 

"I am so ashamed. We're scared people will find out and shun us," said the woman, who suffers from abdominal pain and itching, likely from an infection contracted during the attack.

 

Women and children as young as 2, already traumatized by the loss of homes and loved ones in the Jan. 12 catastrophe, are now falling victim to rapists in the sprawling tent cities that have become home to hundreds of thousands of people.

 

With NO LIGHTING and NO SECURITY, they are menacing places after sunset.

 

SEXUAL ASSAULTS are daily occurrences in the biggest camps, aid workers say — and most attacks go unreported because of the SHAME, SOCIAL STIGMA and FEAR OF REPRISALS FROM ATTACKERS.

 

RAPE was a big problem in Haiti even before the earthquake and frequently was used as a political weapon in times of upheaval. Both times the first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was ousted, his enemies assassinated his male supporters and raped their wives and daughters.

 

But the quake that killed an estimated 200,000 people has made women and girls ever more vulnerable. They have lost their homes and are forced to sleep in flimsy tents or tarp-covered lean-tos. They've lost male protection with the deaths of husbands, brothers and sons. And they are living in close quarters with strangers.

 

The 21-year-old said her family has received no food aid because the Haitian men handing out coupons for food distribution demand sexual favors.

 

Sex-for-food is not uncommon in the camps, said a report issued Tuesday by the Interuniversity Institute for Research and Development in Haiti.

 

"In particular, young girls have to negotiate sexually in order to get shelter from the rains and access to food aid."/COLOR]

 

At the camp on Monday where the young mother was gang-raped, a woman in shorts tried to bathe discreetly. Stripped to her waist, she faced her blue tarp tent, her back to the rows of other shelters.

 

Nearby, a teenage girl squatted behind a pile of garbage, trying to avoid the stench and clouds of flies around tarp-covered latrines that provide the only privacy, but also are places where women are attacked.

 

In this camp, some 47,000 people live crowded into what used to be a sports ground in a neighborhood that always has been dangerous. Residents include a dozen escaped prisoners, among them a man accused of a notorious murder, according to Fritznel Pierre, a human rights advocate who lives at the camp.

 

"But nobody says anything because they're scared, scared of the criminals and scared of the police," he said.

 

Pierre has documented three other gang rapes in the camp, including of a 17-year-old who says she was a virgin before six men attacked her and raped her repeatedly.

 

"I really worry about the teenager because she has no one to look out for her. She says she sees her attackers but is afraid to report them because she would then have to leave the camp and she has nowhere to go," Pierre said.

 

Investigators for Human Rights Watch reported the first three gang rapes to U.N. officials. Then, two weeks later, on Feb. 27, the 21-year-old mother was gang-raped.

 

Only a week later did U.N. police officers begin patrolling.

 

"For me it seems completely bizarre that for this one camp that everyone knows is unsafe, it's taken them three weeks to get a patrol going," said Liesl Gerntholtz, executive director of the agency's women's rights division. "It's unrealistic to expect patrols in camps all the time, but I think they can identify hotspots and provide security to those spots."

 

Pierre complained that the U.N. patrols are ineffective. "They only drive their cars down the one road that covers only a small portion of the camp. They never get out of their cars," he said.

 

In the hilltop suburb of Petionville, where plush mansions look out over slums on hillsides and in ravines, a 7-year-old rape victim was being treated Monday in the hospital of a tent camp set up on a golf course. Another child, a 2-year-old, had been raped in the same camp two weeks earlier.

 

The toddler is taking antibiotics for a gonorrhea infection of the mouth, according to Alison Thompson, who is the volunteer medical coordinator for a Haitian relief group created by Sean Penn. She helped treat both children.

 

"Women aren't being protected," Thompson said. "So when the lights go down is when the rapes increase, and it's happening daily in all the camps in Port-au-Prince."

 

Besides SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES and PREGNANCY, victims face possible HIV INFECTION. Haiti has the highest infection rate for the virus that causes AIDS in the Western hemisphere, with one in 50 people infected.

 

Among the many rape victims is an 18-year-old girl who lost her parents, grandmother, a sister and three cousins to the quake. She was roaming the streets distraught when a man approached her, promising her his wife would look after her, she said.

 

The middle-aged man took her to a house, then left and came back with two men. The three raped her repeatedly until she managed to escape.

 

The teen is among dozens of rape victims who have sought help from KOFAVIV, a group of Haitian women who survived political rapes in 2004. Their offices were destroyed in the quake and they now operate from a tent.

 

They brought the victims to American volunteer lawyers who came to Port-au-Prince a week ago to identify Haitians who may qualify for humanitarian parole to live in the United States.

 

"I've been here five days and have spoken to 30 (rape) survivors including a dozen under 18. Their stories are horrific. I would be catatonic," said San Francisco lawyer Jayne Fleming.

 

Few rapes are reported because women often face humiliating scrutiny from police officers who suggest they invited the attacks and even nurses who contend young girls were "too hot" in their dress style, according to Delva Marie Eramithe, a KOFAVIV leader.

 

Her own 18-year-old daughter was saved from an attacker who dragged the girl into a dark alley between tents at the downtown camp sprawling across Champs de Mars plaza. The assailant did not see the teen's three sisters, who had been walking behind her, and all four of them managed to beat him and run him off.

 

Soon after, he returned to their tent with three other men and a gun, Eramithe said.

 

While a male neighbor argued with the men, Eramithe and her daughters went to a nearby police station to report the attempted rape.

 

"We told them the man who attacked her was right there at our tent, just two blocks away," Eramithe said. "But one policeman said they had received reports of nothing but raping, thefts and domestic beatings all day and there's nothing they can do. The other police officer said the only person who can do anything is President (Rene) Preval."

 

When she insisted, they gave her the license plate of a police van patrolling the camp perimeter. Eventually she found the patrol car but that officer "told us to go and get the attacker and bring him to them."

 

Police spokesman Gary Desrosiers said only 24 rapes have been reported to Haitian authorities this year. Several suspects were detained, but many escaped when prisons collapsed in the quake, he said.

 

Police Chief Mario Andresol blamed the attacks on the more than 7,000 prisoners who escaped. "Bandits are taking advantage to harass and rape women and young girls under the tents," he told reporters two weeks after the quake.

 

"We are aware of problem ... but it's not a priority," Information Minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue said last month.

 

Haitian police officers with stations minutes from some of the largest camps do not patrol — a fact that spokesman Desrosiers blames on the loss of dozens of officers killed in the quake, as well as scores who remain missing and more than 250 who were injured.

 

Still, that leaves some 9,600 Haitian police officers and 2,000 U.N. police officers.

 

The first signs of action came when U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived Sunday, and a contingent of female U.N. and Haitian police officers set up a tent at the camp.

 

Ban promised the camps will be "safe and secure."

 

He praised the security offered by Haitian and U.N. police and told the women officers: "We must protect these women and girls. ... If they are sexually abused and attacked and raped, that is totally unacceptable and intolerable, and we must stop it."

 

On Monday, a man with a bullhorn was at the camp during a food distribution, saying "We don't want men raping women, do we?"

 

No, the women waiting in line yelled back.

 

Still, the fear was palpable among the most vulnerable. The 18-year-old orphaned rape victim was nervous about the time, even though it was only mid-afternoon.

 

"I have to find somewhere to sleep, near some people who might help me if there's trouble," she said.

 

"It scares me, the way the men look at me, and they know I'm all alone".

- AP

[nancyk58]

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 18 MARCH 2010

 

Danish DR1 Text: HAITIAN CHILDREN ARE NOT ORPHANS

 

10 US missionaries attempted to transport 33 children believed to be orphans out of Haiti in the aftermath of the massive earthquake in Haiti in January. It has turned out that all these children have living parents. The organization SOS Children's Villages is convinced that in most cases it is best for a child to be taken care of and protected by its own family, says the relief organization which was in charge of the children.

 

Laura Silsby and 9 other baptists were arrested on 29 January 2010 when the group tried to take the children into the Dominican Republic.

 

 

Danish TV2 Text and German ZDF Text: HAITI: THE CHILDREN "KIDNAPPED" BY US BAPTISTS ALL HAVE FAMILIES

The Haitian children that US baptists would take out of Haiti after the massive earthquake on 12 January 2010 all have families. None of the children is an orphan, said a spokeswoman of SOS Children's Villages.

 

The children aged 2 months up to 14 years were returned to their parents. The families received financial support of more than 360 EURO.

 

10 baptists were arrested when trying to cross the border to the Dominican Republic with the children.

 

 

Swedish SVT Text: NONE OF THE HAITIAN CHILDREN WAS AN ORPHAN

 

All 33 Haitian children that US baptists attempted to smuggle out of Haiti after the earthquake have been reunited with their parents.

 

10 US missionaries were arrested when trying to bring the children into neighbouring country, the Dominican Republic. The missionaries did not have the necessary documents and it turned out that the children were not orphans.

 

Several parents later testitied that they gave up their children voluntarily because they could not take care of them.

 

9 of the missionaries have been released, but the leader will be charged with child trafficking.

 

 

Swedish SVT Text: HAITI: CAN GET 4 BILLION DOLLARS

 

A preliminary committee before the donors conference on 31 March 2010 suggests that HAITI shall receive 4 billion dollars for rebuilding and state budget after the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010.

 

Wednesday, donor countries and international organizations approved of the HAITI government being given $3.8 billion in 1.5 years, said the Dominican Republic's Minister of Economic Affairs, Montás.

 

Additional $350 million is scheduled for the country's state budget, Montás said.

 

28 countries participate in the donors conference in the United Nations in New York.

 

 

FIJI CYCLONE DAMAGE OVERWHELMING, LEADER SAYS

 

(03/18/2010 | 08:34 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

SUVA, Fiji — A powerful cyclone destroyed more than half the houses in many villages in northern Fiji, but only one death has been reported, officials said Thursday.

 

The full extent of the damage from Cyclone Tomas has yet to be determined because communications to the hardest-hit areas remain cut off and may not be restored before the weekend.

 

The South Pacific island nation has sent naval patrol boats laden with supplies to the northern islands that bore the full brunt of the storm, while Australian and New Zealand air force planes airlifted emergency supplies and began a second day of surveillance of the area.

 

A nationwide curfew was lifted Wednesday, but a state of emergency will remain in effect for 30 days in the country's northern and eastern divisions, where aid agencies say up to 130,000 people were affected by the storm.

 

"It is evident that wherever Tomas has struck, the damage has been overwhelming," Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Fiji's prime minister and military chief, said Wednesday as the first reports began to roll in.

 

The storm, packing winds of up to 130 miles (205 kilometers) per hour and gusts of up to 175 mph (280 kph), first hit Fiji late Friday. It blasted through the northern Lau and Lomaiviti island groups and the northern coast of the second biggest island, Vanua Levu, before losing strength as it moved out to sea Wednesday, the nation's weather office said.

 

"One village on the island of Taveuni lost all its houses, but there was no loss of life," Disaster Management Office senior official Pajiliai Dobui told The Associated Press.

 

While Fiji's north suffered overwhelming damage from the powerful winds and sea surges, Dobui said preparations for the storm meant "peoples' lives were not put at risk." Only one death was reported.

 

Dobui said some villages in the Lau island group lost up to 60 percent of their houses, especially near the coast where powerful waves surged inland.

 

"The impact of the storm surges was quite devastating," made worse by high tides at the time the storm passed over the islands, he said.

 

On the northern island of Koro, seven of the 14 villages were badly damaged, said Julian Hennings, a spokesman for the island's Dere Bay Resort.

 

"Some of the houses have blown away. A lot of trees have been uprooted, some of the roads have been blocked off because the waves have picked up rocks and coral and have dumped it on the road," he said. One of four landing jetties was also severely damaged.

 

Tiny Cikobia Island, home to about 400 people, suffered more than three days of hammering from the cyclone, which smashed houses, uprooted trees, washed away all local boats, and scattered debris across the island.

 

But Dobui said "many very strong homes" built on Cikobia after earlier cyclones "withstood Cyclone Tomas and protected the lives of our villagers."

 

Power, water, sewage and communications were still disrupted in many northern areas, but a key airport at Labasa in northern Vanua Levu reopened for emergency supply flights.

 

Troops have been deployed to provide relief, including food, water and basic supplies.

 

A New Zealand air force Hercules airplane that surveyed some northern areas found that "quite a few villages look like they have been hit pretty hard," squadron leader Kavae Tamariki told New Zealand's Stuff news Web site.

 

Many homes lost their roofs and some houses were destroyed, he said, adding that not many people were seen. "We think they have fled to safety inland," he said. - AP

[nancyk58]

UPDATES AND NEWS ARTICLES ON THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 19 MARCH 2010

 

URBAN (free Danish paper) on 19.3.10: KIDNAPPED CHILDREN RETURNED TO PARENTS IN HAITI

 

33 "orphans" - attempted brought out of Haiti by American missionaries after the earthquake - turned out to have parents.

 

33 children whose parents were presumed killed in the earthquake in Haiti in January and who were attempted brought out of Haiti by American missionaries are now being reunited with their parents.

 

All 33 children have at least one living parent according to the relief organisation "SOS Children's Villages" which was in charge of the children since the American missionaries tried to get them to the United States.

 

The youngest child was only a few months old when the earthquake occurred and she was parted from her parents. She has now been returned to the parents after having spent the last couple of months with a foster-mother selected by the "SOS Children's Villages".

 

A spokeswoman of "SOS Children's Villages" in Haiti, Line Wolf Nielsen says that most parents have visited the children the last couple of weeks before they had their children back this week.

 

A total of 22 families have claimed the 33 children.

 

TEN AMERICAN MISSIONARIES ARRESTED

 

The reunion takes place after weeks' work with registering and finding the children's parents and making sure that the parents were in a position to handle the return of the children.

 

The case of the 33 children attracted international attention when ten American missionaries were arrested on 29 January trying to bring the children out of Haiti and into the neighbouring country The Dominican Republic. The transport was stopped because the missionaries did not have the necessary documents for the children.

 

All missionaries were arrested, but they denied - during a trial - that they would kidnap the children. They claimed that they would help the children to a better life in the USA after the earthquake on 12 January.

 

Several parents testitied in court that they gave up their children voluntarily because they could no longer provide for them after the quake.

 

9 of the ten missionaries have been released from the prison in HAITI and have returned to the USA. One of them is still in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince where she is charged with child trafficking. Ritzau (news agency)

 

 

HAITI AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE

 

As many as 230,000 people were killed due to the earthquake that hit Haiti on 12 January 2010

 

More than one million have become homeless

 

Haiti is the poorest country in Latin America, and life expectancy is 61 years

 

80 out of 1,000 children die before they are 5 years old

 

More than half the population has less than one dollar per day to live on.

 

-------------------------------------

 

Danish TV1 TTV: HAITI: PROMPT HELP TO FORGOTTEN VICTIMS IN HAITI

 

When DR's special correspondent visited the camp "Camaran Deux" on a stony and barren mountainside outside of Port-au-Prince a few days ago, the camp had not been visited by one single relief organization since the earthquake on 12 January.

 

But when the terrible situation there was described to a centrally placed person, she immediately organized a massive help effort for the people in the camp who were close to death due to hunger and thirst without anybody noticing, DR News' Thomas Ubbesen reports from HAITI.

 

Besides water and food, relief workers have promised to deliver / supply kitchens, huts and medical help to the camp.

 

 

Danish DR1 TTV: HAITI's DEBT RELIEVED

 

Countries behind the Inter-American Development Bank are close to a deal that will relieve Haiti of its debt of the equivalent of almost 2.5 billion Danish Kroner (more than $0.3 billion) according to sources from the US Treasury Department. After the devastating earthquake in January, US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner has worked for relief of Haiti's debt to i.a. the Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

 

UN experts estimate that HAITI will need the equivalent of DKK 62 billion (more than $8 billion) to rebuild the country.

 

 

Swedish SVT Text: "SECOND HAITI DISASTER INEVITABLE"

 

A second disaster in HAITI is probably inevitable despite of pledged billions and a help effort so big as never seen before.

 

These are the words of Sam Worthington, coordinator of US Aid.

 

The threat comes from the upcoming rainy and hurricane seasons. The tents and tarpaulings erected as temporary shelter after the earthquake provide no protection against the upcoming heavy rain and hurricanes.

 

- "We are in a race against time and even though a large number of people have been removed, then with sadness, I think that many are staying in dangerous places", says Worthington.

 

---------------------

 

UPDATES / NEWS ARTICLE ON THE SITUATION IN CHILE ON 19 MARCH 2010

 

German ARD Text: AFTERSHOCKS IN CHILE LIKELY

 

Chileans must expect strong aftershocks for at least one year after the gigantic earthquake on 27 February 2010.

 

In the next couple of months 25 to 45 tremors will occur with a magnitude of 5.0 and higher according to a US earthquake expert of US Geological Survey in the Chilean capital, Santiago.

 

There is a likelihood of 1 to 3 that even a tremor of magnitude 7.0 will be included in the series of aftershocks to be expected.

 

The earthquake and the tsunami cost 700 human lives on 27 February and caused substantial damage at the value of $30 billion.

[nancyk58]

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION ON 21 MARCH IN CHILE, HAITI, AUSTRALIA AND ICELAND

 

German ARD Text: CHILE: UPDATED DEATH TOLL AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE

3 weeks after the devastating earthquake in Chile the authorities have corrected the death toll. While almost immediately after the quake it was reported that more than 800 were killed, the Ministry of the Interior now says that 342 people were killed in the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami. In 62 other cases the death circumstances are being examined. The magnitude-8.8 earthquake on 27 February 2010 was one of the strongest qaukes ever recorded. 2 million homes were damaged and 500,000 hereof were severely damaged.

 

Danish newspaper BT: HAITI: MENTALLY ILL LIVING UNDER BAD CONDITIONS

Mental patients are lying naked on the cold concrete floor in Haitian hospitals. When confronted with this the answer was: Mentally ill never had a high priority in HAITI!

 

German ARD Text: AUSTRALIA: DAMAGES DUE TO CYCLONE, "ULUI"

With wind gusts of up to 200 km per hour a tropic cyclone in Northeastern Australia caused severe damage. About 60,000 households were without power. There are no reports of casualties due to this cyclone - a category 3 storm.

Queensland can expect some wet days as the cyclone continues across land carrying enormous amounts of rain with it.

 

Danish text TV: Magnitude 5.6 EARTHQUAKE IN CUBA IN THE AREA OF THE US GUANTANAMO CAMP

 

German ARD Text and BBC World News: VOLCANO ERUPTS IN SOUTH ICELAND

A state of emergency has been declared for the southern part of Iceland. 500 people were evacuated. The volcano was dormant for 200 years and began to erupt just after midnight sending lava 100 m high.

There was fear of flooding from enormous amounts of melting water from the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier under which the first eruptions occurred. It took place about 120 km or 75 miles east of the capital, Reykjavik.

 

VOLCANO ERUPTS NEAR EYJAFJALLAJOEKULL IN SOUTH ICELAND

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8578576.stm

Page last updated at 12:23 GMT, Sunday, 21 March 2010

 

An Icelandic volcano, dormant for 200 years, has erupted, ripping a 1km-long fissure in a field of ice.

 

The volcano near Eyjafjallajoekull glacier began to erupt just after midnight, sending lava a hundred metres high.

Icelandic airspace has been closed, flights diverted and roads closed. The eruption was about 120km (75 miles) east of the capital, Reykjavik.

 

About 500 people were moved from the area, a civil protection officer said.

"We estimate that no-one is in danger in the area, but we have started an evacuation plan and between 500 and 600 people are being evacuated," Sigurgeir Gudmundsson of the Icelandic civil protections department told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

 

The area is sparsely populated, but the knock-on effects from the eruption have been considerable.

 

A state of emergency is in force in southern Iceland and transport connections have been severely disrupted, including the main east-west road.

 

"Ash has already begun to fall in Fljotshlid and people in the surrounding area have reported seeing bright lights emanating from the glacier," RUV public radio said on its website.

 

It was a bit scary, but still amazing to see," Katrin Moller Eiriksdottir, who lives in Fljotshlid, told the BBC News website.

 

"The ash had started falling and we couldn't leave the car."

 

Three Icelandair flights, bound for Reykjavik from the United States, were ordered to return to Boston, RUV radio reported.

 

Domestic flights were suspended indefinitely, but some international flights were scheduled to depart on Sunday.

 

There had initially been fears that the volcano could cause flooding, as it causes ice to melt on the glacier above it, but that scenario appears to have been avoided.

 

However, it could cause more activity nearby, scientists say.

 

"This was a rather small and peaceful eruption but we are concerned that it could trigger an eruption at the nearby Katla volcano, a vicious volcano that could cause both local and global damage," said Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland's Institute of Earth Science, Associated Press news agency reported.

 

As the eruption is taking place in an area that is relatively ice free, there is little chance of a destructive glacier burst like the one that washed away part of the east-west highway four years ago, after an eruption under the vast Vattnajoekull glacier.

 

Iceland lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the highly volatile boundary between the Eurasian and North American continental plates, with quakes and eruptions.

 

The last volcanic eruption in the Eyjafjallajoekull area occurred in 1821.

[nancyk58]

UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI AND THE PHILIPPINES ON 22 MARCH 2010

 

3 DIE IN QUAKE COLLAPSE IN NORTHERN HAITI — UN

 

(03/22/2010 | 08:21 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A small earthquake struck northern Haiti early Sunday, collapsing an apartment building and killing at least three people, a UN spokesman said.

 

Residents said the tremor struck Haiti's second-largest city of Cap-Haitien shortly after midnight, collapsing the four-story building. Some nearby structures were damaged by the collapse but no other quake effects were reported.

 

Three survivors were pulled out of the rubble and taken to a hospital, UN spokesman Louicius Euguene said.

 

Haitian police, civil protection authorities and UN peacekeepers from Chile and Nepal found the body of another person killed inside.

 

Cap-Haitien lies along the fault line that produced THREE MODERATE EARTHQUAKES in nearby CUBA on Saturday. It was not affected by the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince, some 80 miles (130 kilometers) to the south.

 

Witnesses said it had been raining, which could have weakened the ground under the structure.

 

US Geological Survey scientists were studying data Sunday for signs of the temblor but had no confirmation of the earthquake. A small, 3.7-magnitude aftershock was felt in Port-au-Prince late Saturday night.

 

"We don't really see anything that is jumping out of the records but ... we're looking at this," geophysicist Rafael Abreu said.

 

But residents of the northern port city said they were frightened by the shaking.

 

Last month three children were killed in Cap-Haitien when a school collapsed after a late-night tremor and heavy rains.

 

There have been several panics in Cap-Haitien since the Port-au-Prince disaster, including two triggered by evangelical churches that convinced thousands that earthquakes and tsunamis were coming on dates that have since passed. - AP

 

 

RP EXPECTS FIRST CYCLONE OF THE YEAR ON THURSDAY

 

(03/22/2010 | 11:23 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

State weather forecasters on Monday spotted a brewing weather disturbance off Mindanao, which could become the first cyclone to enter the country for the year.

 

A report over GMA News’ “24 Oras" said “Agaton" is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility on Thursday.

 

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the cyclone may not make a landfall, but would induce rains that could increase water levels of the dams that have reached critical lows because of the El Niño dry spell.

 

In its 5 p.m. update, PAGASA said the wind convergence currently affecting Mindanao and Eastern Visayas would bring scattered rain showers and thunderstorms in the said areas.

 

“The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms," PAGASA said on its Web site.

 

“Moderate to strong winds blowing from the Northeast to Southeast will prevail over the Eastern section of Northern and Central Luzon and coming from the Northeast and East over the rest of the Eastern section of the country and the coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough," it added.

 

Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate blowing from the Northeast to East with slight to moderate seas.

 

The country is experiencing up to 36-degree Celsius weather due to the El Niño phenomenon, which is wrecking havoc on many farmlands particularly in the Visayas and Mindanao.

 

The government said damage to agriculture caused by the dry spells has gone up to P8.588 billion, even as the number of people affected continues to grow.

 

In a March 19 report posted on its Web site, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said the damage was recorded in Bicol, Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Davao City, South Cotabato and Maguindanao.

 

The NDCC said the damage now involves 576,607.61 tons in production loss in 749,467.94 hectares in Luzon, Western and Central Visayas, Regions 9 to 12, and Cordillera.

 

At least 301,135 farmers and their families had been affected because of the dry spells – 124,515 of them in Central Visayas and 117,844 in Southwestern Mindanao.

 

Last year, THREE STRONG TYPHOONS wrecked havoc in Luzon, resulting to HUNDREDS OF DEATHS and millions of pesos worth in agriculture and infrastructure damages.

 

– Aie Balagtas See/KBK, GMANews.TV

[nancyk58]

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI and AUSTRALIA ON 23 MARCH 2010 plus interesting article concerning Iceland's eruptions

 

DEVELOPMENT BANK FORGIVES $479 MILLION HAITI DEBT

 

(03/23/2010 | 08:12 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

CANCUN, Mexico – The Inter-American Development Bank said Monday it has agreed to forgive $479 million in debts owed by quake-ravaged Haiti.

 

Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno said the bank's board of governors voted to forgive the debt and will offer $2 billion in financing to the Caribbean nation over the next 10 years.

 

"This commitment is good news for all Haitians, and will help heal the wounds caused by the earthquake," Moreno said at the inauguration of the bank's annual meeting in the Caribbean coast resort of Cancun.

 

The IADB debt was the biggest single chunk of the $1.2 billion Haiti owed as of late January, according to figures of the International Monetary Fund.

 

The measures are meant to help Haiti recover from the magnitude-7 Jan. 12 earthquake, which killed an estimated 230,000 people. The new funds would be directed toward supporting long-term reconstruction and development efforts.

 

The 48-member regional development bank is Latin America's largest lender for projects such as roads and power plants.

 

The administration of President Barack Obama is pushing for the cancellation of other multilateral debt, as well as the $400 million Haiti owes individual countries.

 

Also Monday, European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said in Brussels that the EU foreign ministers agreed to donate euro1 billion ($1.36 billion) in DEVELOPMENT AID to Haiti in the years ahead.

 

Ashton said she will pledge that amount on the EU's behalf at a Haiti donors conference in New York next week.

 

She says what the Caribbean country needs after the devastating earthquake is "long-term development aid."

 

In addition to discussing debt relief for Haiti, Moreno said the board of governors had voted for a $70 billion increase in the bank's current capital of about $100 billion. Moreno called it the biggest capital increase in the bank's history, and said it would allow the bank to become the biggest multilateral lending agency for the region.

 

Colombian Economy Minister Oscar Ivan Zuluaga said the capital increase would allow the bank to continue financing economic and development projects.

 

"With this increase, we have established a basis for the bank into the future," Zuluaga said.

 

In 2009, the bank made loans worth a record $15.5 billion, and it had warned that, without a capital increase, it would have to cut its lending to about half that.

 

But Moreno said that after Monday's decision the bank could boost its lending to an average of about $12 billion per year, focusing especially on "the poorest and most vulnerable" economies. Poverty reduction, climate change programs and extending educational coverage would be among the priorities for new projects. — AP

 

 

EX-PRESIDENTS BUSH, CLINTON VISIT DEVASTATED HAITI

 

(03/23/2010 | 10:53 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton clasped hands with residents of one of Haiti's massive tent cities Monday on a tour of its quake-devastated capital — a visit intended to remind donors of the immense needs facing the recovery effort.

 

The two former leaders, who were tapped by President Barack Obama to spearhead US fundraising for the crisis, made their first joint visit to Haiti. They spotlighted the DRAMATIC NEED FOR HELP ahead of a critical March 31 UN donors conference in New York where Haitian officials will ask for $11.5 BILLION IN RECONSTRUCTION HELP.

 

At a news conference with President Rene Preval on the grounds of the collapsed national palace, Bush said he was struck by the devastation caused by the Jan. 12 earthquake.

 

"It's one thing to see it on TV, it's another to see it firsthand," said Bush, who was making his first visit to Haiti. "Hopefully our visit will remind people that Haiti needs help."

 

Clinton and Bush later greeted quake survivors camped on the Champ de Mars, the national mall filled with 60,000 homeless people. Secret Service agents and Haitian police surrounded the men as they waded into a fenced-in section of the mall where dozens of families have pitched blue, orange and silver tarps.

 

While many of the homeless welcomed the visit as a sign that the US would continue to supply aid, some said they were disappointed the presidents did not bring anything more tangible.

 

"The visit is like no visit at all. They walked inside, it's to show off," said Rene Pierre, a 35-year-old homeless man.

 

About 100 protesters burned tires and an American flag outside the national palace to demand the return of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was flown from Haiti aboard a US plane during Bush's presidency and now lives in South African exile.

 

Clinton and Bush visited the country as it struggles to feed and shelter victims of the magnitude-7 quake, which killed an estimated 230,000 people. Another 1.3 MILLION QUAKE SURVIVORS are HOMELESS, with many living in CAMPS PRONE TO DANGEROUS FLOODING IN the APRIL RAINY SEASON.

 

The former presidents also visited the Maxima SA woodworking plant where manager Evelien Degier, a native of the Netherlands, said they can build houses for $2,000. She said she hopes the presidents help direct investment to companies like hers that employ Haitians as part of the reconstruction effort.

 

"It's wonderful to have the handouts and the food," she said. "But now people need to go back to work to real life to earn real money."

 

The chairman of Haiti's chamber of commerce, Reginald Boulos, said Monday that Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive will co-chair a task force overseeing the large amounts of international aid expected to pour in next month.

 

Clinton said he had not been formally offered the position but was open to helping in any way. He endorsed creating an independent agency to oversee aid as well as a Web site to track money — ideas he said helped avoid corruption in Indonesia after the 2006 tsunami.

 

Bush left Monday afternoon. Clinton was expected to stay overnight for meetings with business leaders and officials.

 

Named UN special envoy to Haiti last year, Clinton said the former presidents hoped to get all the aid agencies and the Haitian government working together to make the most of the huge global outpouring of support.

 

"The most important thing in the short run is to coordinate what the NGOs do with the long-term plans that the Haitian government has. They can't be a self-sufficient country unless we both are transparent in this aid and build the capacity of the government," he said.

 

Aid was already being announced on Monday.

 

The INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK announced it had agreed to FORGIVE its $479 MILLION SHARE OF HAITI's $1.2 BILLION in FOREIGN DEBT while offering $2 billion in grants over the next 10 years. The EUROPEAN UNION said it will DONATE EURO1 BILLION ($1.36 billion) in DEVELOPMENT AID to Haiti in the years ahead.

 

VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT Hugo Chavez has also announced he would cancel Haiti's debt to his country, which the IMF had listed at more than $200 million.

 

The nonprofit CLINTON BUSH HAITI FUND has RAISED $37 MILLION FROM 220,000 INDIVIDUALS including Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who gave $1 million, and Obama, who among other donations gave $200,000 of his Nobel Peace Prize.

 

About $4 million has gone to such organizations as Habitat for Humanity, the University of Miami/Project Medishare mobile hospital in Port-au-Prince and the US branch of the Irish charity Concern Worldwide. The rest has yet to be allocated. — AP

 

German ZDF Text: CLINTON AND BUSH: HAITI AID MUST CONTINUE

 

The former US presidents Clinton and Bush spoke in favour of a continuation of the humanitarian aid to Haiti which was destroyed by the earthquake. According to Clinton the programme HOPE aims at creating jobs for about 100,000 people and restarting agriculture.

 

Both former presidents arrived in Haiti this morning representing President Barack Obama. They are to estimate the rebuilding process in the earthquake-hit region - according to the Haitian broadcaster Radio Metropole.

 

---------------

 

German ZDF Text: AUSTRALIAN CITY, PERTH, FLOODED AFTER BAD WEATHER

Big parts of the westaustralian city, Perth, were flooded after very bad weather. A powerful storm with heavy rain swept across the region with wind gusts of 120 km per hour.

 

Lots of building roofs were damaged including the roof of the airport. More than 150,000 households are without power. The bad weather is expected to continue.

Before this storm there had been a long period of drought in Westaustralia with very rare rain.

 

-------------------

 

ICELAND's ERUPTIONS COULD HAVE GLOBAL CONSEQUENCES

 

(03/23/2010 | 10:56 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

REYKJAVIK, Iceland – Blasts of lava and ash shot out of a volcano in southern Iceland on Monday and small tremors rocked the ground, a surge in activity that raised fears of a larger explosion at the nearby Katla volcano.

 

Scientists say history has proven that when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupts, Katla follows — the only question is how soon. And Katla, located under the massive Myrdalsjokull icecap, threatens disastrous flooding and explosive blasts when it blows.

 

Saturday's eruption at Eyjafjallajokull (AYA-feeyapla-yurkul) — dormant for nearly 200 years — forced at least 500 people to evacuate. Most have returned to their homes, but authorities were waiting for scientific assessments to determine whether they were safe to stay.

 

Residents of 14 farms nearest to the eruption site were told to stay away.

 

Several small tremors were felt early Monday, followed by spurts of lava and steam rocketing into the air.

 

Iceland sits on a large volcanic hot spot in the Atlantic's mid-oceanic ridge. Eruptions, common throughout Iceland's history, are often triggered by seismic activity when the Earth's plates move and when magma from deep underground pushes its way to the surface.

 

Like earthquakes, predicting the timing of volcanic eruptions is an imprecise science. An eruption at the Katla volcano could be disastrous, however — both for Iceland and other nations.

 

Iceland's Laki volcano erupted in 1783, freeing gases that turned into smog. The smog floated across the Jet Stream, changing weather patterns. Many died from gas poisoning in the British Isles. Crop production fell in western Europe. Famine spread. Some even linked the eruption, which helped fuel famine, to the French Revolution. Painters in the 18th century illustrated fiery sunsets in their works.

 

The winter of 1784 was also one of the longest and coldest on record in North America. New England reported a record stretch of below-zero temperatures and New Jersey reported record snow accumulation. The Mississippi River also reportedly froze in New Orleans.

 

"These are Hollywood-sort of scenarios but possible," said Colin Macpherson, a geologist with the University of Durham. "As the melt rises, it's a little like taking a cork out of a champagne bottle."

 

There are three main places where volcanoes normally occur — along strike-slip faults such as California's San Andreas fault line, along areas where plates overlap one another such as in the Philippines and the Pacific Rim, and in areas like Iceland, where two of the Earth's plates are moving apart from each other in a so-called spreading system.

 

Unlike the powerful volcanos along the Pacific Rim where the slow rise of magma gives scientists early seismic warnings that an eruption is imminent, Iceland's volcanos are unique in that many erupt under ice sheets with little warning.

 

Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, a geologist at the University of Iceland who flew over the site Monday, said the beginning of Saturday's eruption was so indistinct that it initially went undetected by geological instruments. Many of the tremors were below magnitude 2.6.

 

Using thermal cameras and radar to map the lava flow, Gudmundsson and other scientists were able to determine that the lava from Eyjafjallajokull was flowing down a gorge and not moving toward the ice caps — reducing any threat of floods.

 

He said he and other scientists were watching Katla but Monday's trip was meant to assess immediate risk.

 

"A general expectation is that because of the Eyjafjallajokull eruption, the fissure would widen and in that sense, there's a greater risk of extending into or underneath the glaciers and prompting an eruption at Katla," said Andy Russell with Newcastle University's Earth Surface Processes Research Group, who went with a team to Iceland before the eruption. "From records, we know that every time Eyjafjallajokull erupts, Katla has also erupted."

 

Russell said past Katla eruptions have caused floods the size of the Amazon and sent boulders as big as houses tumbling down valleys and roads. The last major eruption took place in 1918. Floods followed in as little as an hour.

 

Those eruptions have posed risks to residents nearby, but most of Iceland's current population of 320,000 live in the capital of Reykjavik on the western part of the island.

 

Southern Iceland is sparely populated but has both glaciers and unstable volcanoes — a destructive combination.

 

The last time there was an eruption near the 100-square-mile (160 square-kilometer) Eyjafjallajokull glacier was in 1821, and that was a "lazy" eruption that lasted slowly and continuously for two years.

 

Iceland is one of the few places in the world where a mid-ocean ridge actually rises above sea level. Many volcanic eruptions along the ocean basin often go undetected because they can't be easily seen.

 

First settled by Vikings in the 9th century, Iceland is known as the land of fire and ice because of its volcanos and glaciers. During the Middle Ages, Icelanders called the Hekla volcano, the country's most active, the "Gateway to Hell," believing that souls were dragged into the fire below.

 

The last major volcanic eruption in Iceland occurred in 2004 with the Grimsvotn volcano. — AP

[nancyk58]

Help Red Cross and Unicef help victims of natural disasters / news on 26.3.10

 

NO NEWS POSTED ON 24 AND 25 MARCH 2010 AS I DID NOT FIND RELEVANT NEWS ON GMA News.TV, TEXT TV FROM DENMARK, GERMANY, SWEDEN OR BBC WORLD NEWS

 

 

UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 26 MARCH 2010

 

EX-PRESIDENT CLINTON ASKS DONORS TO MAKE HAITI SELF-SUFFICIENT

 

(03/26/2010 | 08:40 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

NEW YORK — Former President Bill Clinton is urging the aid groups serving Haiti's devastated communities to help REBUILD the country's government and ultimately put themselves out of business by fostering a self-sufficient nation.

 

Clinton, the United Nations special envoy to Haiti, spoke to representatives of the aid groups Thursday, ahead of a critical United Nations donors conference next week at which Haitian officials are expected to ask for $11.5 billion to rebuild.

 

"Every time we spend a dollar in Haiti from now on we have to ask ourselves, 'Does this have a long-term return? Are we helping them become more self-sufficient? ... Are we serious about working ourselves out of a job?'" Clinton said.

 

Haitian leaders have expressed frustration that billions of dollars in aid have bypassed the government and gone to foreign non-governmental organizations, which operate independently and don't always coordinate with local authorities.

 

Clinton asked the groups Thursday to allocate 10 percent of their spending in Haiti for government salaries and employee training, to help the nation's agencies rebuild their decimated staffs.

 

He urged the aid groups to hire local staffers, consult with local authorities and structure their efforts around the Haitian government's plan, which is currently being finalized. Groups should make sure that the money they spend builds communities and infrastructure and creates local jobs, he said.

 

Efforts must focus outside the capital of Port-au-Prince, Clinton said, adding that Haitian President Rene Preval and others were eager to decentralize the country.

 

"For too long, Haiti has revolved around its capital city rather than just being supported by it," Clinton said.

 

The former president also urged the groups to participate in an online registry and make their expenditures transparent.

And he warned that unless they take action to MOVE REFUGEES TO HIGHER GROUND, as many as 40,000 PEOPLE COULD BE KILLED if there are HEAVY RAINS.

 

Liz Blake, a senior vice president for Habitat for Humanity International, said that Clinton's words were inspiring and aid groups were willing to work with him, but what he was asking is difficult.

 

"Working yourself out of a job — which is working to strengthen the government of Haiti so that the support and work of a nonprofit is no longer needed — isn't a standard practice," she said.

 

But, she added, "All of us want to do what we can to support the Haitian people and work with the Haitian government, and do so even if we have to suspend our disbelief." — AP

[nancyk58]

UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS ON 28 MARCH 2010

 

Found no news dated 28 March 2010 - consulted websites of UNICEF and RED CROSS international and found the articles below:

 

http://www.unicef.org/

 

the Press Centre / UNICEF:

 

UNICEF welcomes announcement of next Executive Director

 

Deteriorating water quality threatens global gains towards access to safe drinking water

 

Progress in access to safe drinking-water; Sanitation needs greater efforts

 

Report for MDG Summit highlights successes and gaps for children and women

 

UNICEF to provide support to children affected by earthquake in Chile

 

News note

 

UNICEF to provide support to nearly one million children affected by earthquake in CHILE

 

Second powerful quake hits Chile today = on 11 March 2010

 

SANTIAGO, 11 March 2010 - UNICEF will provide assistance to the estimated one million children and their families affected by the earthquake in Chile which struck on 27 February.

 

It is unclear how much more damage the second quake today has caused, but the first quake followed by a tsunami caused widespread damage and over 500 deaths. Six regions, home to some 80 per cent of the population of Chile were affected by the quake. The government had declared these regions as "catastrophe zones".

 

The worst affected areas are some of the poorest in the country. Roads have been cut off, and entire villages in the coastal zones were wiped out by the Tsunami. Government buildings, schools, health facilities and at least 500,000 homes have been destroyed or badly damaged.

 

"As in any disaster, children are the ones suffering most. They are particularly vulnerable to cold, hunger and outbreaks of disease. Their lives have been brutally disrupted and many of them will have difficulty coping with such an upheaval. We must help them now," said Gary Stahl, UNICEF Representative in Chile.

 

UNICEF is asking for $3.5 million to meet the immediate and medium-term needs of children and women throughout the affected areas. Assistance will include psychosocial support, emergency education and water and sanitation.

 

UNICEF is working closely with the new government of Chile which was sworn in today.

 

For more information, please contact:

 

Francisca Palma Communication Officer- UNICEF Chile,

Tel + 00 56 2 422 8840

[email protected]

 

Patrick McCormick, UNICEF Media,

Tel + 1 212 326 7426,

[email protected]

 

 

Former US President Bill Clinton praises crisis response by UN and UNICEF in HAITI

 

By Simon Ingram

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, 24 March 2010 – During a visit to Haiti yesterday, former US President and UN special envoy Bill Clinton praised the United Nations for its response to the devastating 12 January earthquake, saying now was the time to help the country escape its impoverished past and build a better future.

 

Mr. Clinton addressed UN staff during his third trip to the Haitian capital since the disaster. He singled out the role that UNICEF plays in tackling the profound sanitation and public health problems caused by the quake, which killed more than 220,000 people and displaced many more.

 

"Water challenges affect children more than anything else," Mr. Clinton said, adding that a large percentage of children's deaths after an emergency are caused by waterborne illnesses.

 

"A lot of lives are going to be saved because of UNICEF," he noted.

 

Chance for 'a brighter future'

 

Mr. Clinton highlighted what he saw as an opportunity to rebuild better than before in Haiti. "In spite of this horrible earthquake," he said, "this is the best chance [Haitians] have ever had to escape the darker chapters of the past and build a brighter future."

 

He went on to remind aid workers about the importance of helping the people of Haiti "become what they've always been capable of becoming, but never had the chance to become."

 

"We're getting there, and we will get there," Mr. Clinton told UN staff. "More than anything else, I want you to know I am profoundly grateful to you."

 

Donor conference upcoming

 

Named a UN Special Envoy to Haiti last year, Mr. Clinton visited the country in advance of a critical 31 March UN donor conference in New York, where Haitian officials will ask for $11.5 billion in reconstruction help.

 

An estimated 3 million people have been affected by the disaster in Haiti, including about 1.26 million children. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced.

 

In and around Port-au-Prince, many are living in crowded, unsafe spontaneous temporary settlement sites and lack basic shelter as well as social services.

 

On Monday, Mr. Clinton and former US President George W. Bush met earthquake survivors camped on the Champs de Mars, a city park that is currently home to 60,000 displaced people. The park is one of the sites where UNICEF and its partners are delivering water and sanitation services.

---------------

 

http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/haiti-feature-180310

 

18-03-2010 Feature / HAITI: bringing water and restoring dignity to the elderly

 

The elderly and infirm are among the most vulnerable of the many tens of thousands of people living in crowded, often squalid camps in Port-au-Prince. The ICRC's Jessica Barry has been to see how some of them are faring.

 

In a camp sheltering earthquake victims located in the compound of the Asile municipal nursing home in Port-au-Prince, children crowd around large, black water tanks installed by the Spanish and Haitian Red Cross societies. The spot is a favourite for kids, who come to play while helping their gossiping mothers fill their buckets. The water supply is limited, and what the women carry back to their tents must meet all their family's daily needs for drinking, cooking and washing clothes.

 

Bringing a modicum of privacy to nursing home residents

 

In such cramped surroundings, privacy is an unattainable dream. Taking a bath in a small plastic bowl might be fun for a toddler, but imagine what it is like for the elderly and infirm, trying to wash and keep clean with only minimal water. And how much harder must it be for people confined to wheelchairs.

 

To help address this problem, the ICRC is installing 50 ventilated improved pit latrines in the Asile compound, some of them adapted for the nursing home's wheelchair users. Too fearful to stay indoors, the elderly residents have been spending much of their time since the earthquake out in the garden of their previously tranquil nursing home, sitting in the shade, or propped up in their wheelchairs amid the crush and noise going on around them. Once finished, the toilets, which are sturdy and made of wood and corrugated iron, will provide these extremely vulnerable old folk with a modicum of privacy in the midst of a camp that is seething with people.

 

Building up a sustainable supply of water

 

In the camps that have sprung up all over Port-au-Prince since the devastating earthquake of 12 January, people's access to water has slowly improved. Water trucks ply the parks, where people are living squashed like sardines, and water bladders and water storage tanks like the ones in the Asile compound have been installed.

 

By contrast, the provision of water in slum neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince such as Cité-Soleil – home to over 200,000 people – has always been chaotic. The ICRC has been working in Cité-Soleil, together with the Haitian Red Cross, since 2004. For the past four years ICRC water engineers, in partnership with the Port-au-Prince water board, have been upgrading the shantytown's water distribution network.

 

When the earthquake struck, the water network in Cité-Soleil took a direct hit. The water tower cracked, and now needs substantial repair. The piped water supply was also partially damaged. The ICRC quickly installed six water bladders as a stopgap measure, serving the basic needs of around 9,000 people, pending a decision on who would repair the water tower, and how.

 

The aim of the ICRC's partnership with the water board is to promote more efficient and sustainable water distribution. Achieving this aim requires a long-term commitment to changing attitudes with regard to the supply, use and management of water. The partnership intends not only to improve people's access to clean water, but also to contribute to a comprehensive drive towards strengthening preventive health care in Port-au-Prince's shanty areas.

 

In addition to working alongside the water authorities in Cité-Soleil, the ICRC is also supporting grassroots water committees in their efforts to repair and maintain the water networks. Among other things, it is providing spare parts and tools, helping to stop leaks in the pipes, giving the fuel needed to run pumps and paying salaries of some workers for a limited period.

 

In contrast to the emergency assistance being given in the Asile compound, the work going on in Cité-Soleil is long-term.

 

Restoring dignity

 

Back in the nursing home compound, children race about and play. An improvised market selling fruit, vegetables and cheap household trinkets is crowded. Intense-looking young men play furiously at dominoes in a rare open space between tents. Teenagers mill around doing nothing. The elderly residents of the nursing home doze, skewed sideways in their wheelchairs. Near where the water gatherers are congregated a group of women sit, doing their washing. In the middle of the camp, the workers building the latrines are seated on the concrete foundations beside a line of deeply dug pits awaiting their supervisor. The toilets, once they are ready, will help restore some of the dignity the old folk lost along with so much else, at the quiet ending of their lives, when the earthquake struck.

 

Since the 12 January earthquake, the ICRC has:

 

enabled 29,000 NAMES to be REGISTERED on http://www.familylinks.icrc.org/haiti (the ICRC's site for restoring links between family members) including the names of 6,100 people who wanted to tell their families that they were alive;

 

worked with the Haitian Red Cross and the Haitian government to REUNITE four children aged between two and twelve with their families, while continuing to handle the cases of 70 other unaccompanied children with a view to reuniting them with their families as well;

 

VISITED some 700 detainees in the main police stations of Port-au-Prince and in Cap-Haïtien Prison;

 

SUPPLIED 20 TONNES of FOOD, to feed 4,000 detainees for three weeks;

 

carried out EMERGENCY REPAIRS to the sanitation system, plumbing and kitchen of Port-au-Prince Prison, with other work still in progress;

 

SUPPORTED 10 Haitian Red Cross FIRST-AID POSTS in PORT-au-PRINCE and two in Petit-Goâve, at which first-aiders have so far treated over 17,300 people;

 

REGULARLY SUPPLIED MEDICINES to the Rosalie Rendu maternity/paediatric centre in Cité Soleil, to which over 500 children under five come for consultations every day;

 

SUPPORTED A MAJOR VACCINATION CAMPAIGN carried out by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the authorities in Martissant, Bel-Air and Canapé-Vert, as a result of which over 137,000 adults and children are now protected against German measles, whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria;

 

provided training in the management of corpses to 21 staff from the State university hospital mortuary and four volunteers from the Haitian Red Cross, and supplied over 2,000 body bags to the mortuary and other relief organizations;

 

DISTRIBUTED DRINKING WATER TO 18,000 PEOPLE IN PORT-au-PRINCE EVERY DAY and helped the authorities to repair the water network that serves the 207,000 inhabitants of Cité Soleil;

 

distributed essential items to over 20,000 people in Port-au-Prince, Léogane, Jacmel and Cayes, and distributed 50 tonnes of food to over 4,000 people in Delmas 60 and Primature (Port-au-Prince);

 

financed refuse collection at seven sites housing some 45,000 displaced persons and installed 60 latrines in the camps in Delmas

 

RED CROSS NEWS:

 

Psychological Support Remains Vital One Month After Chile Earthquake

 

Friday, March 26, 2010 — As Chilean Red Cross relief distributions to families affected by the massive earthquake that struck central Chile on February 27 continue to gain momentum, special emphasis is being given to psychological support for people traumatized by continuing strong aftershocks.

 

More than 200 aftershocks measuring greater than 5 magnitude have been reported since the disaster a month ago.

 

These strong tremors are particularly distressing to people trying to recover from the trauma of having lost family members and friends, homes, and livelihoods,” explains Gustavo Ramirez, regional representative, currently in Chile. “People who live in the coastal areas are not only afraid of the aftershocks but also of any possible tsunamis they may trigger, and even people whose homes have been assessed as being safe are afraid of staying indoors. They wonder whether these aftershocks will ever end.”

 

The 14-member psychological support team from Spain, supported by staff from the Red Cross societies of Colombia, Ecuador and Nicaragua, as well as by Chilean Red Cross volunteers, have treated nearly 1,700 adults and children since the disaster. They are working in the region of Maule and in Santiago. In addition to holding therapeutic sessions with different groups of people affected by the disaster, with a special emphasis on children, they are also training Red Cross volunteers.

 

Additionally, to ensure people have access to healthcare in areas where hospitals have been destroyed, several other Red Cross teams have been dispatched to the affected regions. A clinic operated by the Spanish Red Cross has treated nearly 1,200 people in Hualañé (Maule region). A second clinic sent by the Japanese Red Cross has been set up in Parral (Bio-Bío region) and the surgical field hospital supported by the Red Cross societies of Canada, Finland and Norway is being set up in Pitrufquén (Araucanía region). These facilities will all be turned over to local staff, who will maintain healthcare services, throughout the next weeks.

 

Chilean Red Cross volunteers also continue their vital work, receiving and packing donated goods, transporting them to the affected areas and DISTRIBUTING FOOD, HYGIENE ITEMS and EMERGENCY ITEMS TO SURVIVORS. To date, more than 2,300 households (approximately 11,600 people) have received kitchen utensils, hygiene items, blankets, water containers and tarps in the most severely-affected regions of Maule and Bío-Bío.

 

In recent weeks, the AMERICAN RED CROSS doubled its contribution to $1 million for relief efforts in Chile and plans to provide additional support in the coming weeks and months as the response progresses. Additionally, it has provided 5,000 water containers, more than 1,100 hygiene kits and one disaster specialist, who is serving on a regional assessment team.

 

The GLOBAL RED CROSS NETWORK collectively aims to PROVIDE HEALTH SERVICES for up to 90,000 people, shelter assistance for 50,000 people, relief items for 75,000 people as well as water and sanitation services for up to 10,000 people within the next year.

 

You can help the victims of countless crises around the world each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, which will provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need.

 

Donations to the International Response Fund can be sent to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013 or made by phone at 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or online at http://www.redcross.org.

[nancyk58]

Danish DR1 Text TV 23pm: UN ASKS FOR 3.8 BILLION DOLLARS

 

On Wednesday 31 March 2010, the United Nations will ask the nations of the world to donate about $3.8 billion to finance Haiti’s ambitious rebuilding programme after the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010. Over 100 countries will be represented at the international donors conference to be hosted by Haiti’s President Réne Duval, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.

 

The organizers of the conference regard it as a decisive step towards helping Haiti on its feet again. Already before the devastating earthquake, Haiti was the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.

[nancyk58]

UPDATE OF NEWS IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS ON 30 MARCH 2010

 

TV2 Text-TV (posted at 21 o'clock): UN: HAITI AID FAILS TO APPEAR

 

Only half of the amount (the equivalent of DKK 7.7 billion) pledged by the nations of the world has actually reached Haiti.

 

The flow of financial support to Haiti has decreased even though there still exists an enormous need for help in the earthquake-struck country. This was stated today by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs aka. OCHA which has only received barely the half of the amount corresponding to DKK 7.7 billion pledged in aid by the world's nations after the UN APPEAL for help.

 

"To begin with our urgent appeal was well-financed, but since then the donations from the donor countries have stagnated", says OCHA spokeswoman Elisabeth Byers.

 

 

UN SAYS EL NIÑO GOOD NEWS FOR HAITI HURRICANE RISK

 

03/30/2010 | 06:47 PM - GMA News.TV

 

GENEVA — The UN weather agency says the ongoing El Nino weather system could lessen the strength of hurricanes in the North Atlantic and mean good news for earthquake-rattled Haiti.

 

— AP

 

The entire article posted on "Updates of the situation ..."

 

 

CHILE PRESIDENT PINERA MARKS MONTH SINCE EARTHQUAKE

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8591330.stm / Page last updated at 02:26

GMT, Sunday, 28 March 2010 03:26 UK

 

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera has attended a vigil to commemorate exactly one month since a massive earthquake struck the south of the country.

 

Mr Pinera, speaking in the city of Concepcion, repeated his vow to rebuild areas devastated by the earthquake.

 

The 8.8 magnitude quake and the tsunami it triggered killed nearly 500 people, with thousands more made homeless.

 

Total damage has been estimated at $30bn (£20bn) with more than 1.5m homes across the country damaged.

 

Speaking at the vigil in Concepcion's cathedral, Mr Pinera repeated his pledge to rebuild areas hit by the quake.

 

'Dry your tears'

 

He called on people to dry their tears and to start working "in the great task of rebuilding Chile".

 

Concepcion, the second largest city in Chile, was severely damaged by the quake and hundreds of its residents are still living in tents in parks and gardens.

 

Tens of thousands who lost their homes in the regions of Bio Bio and Maule and are still waiting for temporary housing.

 

The entire article posted on the thread: "Updates of the situation ..."

[nancyk58]

UPDATE OF NEWS IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS ON 31 MARCH 2010

 

NEWS IN RELATION TO HAITI ON 31 MARCH 2010

 

DR1 Text-TV: UN: HAITI AID FAILS TO APPEAR

 

Only half of the amount - $1.4 bn (= DKK 7.7 billion) - pledged by the nations of the world has actually reached Haiti.

 

The flow of financial support to Haiti has decreased even though there still exists an enormous need for help in the earthquake-struck country. This was stated by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, which has only received barely the half of the amount pledged in aid by the world's nations after the UN APPEAL for help.

 

"To begin with our urgent appeal was well-financed, but since then the donations from the donor countries have stagnated", says OCHA spokeswoman Elisabeth Byers.

 

About 1.3 million Haitians are still without shelter, and there still exists an enormous need for food according to OCHA.

 

 

German ZDF and ARD Text: REPRESENTATIVES FROM 130 NATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS PARTICIPATE IN THE DONOR CONFERENCE FOR HAITI

 

Representatives of 130 countries and organizations participate in the international donor conference for Haiti.

 

The United Nations hopes that about $4bn or 2.9 bn Euro will be donated for Haiti which was destroyed by the January earthquake.

 

Haiti's Prime Minister Bellerive will present a "plan of action for national rebuilding and development". The main focus will be on rebuilding of state institutions and infrastructure.

 

According to UN estimates, $11.5bn is needed for rebuilding the country.

 

The earthquake killed 220,000 people and made 1.3 million homeless.

 

 

German ZDF Text: US ESTABLISHES THE AID FOCUS

 

Before the international donor conference for Haiti in New York, the US has established the focus for the rebuilding of Haiti.

 

According to the US State Department, the aid will flow into the sectors of healthcare, agriculture, energy and security.

In addition the Haitian government is to be supported when it comes to organizing elections.

 

Former US president Bill Clinton is chairman of the rebuilding committee for Haiti. He and the Haitian Prime Minister are to co-chair the committee.

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8596080.stm

 

UN CHIEF BAN KI-MOON URGES SUPPORT FOR $4bn HAITI PLAN

 

Page last updated at 14:39 GMT, Wednesday, 31 March 2010 15:39 UK

 

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has opened a fundraising conference on Haiti by calling for a "wholesale national renewal" of the earthquake-hit country.

 

Mr Ban gave his support to a plan to rebuild Haiti which will require almost $4bn (£2.65bn) in initial aid payments.

 

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told delegates the US would give $1.15bn, and the EU pledged $1.7bn.

 

The 12 January earthquake killed 200,000 people and left one million more homeless.

 

The Haitian government and international officials have spent weeks putting together a plan for the country.

 

The first part of the plan is an 18-month project focusing on rebuilding destroyed infrastructure, government buildings, hospitals and schools - which is expected to cost almost $4bn.

 

Haitian President Rene Preval said he wanted to make education the focus of a new Haiti.

 

"I call on Haitians, both at home and abroad, to add their resources to those of our friends from the international community in order to transform Haiti to a place of knowledge," he said.

 

Officials estimate that a total of $11.5bn in aid will be needed for long-term reconstruction, which will involve strengthening institutions and refocusing the economy.

 

Mr Ban, the UN secretary general, described the plan as "concrete, specific and ambitious" and said he hoped it would build a "better future" for Haiti.

 

But he also urged donor nations not to forget a separate appeal for $1.44bn for food aid and shelter launched by the UN last month - of which he said just half had so far been pledged.

 

Aid agencies have warned that thousands are vulnerable to April rains and the hurricane season in June.

 

Ongoing poverty

 

Earlier, UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said it was crucial to get the first step in reconstruction right.

 

"There should be a clear plan of action and a clear vision of how Haiti is going to be reconstructed which is endorsed by the international community," he said.

 

"The pledging of those funds for the immediate future is very important as a sign of the willingness of the international community to actually do that."

 

The country was already the poorest country in the Western hemisphere before the 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck.

 

Unemployment and illiteracy were high among its 9 million population, about 80% of whom were living on less than $2 a day.

 

Self-sufficiency

 

The BBC's Barbara Plett, at the UN, says everyone is aware that billions of dollars of aid have failed to fix Haiti in the past.

 

To help make it work this time, the aim is to strengthen the country's weak and corrupt government institutions, she adds.

 

Edmond Mulet, the acting head of the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (Minustah), said the international community was "co-responsible" for the weakness of Haitian institutions.

 

"We've always worked not with the government or through the government, because it has been too corrupt, too weak," he said.

 

"But if we don't address the situation we will have a peacekeeping mission in Haiti for the next 200 years."

 

Both Haiti's government and donors are insisting that a strategy of decentralisation is at the heart of the reconstruction plan.

 

They aim to increase development in parts of the country that are less vulnerable to natural disasters than the capital, Port-au-Prince.

 

The capital's population more than tripled to 2.5 million in the three decades before the quake.

 

Officials also hope to develop a rural agricultural strategy that would enable Haiti to become more self-sufficient. Haiti is dependent on food imports, yet about 80% of the population works in agriculture.

 

 

HOW CAN DONORS AID QUAKE-HIT HAITI?

 

Page last updated at 13:15 GMT, Wednesday, 31 March 2010 14:15 UK

 

By Henri Astier, BBC News

 

Wednesday's UN conference in New York on co-ordinating assistance to earthquake-hit Haiti raises an awkward question - what has foreign aid ever done for Haitians?

 

The country has received an estimated $5bn (£3.3bn) over the past decade.

Thousands of charities have been operating there - yet even before the quake devastated the capital, Haiti was a wretched place.

 

It is the poorest country in the Americas. About 80% of the population lives on less than $2 a day and nearly half is illiterate. Jobs are scarce, public services woeful and corruption rife.

 

Haiti, says US political scientist Terry Buss, is largely run by "an army of NGOs and some international development organisations" whose programmes "cost a lot of money and don't make any difference".

 

Mr Buss - author of the book Haiti in the Balance, Why Foreign Has Failed And What We Can Do About It - cites as an example Haiti's judicial system, which he calls a "shambles".

 

The US government, he says, has tried to promote reform by running seminars for judges.

 

But few Haitian judges have extensive legal training, and teaching them US jurisprudence has not led to a noticeable reduction in the number of prisoners languishing without due process in Haiti's overcrowded jails.

 

Band-Aid approach

 

One of the reasons donors get little bang for their aid buck is the scattered nature of their efforts.

 

"One of the problems is a lack of co-ordination to make the most of the generosity of groups and people," says Ruth Levine, from the Center for Global Development, a Washington think tank.

 

NGOs and church groups, she adds, tend to get involved in short-term, local projects and move on.

 

"It's a Band-Aid approach," Ms Levine says. "It's not a sustained effort, so it's hard to build up the kind of trust with the community that would provide ongoing services."

 

Governments too can be fickle. The US, for instance, stopped funding family planning programmes - particularly crucial in Haiti - because of concerns over abortion.

 

Another factor affecting the efficacy of aid is the tendency of donors and charities to bypass local authorities.

 

Such mistrust can be understandable, as Haiti has a long history of oppression and misrule.

 

But by providing services directly, the aid community in effect takes on government functions, reinforcing the divide between officials and the people.

 

"It's the worst (form of) government you can possibly imagine," says US writer Tracy Kidder, author of Mountains Beyond Mountains, a book about Haiti.

 

"It is a government whose activities are not co-ordinated and that is not in any way accountable to the people it's supposed to be governing."

 

Meanwhile, Terry Buss says, Haiti's nominal government never feels pressure from people they do not serve. "They don't expect to deliver public services because it never does," he says.

 

Tyranny of emergency

 

Some charities ensure that they work with the Haitian authorities, rather than undermine them.

 

One is the US charity Partners In Health (PIH), which has 10 clinics and hospitals in Haiti. They are run jointly by the health ministry and are staffed with Haitian doctors and nurses.

 

"What we do is really make it a priority to strengthen the institutions in which we're working," says PIH's Donna Barry.

 

However PIH's efforts to involve Haitians are not the rule.

 

According to Pastor Michel Morisset, who heads Eben-Ezer Mission, a local charity in Gonaives, most aid workers regard Haitians as wards rather than partners.

 

"Instead of coming and doing everything for us, they should ask us where the problems are, where we suffer, and help us. Coming with ready-made programmes and dumping things has never worked," he says.

 

"We have been treated as helpless victims and that has stayed with us."

 

The earthquake, according to Pastor Michel Morisset, has reinforced a feeling of helplessness and dependency among Haitians.

 

"We have become a perpetual emergency," he says. "We are ruled by the tyranny of emergency."

 

On the bright side

 

Is Haiti doomed to remain in the grips of well-meaning but ineffectual benefactors? Not necessarily.

 

Jean-Louis Warnholz, a former economic adviser to the Haitian prime minister, speaking to the BBC in January, said that under the current government the country has enjoyed stability and good relationship with the international community.

 

Reforms have been undertaken, and a quarter of the foreign debt was cancelled last June.

 

Last year Haiti's economy grew by about 3% - not a stellar performance, but an encouraging one in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane in 2008 and amid a global financial crisis.

 

Before the earthquake the garment sector was the country's fastest-growing industry, with factories near Port-au-Prince supplying such major brands as Gap and New Balance. Thanks to a new trade deal, Haiti exported $512m worth of apparel to the US in 2009.

 

Tourism is another promising sector in a country with plenty of sunshine and pristine beaches.

 

Royal Caribbean Cruises recently spent $55m upgrading the northern port of Labadee, and sent the world's largest cruise liner there on its maiden voyage last year.

 

Mr Warnholz believes that even after the earthquake, the potential for growth remains.

"The pockets of opportunities that still exist need to be expanded," he said. "I don't think that Haiti is forever cursed."

 

Few deny that outsiders have a key role to play in Haiti. An impoverished country that has suffered as many deaths in a single region as the 2004 tsunami inflicted across the Indian Ocean needs all the help it can get.

 

However, as donors gather to discuss reconstruction aid for Haiti, the key question may not be how much they pledge, but whether their efforts are channelled in a way that avoids the failures of the past.

 

HAITI FACTS

 

Poorest country in the Americas

 

80% of the population below the poverty line

 

Two thirds living on small scale farms

 

GDP per capita: $1,300 (2007)

 

 

FROM OTHER NEWS SITES

 

Reuters UK Donors meet on massive Haiti aid drive - at 17 Central European Time = CET

 

People's Daily Online Int'l donor conference for Haiti opens at UN - at 16:30 CET

 

Washington Post* Clinton to co-chair Haiti rebuilding authority - at 16:30 CET

 

France24 HAITI: UN summit seeks to raise $3.8 billion for quake-devastated Haiti at11:30 CET

 

Melbourne Age UN hosts fund-raiser to rebuild Haiti - at 6:30 CET ­­­­­

 

 

TV2 TTV: UN CHIEF: "WE MUST BUILD A BETTER HAITI"

 

The world community pledges billions to reconstruction of Haiti at the donor conference in New York.

 

The US secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, pledged the equivalent of DKK 6.4 bn to long-term reconstruction. The World Bank pledged additional $ 250 mio to the earthquake-hit country.

 

 

ZDF Text: EU PLEDGES 1.2 BN EURO FOR HAITI

 

The money is earmarked for streets and buildings and other infrastructure projects, said EU Foreign Affairs Chief Catherine Ashton at the donor conference in New York.

 

Germany's share of EU's donation is 39.4 mio. EURO.

The US will donate $1.15 bn (850 mio EURO).

 

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon urged the nations to build a "new Haiti".

[nancyk58]

HAITI-RELETED NEWS ON 1 APRIL 2010

 

UN HAITI DONOR PLEDGES SURPASS TARGETS AT ALMOST $10 BN

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8596080.stm

 

Page last updated at 01:06 GMT, Thursday, 1 April 2010 02:06 UK

 

THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS PLEDGED A TOTAL OF $9.9 BN (£6.5 BN) IN IMMEDIATE AND LONG-TERM AID TO EARTHQUAKE-HIT HAITI AT A UN DONOR CONFERENCE.

 

The $5.3bn (£3.5bn) of support over the next two years exceeds the $4bn requested by the Haitian government to rebuild infrastructure.

 

"This is the down-payment Haiti needs for wholesale national renewal," UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in New York.

 

The 12 January quake killed 200,000 and left one million more homeless.

 

ACCOUNTABILITY

 

The biggest contributions came from the United States and the European Union, but more than 130 countries, as well as key international financial institutions, took part in the conference.

 

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, co-hosting the conference with Mr Ban, offered $1.15bn.

 

The EU meanwhile pledged an additional $1.7bn for FOOD and to support the REBUILDING OF HAITIAN President Rene Preval's GOVERNMENT.

 

International aid will be used to build hospitals, schools and government buildings, create jobs, and reform Haiti's key farming sector.

 

Mr Ban said a "robust" internet-based tracking system run by the UN would be used to "ensure accountability and transparency" of the aid distribution.

 

A commission co-chaired by President Preval and former US President Bill Clinton is supposed to ensure that the aid is well coordinated and well spent.

 

It is an attempt to let HAITI's GOVERNMENT set the priorities for reconstruction while responding to donor concerns about its REPUTATION for CORRUPTION, says the BBC's Barbara Plett at the United Nations.

 

Delegates repeatedly stressed that the only way to produce real and lasting results for Haitians was to strengthen and work with the government, not around it, as has been the case in the past, our correspondent adds.

 

THREE-STAGE PLAN

 

The Haitian government and international officials have spent weeks putting together a plan for the country.

 

The first part of the plan is an 18-month project focusing on rebuilding destroyed infrastructure, government buildings, hospitals and schools - which is expected to cost almost $4bn.

 

Officials estimate that a total of $11.5bn in aid will be needed for long-term reconstruction, which will involve strengthening institutions and refocusing the economy.

 

Earlier in the conference, Mr Ban urged donor nations not to forget a separate appeal for $1.44bn for food aid and shelter launched by the UN last month. He said just half had so far been pledged.

 

Aid agencies have warned that thousands are vulnerable to APRIL RAINS and the HURRICANE SEASON IN JUNE.

 

The country was already the poorest country in the Western hemisphere before the 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck.

 

Unemployment and illiteracy were high among its nine million population, with about 80% living on less than $2 a day.

 

Both Haiti's government and donors are insisting that a strategy of decentralisation is at the heart of the reconstruction plan. They aim to increase development in parts of the country that are less vulnerable to natural disasters than the capital, Port-au-Prince.

 

The capital's population more than tripled to 2.5 million in the three decades before the quake.

 

Officials also hope to develop a RURAL AGRICULTURAL STRATEGY that would enable HAITI to BECOME more SELF-SUFFICIENT. Haiti is dependent on food imports, yet about 80% of the population works in agriculture.

 

 

AMOUNTS PLEDGED:

 

EU $1.7bn

US $1.15bn

Spain $466m

Canada $390m

World Bank $250m

France $243m

Brazil $172m

 

 

TIME 'RUNNING OUT' FOR QUAKE-HIT HAITI ORPHANS

 

Page last updated at 15:26 GMT, Wednesday, 31 March 2010 16:26 UK

By Andy Gallacher, BBC News, Port-au-Prince

 

Billions of dollars in aid for Haiti are being pledged at a UN conference in New York, but the gesture is lost in the makeshift orphanages and camps near the capital Port-au-Prince.

 

In the barren windswept mountains a short drive from the capital Port-au-Prince, a tiny Haitian girl sings a hymn as she goes about her daily chores.

 

She, like many at the disaster recovery centre in Fond Parisien, only has one arm - but is incredibly lucky to be here.

 

The field hospital, run by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and the Love A Child Foundation, has been singled out as one of the best facilities of its kind in Haiti.

 

Patients receive a level of care few would believe possible in such a rudimentary place; there are advanced prosthetic limbs, an operating theatre, and doctors from across the world, each experts in their own field.

 

'BLEAK FUTURE'

 

Tiffany Fontonot has just returned to the hospital from the United States, still haunted by what she saw in Haiti in those first few days after January's earthquake.

 

Like all the specialists who volunteer their time, she uses her own money to travel to Haiti, even paying for food and accommodation at the camp.

 

The physical therapist from Louisiana said: "I got so excited to come back. Such a hopeful and grateful people like you couldn't do enough for them.

 

"Coming back and seeing everybody just so progressed from the first time, I go home in peace. It's like 'OK they're going to be good now'."

 

But the outlook for the facility is dire. Despite promises of funding and visits from various officials, no money has emerged.

 

Professor Gregg Greenough, who runs the camp, is afraid to tell his patients they may soon be told to leave.

 

"I cannot meet payroll, and I won't be able to keep the volunteers, and these are highly specialised people," he said.

 

"We will close and these patients will have nowhere to go. There is no other outlet for them."

 

When asked how that makes him feel, his answer is blunt. "Sick, really."

 

Close by, at another site, a group of children orphaned by the earthquake are setting up camp in a field next to a stream, using tents donated from the US.

 

Haitian pastor Jean Guillaume, who has taken many orphans into his home in Port-au-Prince, says his pleas for funding have fallen on deaf ears.

 

But he, like many others, was determined to get by regardless and wanted to remove the children from the capital as soon as possible.

 

The city, with its MAKESHIFTS CAMPS and LACK OF SECURITY, has become a DANGEROUS PLACE for the young, he says.

 

"Some men, very bad and they sexually abuse children now in the camps everywhere in Port-au-Prince. That's why we came here with them to be away from that," the pastor said.

 

By the time the camp is established, there will be about 200 girls and boys living in the tents.

 

Mr Guillaume has plans to build some kind of temporary school house, but without money the children's future remains bleak.

 

The people of Haiti know that millions of dollars have been raised to help them and that billions more are being pledged.

 

But they feel abandoned and forgotten about. In the streets of Port-au-Prince there are signs that aid money is doing some good, but it is not nearly enough and time is running out.

 

The RAINY SEASON is fast approaching and there are still more than a million people sleeping on basketball courts and in riverbeds and hospital car parks beneath hastily constructed shelters and donated tents.

 

Those that realise leaders from across the world are discussing their fate in New York are sceptical - and they have good reason to be.

 

 

FROM OTHER NEWS SITES (CET = Central European Time)

 

The Economist*: Donors and Haiti: Promises, promises - posted at 20 o'clock CET

 

Yahoo! UK and Ireland: World raises nearly $10 bln for quake-hit Haiti - posted at 17 o'clock CET

 

Telegraph: World pledges $10 billion to help Haiti rebuild - posted at 13 ago o'clock CET

 

The Scotsman: 'Let us dream of a new Haiti' as EU and US launch fresh $3.8bn appeal for aid - posted at 6 o'clock CET

 

BusinessWeek: Haiti Gets $5.26 Billion in Reconstruction Aid at UN (Update3) - posted at 5 o'clock CET

 

 

Danish TV2 News: EU PLEDGES $1.67bn (DKK 9bn) TO HAITI

EU earmarks almost $1.67bn (DKK 9bn) for Haiti aid. At the same time the EU countries stress the need for long-term reconstruction of the destroyed Caribbean nation.

 

EU had already earmarked more than $0.3bn (DKK 1.6bn) for reconstruction aid.

 

EU's total contribution from both private and public bodies is $3bn (DKK 16bn). Denmark has pledged $3.9 million (DKK 20mio) to Haiti.

 

 

TV2 News/Live at 10am: UN HOPED FOR 3.9bn (DKK 20bn). THE PLEDGED AMOUNT IS $9.9bn (DKK 50bn). $11.5bn (DKK 64bn) is needed over 10 years for long-term reconstruction of Haiti.

 

DR1 Text-TV: $9.9bn (DKK 50bn) IN AID TO HAITI

The 138 countries at the UN donor conference in New York have agreed to earmark almost $9.9bn (DKK 50bn) for the long-term reconstruction of earthquake-hit Haiti.

 

Over the next two years as many as $5.3bn (DKK 29bn) will be spent on getting Haiti on its feet again. It is far more than the organizers had dared hope.

 

US pledged $1.15bn (DKK 6.4bn) for long-term reconstruction, whereas the World Bank pledged additional $250m (DKK 1.4bn).

 

The EU pledged an additional $1.7bn (DKK 9bn) to be added to the $0.3bn (DKK 1.6bn that EU had adready earmarkd for the reconstruction.

 

German ZDF Text: VENEZUELA PLEDGES $2bn:Venezuela is the greatest donor at the donor conference. Caracas pledged $2.147bn to the destroyed Caribbean nation - almost twice as much as the US.

Venezuela will transfer half of the amount within the next 18 months. The rest will follow over a period of 10 years. (I have not seen this news anywhere else - April's Fool?)

 

The nations pledged a total of almost $10bn or $9.9bn in reconstruction aid.

 

In the earthquake in January more than 220,000 people died and 1.3 were made homeless. Haiti - the poorest country in the western hemisphere - suffered damage at a value of about $14bn.

 

 

German ZDF and ARD Text: NATIONS PLEDGE $9.9bn TO HAITI IN RECONSTRUCTION AID

 

Haiti is in ruins since the earthquake on 12 January 2010.

 

The country can expect about $10bn in reconstruction aid. This sum was pledged to the destroyed nation by 59 nations and institutions at the donor conference in New York. UN had set a target of $3.9bn. - That much was needed within the next 18 months. $11.5bn is needed over the coming 10 years.

 

The US pledged $1.15bn to Haiti. The EU will pay $1.67bn of which $53 million comes from Germany.

 

According to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon Haiti can expect aid at a value of $5.3bn within the next 2 years, of which $1.15bn - as mentioned - comes from USA and $53 million comes from Germany.

 

Swedish SVT text: CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS PLEDGE $9.9bn TO HAITI

Within the next 18 months, the countries participating in Wednesday's donor conference will contribute $5.5bn to the earthquake-hit Haiti. $9.9bn is pledged for a more long-term reconstruction.

 

UN secretary-general Bank Ki-Moon says that this is "far more than expected". UN hoped for $3.9bn for the next 18 months, as hospitals, schools and settlements have to be rebuilt.

 

More than 100 countries participated in the New York donor conference with the aim of rebuilding Haiti after the earthquake in January 2010.

[nancyk58]

HAITI-RELATED NEWS FROM GMA News.TV DATED 1 APRIL 2010

 

DONORS PLEDGE $9.9 BILLION FOR HAITI

 

04/01/2010 | 07:52 AM - GMA News.TV

 

UNITED NATIONS — Countries and international organizations pledged nearly $10 billion on Wednesday to rebuild Haiti after January's earthquake, going far beyond the government's expectations and providing new hope to the impoverished nation.

 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that nearly 50 donors pledged $9.9 billion "for the next three years and beyond," demonstrating that the international community had come together "dramatically and in solidarity with the Haitian people" to help them recover from the Jan. 12 earthquake.

 

Haiti had appealed for $3.8 billion for the next two years. The UN chief said the $9.9 billion includes pledges of $5.3 billion from governments and international partners for the first 24 months of reconstruction.

 

"We have made a good start," Ban told a news conference at the end of the daylong donors conference. "We need now to deliver."

 

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who co-chaired the conference, called the pledges "an impressive sum by any standard."

 

"To put this effort in perspective, after the 2005 (Indian Ocean) tsunami, more than 80 countries provided immediate humanitarian assistance and more than 20 countries pledged assistance for reconstruction," she said.

 

"As of today, more than 140 countries have provided humanitarian assistance to Haiti and nearly 50 countries have made pledges of support for Haiti's rebuilding."

 

Haiti's President Rene Preval thanked donors, saying "this is a heartfelt effort that demonstrates that Haiti is not on its own."

 

The earthquake destroyed the government and commercial center of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, killed between 217,000 and 300,000 people, and left an estimated 1.3 million people homeless.

 

In the first minutes of the conference, the United States and the European Union pledged more than two-thirds of the $5.3 billion Haiti requested.

 

Clinton announced the United States' pledge of $1.15 billion over the next two years. Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign affairs chief, then announced the EU's pledge of 1.235 billion euros, equivalent to over $1.6 billion.

 

It was not immediately clear if all pledges were new money, as some delegates appeared to be describing existing aid projects.

 

Preval had asked donors to focus on education and help the country's 9 million people provide for their own future.

 

"Let us dream of a new Haiti whose fate lies in a new project for a society without exclusion, which has overcome hunger, in which all have access to secure shelter ... (and their) health needs provided," he told diplomats and ministers from more than 130 countries.

 

The $3.8 billion is just the initial part of a $11.5 billion package Preval's administration wants to rebuild schools, hospitals, courthouses and neighborhoods destroyed in the magnitude-7 earthquake.

 

Haiti's government has detailed its plans for the money in a 55-page rebuilding plan that lays out the interim reconstruction committee. It includes requests for $350 million in direct budget support to the government, which Edmond Mulet, the top resident UN envoy there, said is crucial for the country's progress.

 

"We need Haiti to succeed," Clinton said. "What happens there has repercussions far beyond its borders."

 

She said the donors conference was not only to pledge financial support but "to offer support in a smarter way."

 

Haiti's leaders must guide "a transparent recovery," Clinton stressed, and the international community must change its past practice of working around the government and ensure that it is working with the government.

 

At the core of the quake-ravaged country's request for help is the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, or IHRC, which will be co-chaired by former US President Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.

 

The commission's two-dozen members will be tasked with coordinating and paying out the aid money expected to flow in. It is a key step to allaying donor concerns over Haiti's history of official corruption and political unrest who want assurances that the money will go where it is intended.

 

The former US president was tapped for the role earlier this week, Bellerive said. Clinton, who as UN special envoy to Haiti visited three times since the earthquake, will likely be spending much more time in the impoverished country in his new role.

 

In keeping with his work as UN special envoy, Bill Clinton pushed private investment at the conference.

 

Most notably he helped shepherd a $7.5 million project with the Coca-Cola Company to help mango producers supplying the "Haiti Hope Mango Lime-Aid" made by its Odwalla brand.

 

The board Clinton will help lead is a source of consternation among some Haitian lawmakers, who are now considering a legislative package submitted by Preval to approve the commission's authority. Opposition lawmakers are threatening to block the bill unless Preval's administration first publishes a report on how aid money was spent in the initial aftermath of the disaster.

- AP

[nancyk58]

NEWS IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS ON 3 APRIL 2010

 

BBC WORLD NEWS on 3 April 2010

 

PERU VILLAGE MUDSLIDE 'KILLS 20'

 

At least 20 people have been killed in north-eastern Peru after heavy rains sparked a mudslide that engulfed a small village, officials have said.

The mudslide struck the village in the Huanuco region. At least another 25 people are reportedly missing.

 

At least 120 homes had been damaged or destroyed, the officials added.

 

Civil defence chief Hipolito Cruchaga said emergency teams were at the scene, and that aid was being provided to those who had been made homeless.

 

The deadly mudslide was the second in as many days in Peru. On Thursday, five people were killed in the town of Cancejos.

 

OVERFLOWING LAKE

 

Mr Cruchaga said 50 people had also been injured in the latest mudslide.

The BBC's Dan Collyns in Lima says days of heavy rains caused a small lake higher up a nearby mountain to overflow into a ravine.

 

The AFP news agency quoted reports from the village as saying hundreds of people might still be missing.

 

Mr Cruchaga said tents, blankets and food supplies had begun arriving in Huanuco for those hit by the latest mudslide.

 

In the past few months the Peruvian Andes have experienced one of the heaviest rainy seasons in decades, our correspondent says.

 

Some meteorologists say it is due to the cyclical El Nino weather pattern, while others attribute the downpours to climate change.

 

 

FROM OTHER NEWS SITES (CET = Central European Time)

 

Telegraph: Peru avalanche kills at least 20 - at 10am CET

 

IAfrica.com: Peru mudslide kills 20 - at 10am CET

 

Al Jazeera: Deaths in Peru mudslide - at 6am CET

 

Yahoo! UK and Ireland: Avalanche Of Mud And Rock Buries Village - at 4am CET

 

ABC Online: Deadly landslide buries village - at 1am CET

 

 

German ARD Text: DEATHS CAUSED BY LANDSLIDES IN PERU

 

An avalanche of mud and stone has cost at least 28 human lives in the Peruvian Andes after heavy rains.

 

In the Huancon region about 300 km northeast of the capital, Lima, other 25 people were missing after 2 landslides. 54 inhabitants in the town of Cancejos and the village of Porvenir are injuried and a total of 160 homes were damaged there according to the newspaper "El Comercio".

 

Worst-hit is the small village of Porvenir where one fourth of all houses were destroyed or damaged.

 

 

Swedish SVT Text: VILLAGE IN PERU DESTROYED IN LANDSLIDE

 

This week 2 villages in the northeastern Peru have been hard hit by landslides sparked by heavy rains.

 

A whole village and about 400 people have disappeared according to the regional leader Jorge Espinoza. At least 28 are confirmed dead and many more are injured or missing. In the small village of Porvenir 23 and in the town of Cancejos 5 were reported dead.

 

 

Danish DR1 and TV2 text-TV: PERU AVALANCHE KILLS AT LEAST 20 PERSONS / MUD AND LANDSLIDE IN PERU

 

An avalanche of mud and stone/rocks buried a little village in central Peru. At least 20 were killed, and hundreds are reportedly missing. 50 people are injuried after the mudslide.

[nancyk58]

NEWS IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS - POSTED ON 4 APRIL 2010

 

PERU LANDSLIDES KILL 28, LEAVE 25 OTHERS MISSING

 

04/03/2010 | 09:42 AM - GMA News.TV

 

LIMA, Peru – Landslides caused by heavy rains have hit two towns in northeastern Peru, killing at least 28 people and leaving 25 others missing, regional officials said Friday. At least 54 people were injured.

 

Civil defense chief Hipolito Cruchaga said a landslide in the town of Porvenir killed 23 people Friday and rescuers were still hunting for 25 more. He said 54 people were injured and 120 houses damaged.

 

A mudslide on Thursday killed five people in the town of Cancejos, Cruchaga said. — AP

[nancyk58]

HELP RED CROSS AND UNICEF

 

NEWS IN RELATION TO THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE FROM AMERICAN RED CROSS

 

http://www.redcross.org/haiti

 

HOW THE RED CROSS IS HELPING

 

As part of its largest international response since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the global Red Cross network has helped nearly 1.9 million Haitians since the country’s January 12 earthquake. It has so far spent or allocated $106.4 million to meet the most urgent needs of earthquake survivors and will continue to support hundreds of thousands of additional survivors in the years ahead until the last donated dollar is spent.

 

More than 50 disaster specialists representing the American Red Cross are in Haiti working alongside thousands of Haitian Red Cross volunteers as part of a broader and coordinated network of Red Cross and Red Crescent responders from nearly 40 nations.

 

In the two months since the earthquake, the global Red Cross network has:

 

Provided RELIEF ITEMS for 400,000 people.

 

Handed out nearly 99,000 TARPS, TENTS and TOOLKITS.

 

Supplied MEALS for more than 1 million people.

 

Distributed 40 million liters of CLEAN DRINKING WATER.

 

Built more than 1,100 LATRINES.

 

Helped VACCINATE more than 125,000 people.

 

Coordinated the SHIPMENT of more than 1,800 units of BLOOD to medical facilities.

 

TREATED more than 55,000 PEOPLE at Red Cross hospitals or mobile clinics.

 

Sent more than 23 million TEXT MESSAGES with critical HEALTH ADVICE to survivors.

 

Received more than 28,400 REGISTRATIONS ON its FAMILY LINKING WEB SITE.

 

ASSISTED more than 25,000 PEOPLE who arrived in the U.S. following the earthquake.

 

DEPLOYED more than 600 RESPONDERS to Haiti.

[nancyk58]

Help Red Cross and Unicef help victims of natural disasters / News from Unicef

 

NEWS IN RELATION TO THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE FROM UNICEF

 

http://www.unicef.org/media/media_53194.html

 

JOINT PRESS RELEASE

 

A HAITI FIT FOR ITS CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

 

NEW YORK, 30 March 2010 – On the eve of an international donor’s conference for Haiti at the United Nations, Save the Children, SOS Children’s Villages International, Plan International, World Vision International, OXFAM and UNICEF have stressed the importance of ensuring children, young people and their families are at the centre of all rebuilding efforts.

 

Haitian children and young people aged 5 to 24 shared their views on issues affecting them such as gender, disabilities, violence and abuse, disaster risk reduction, and their own rights and responsibilities post-earthquake as their country emerges from recent earthquakes at a series of focus group discussions held throughout the country between 26 February and 5 March.

 

Humanitarian organizations working on children’s issues maintain that providing Haiti’s youngest citizens with a strong voice in the discussion around the future of their country and enabling them to actively participate in all aspects of it will be crucial for a successful transformation of Haiti.

 

In a recent post disaster risk assessment study with more than 1,000 children, many said that their priority was to return to school and continue their education as soon as possible. “I want the rights of children to be respected and all children to know what their rights are. I also want everyone to have access to education,” says quake survivor Daphmika, 15, in Port-au-Prince.

 

Children and adolescents under 15 make up nearly 40 per cent of the population in Haiti and young people from 15 to 24 account for another 20 per cent.

 

Even before the earthquake the needs of many Haitian children were not met.

 

Nearly one in every fourteen children did not live to see their fifth birthday and children who survived were afflicted by high rates of malnutrition. About 50 percent of all Haitian children did not attend primary school and only 18 per cent of boys and 21 per cent of girls attended secondary school.

 

The government of Haiti has indicated its commitment to prioritizing the needs of children and youth, but the earthquake has dramatically complicated the difficult task of assuring the well-being of Haiti’s youngest citizens. Many of the more than one million children in the earthquake zone were already in vulnerable circumstances and now face increased risks due to loss, separation from, or displacement of their families, malnutrition, illness, psychological trauma and abuse.

 

Save the Children, SOS Children’s Villages International, Plan International, World Vision International, OXFAM and UNICEF stress that Haiti is a children’s emergency and have been providing children and families with emergency relief supplies including shelter, food, medical supplies, water and sanitation supplies, and child protection services. The establishment of tent schools has given children the opportunity to continue their education and experience a sense of safety and normalcy.

 

If Haiti is to emerge from disaster as a place where children and families can survive and thrive, a holistic and sustained internationally-funded response that creates a strong child protection system and provides access to quality health care and education will be needed. Children and young people must be acknowledged as resourceful, as agents of change and as protagonists in their own development.

 

Save the Children, SOS Children’s Villages International, Plan International, World Vision International, Oxfam and UNICEF are closely collaborating on the ground and internationally to provide consistent and coordinated support to Haiti’s children and its future.

 

For more information, please contact:

 

Janine Kandel, UNICEF New York,

Tel: + 1 212 326-7684,

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Tamar Hahn, UNICEF Panama,

Tel: + 507 301-7485,

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Jenessa Bryan, SOS-Children’s Village International,

Tel: + 1 917 208-3472,

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Amy Parodi, World Vision,

Tel: + 1 253 815-2386,

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Nicole Widdersheim, Oxfam International,

Tel: + 1 212 687-3018,

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Robin Costello, Plan USA,

Tel: + 1 401 829-2796,

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Kate Conradt, Save the Children,

Tel: + 1 202 640 6631,

E-mail: [email protected]

 

 

AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE, PROTECTING HAITIAN WOMEN AND GIRLS FROM VIOLENCE

 

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/haiti_53204.html

 

By Jennifer Bakody

 

ANSE-A-PITRE, Haiti, 29 March 2010 – The effects of the earthquake that struck Haiti some two and a half months ago have reverberated across the country. Both in and beyond the capital, Port-au-Prince, progress made in tackling long-standing human rights issues – including the problem of gender-based violence against women and girls – seems a distant memory.

 

In too many cases, the most vulnerable have been the victims of exploitation and abuse.

 

The small and isolated town of Anse-a-Pitre, located at Haiti’s most southern border crossing with the Dominican Republic, has suffered largely beneath the radar of the international community. Although the community’s modest, one-room houses and schools all remain standing, a population influx measuring in the thousands – combined with security pressures at the border – is breaking the back of families’ ability to cope.

 

Business in Anse-a-Pitre is anything but booming. To make matters worse, pre-existing aid and resources have been diverted to address post-quake needs elsewhere.

 

FEW WOMEN AND GIRLS FEEL SAFE

 

Such dire conditions help to explain why five grassroots advocates travelled many miles recently for a chance to speak with UNICEF Haiti Gender-Based Violence Specialist Catherine Maternowska.

 

The six met in the backyard of small cement house located off a residential dirt road. Despite the importance they attached to this meeting, each of the three men and three women in attendance was patient and respectful.

 

Seated in the shade on a circle on wooden chairs, they spoke and listened in turn.

 

By the meeting’s end, the situation report was bleak: Like the capital’s overcrowded settlements for displaced people, the modest homes of host families in this rural region are under increasing duress. Daily life in the close quarters of a tent or one-room house has taken away any semblance of privacy. Come nightfall, poorly located latrines – or the complete lack thereof – require women and children to steal away to unlit areas. Few people feel safe.

 

“Since the earthquake, as the population here has increased, so have we seen an increase in cases of violence against women,” said Anse-a-Pitre Justice of the Peace Marc-Anglade Payoute. “The police and the justice system, we’re doing everything possible. We’re continuing to pursue arrests.”

 

SEXUAL VIOLENCE IS NOT INEVITABLE

 

Ms. Maternowska first came to Haiti in the 1980s, working alongside local activists to advance women’s issues. She speaks fluent Creole and knows the issues.

 

For her, the problem isn’t new or surprising: Emergencies increase the vulnerability of girls and women to gender-based violence. She stresses, however, that such violence can be avoided. Local women’s, men’s and non-governmental organizations; the justice system; all UN actors; and the media all have crucial roles to play.

 

“Sexual violence is not inevitable,” says Ms. Maternowska. “Haiti’s women’s movement has worked long and hard to change archaic Haitian laws that put women and girls at a grave disadvantage from the day they are born. Today in Haiti, support groups are teaching both men and women how to prevent violence, as well as how to create safe spaces for their daughters.”

 

PREVENTING ABUSE, SUPPORTING SURVIVORS

 

In the aftermath of earthquake, UNICEF staff members have met with nearly a dozen groups in south-eastern Haiti, working to create an effective referral system for survivors of violence. Small plastic-coated referral cards, printed in Haitian Creole, instruct victims on where to go for medical care and support. The cards were developed by UNICEF, in collaboration with the Haitian Government, the International Rescue Committee, and UNFPA.

 

“Information is key,” says Ms. Maternowska, “and placing that information in the hands of a survivor can save her life. The referral cards we’ve developed provide information on how and where to access essential medications to prevent pregnancy and HIV. And of course, the provision of timely information gives survivors access to full medical treatment, psycho-social support and justice.”

 

In partnership with NGOs and other UN agencies, UNICEF supports the Haitian Government’s push to include gender-based violence services as part of a comprehensive approach to women’s and girls’ health. Plans to develop dedicated health centres for women and girls are currently in the works in the areas hardest-hit by the earthquake – including Port-au-Prince, Leogane and Jacmel.

 

The partners’ goal is to expand these services to even the most remote corners of Haiti, including Anse-a-Pitre.

 

SAFE SPACES FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS

 

UNICEF is equally committed to the prevention of future violence through the establishment of child-friendly spaces, with activities designed to educate girls and boys about gender-based violence and help them develop life skills needed in the new and challenging camp settings. Working with an established local Haitian partner, Solidarity for Haitian Women, UNICEF has plans to create women-centered friendly spaces, as well.

 

Safe spaces for women and girls will address issues related to gender roles and violence through a locally produced curriculum based on gender-based violence prevention and basic rights. Group activities such as these provide the community-based psycho-social support that Haitian women and children need..

 

 

FIELD DIARY: CAMP's CHILDREN EXCITED ABOUT GOING BACK TO SCHOOL IN HAITI

 

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/haiti_53222.html

 

UNICEF is among the many agencies delivering assistance to hundreds of spontaneous camps that have sprung up in parks and other public places in Haiti since the 12 January earthquake there. UNICEF's Simon Ingram visited one camp in Port-au-Prince and sent this report

 

By Simon Ingram

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, 31 March, 2010 – You only have to mention the word 'school' and a sparkle comes into Taïma Celestin's dark brown eyes. It's not hard to understand why. The scheduled reopening of Haiti's schools on 5 April will be the first real opportunity for this confident 10-year-old to leave what is today her home – a tiny lean-to covered with a blue tarpaulin in a former sports ground in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince.

 

In the days after the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January, killing some 220,000 people, Taïma, her grandparents and more than 7,000 other terrified people sought refuge here. Nearly three months on, few have managed to return home, and the artificial soccer pitch surrounded by an asphalt running track has become a tent community known by the name Dadadou.

 

PART OF THE HEALING PROCESS

 

During the day, Taïma joins several hundred other children for informal classes run by volunteer teachers inside two large white tents that were provided by UNICEF along with 'School-in-a-box' kits full of learning materials, and a recreation kit.

 

The classes are noisy but good-natured. They pause briefly to allow members of a local non-governmental organization to distribute fruit juice and snacks to the children.

 

[b]"The classes help me forget what happened, if only for a little while," says Taïma. [/b]

 

It may be part of the healing process that has led children in the camp to invent their own name for the earthquake. "When we talk about it among ourselves, we call it 'Monsieur Gudoo-Gudoo'," Taïma says, shaking her arms in rhythm to the words, "because that was the noise it made."

 

The former Dadadou camp coordinator, Dr. Junie Bertrand of the Haitian NGO Kore Timoun (Supporting Children), says the informal classes have helped children come to terms with what happened.

 

"I used to find children having panic attacks at night," says Dr. Bertrand. "But since the classes started, I haven't seen kids nearly so distressed."

 

KEEPING THE CAMP HEALTHY AND SAFE

 

The classes serve other purposes, too. For example, the younger children have been taught a SONG that teaches them the importance of hand-washing and PERSONAL HYGIENE – very important in preventing diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases.

 

So far, Dr. Bertrand says, most camp residents have avoided serious illness. Even so, with the rainy season expected soon, she has real worries for the future.

 

Dadadou camp, its population increasing lately with the arrival of new homeless families, is short of proper shelter materials and adequate food and water supplies.

 

Conditions in the camp are similar to those in many of the hundreds of spontaneous camps for displaced people in Port-au-Prince and other earthquake-affected areas.

 

Today, Dadadou has a generally orderly feel. The tents and tarpaulins are pitched close together, a neat row of toilets fills one side of the perimeter and a 3,000-gallon water tank stands next to grounds that are kept free of litter. Patrols by local police and camp volunteers have kept security fears at bay.

 

'It'll be a great day for me'

 

For Taïma, as for many children, the prospect of going back to school is exciting. "It'll be a great day for me, especially the math and French classes," she says, referring to her favourite subjects.

 

Her one surviving school uniform – retrieved from the family's damaged apartment – has been carefully set aside in the tiny tent in readiness for the big day. But like so many other children in Haiti, Taïma knows her excitement about beginning school anew will be tempered by the tragic realities of the earthquake.

 

"When I get to school," she says, "I will also find out which of my friends are alive, and which ones are dead."

[nancyk58]

Help Red Cross and Unicef / news on 15 April 2010

 

German ZDF Text: WILLIAMS ASKS FOR HAITI RELIEF / AID

 

Robbie Williams has appealed to the world to do its utmost to help children in the earthquake-stricken Haiti to a better life. The British singer who is also UNICEF ambassador said after his visit to Haiti that 3 months after the quake a lot has been done. "But it is still a huge challenge".

 

According to the latest UNICEF report the life conditions have improved for many of the 1.5 million children who are affected by the earthquake. But the situation is still difficult.