MCHHJO1: INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO HAITI'S

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 001256 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR, DRL, S/CRS, INR/IAA SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR TREASURY FOR MAUREEN WAFER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL HA SUBJECT: MCHHJO1: INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO HAITI'S HURRICANE EMERGENCY REF: PORT AU PRINCE 1252 ¶1. This message is sensitive but unclassified -- please protect accordingly. ¶2. (SBU) Post has received the information in para 3 from local Embassies concerning the international response to the aftermath of Hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike. ¶3. (SBU) Begin list of emergency aid pledges: -- The European Commission has appropriated 3.8 million euros in emergency aid. This is made up of one 1.8 million allocation (from a 2-million euro allocation for four affected Caribbean countries) following Hurricane Gustav and a second 2 million euro appropriation pledged on September 3. -- Canada will respond to the UN's Flash appeal (which is expected to total USD 90 million; in the past Canada has usually contributed 5-10 percent). Canada already has appropriated just over 600,000 dols Canadian in emergency assistance. Of this, 40,000 dols Canadian is going to Medecins du Monde, and 100,000 dols Canadian to the International Red Cross. Canada is also sending a plane with non-food items include blankets, hygiene kits, mosquito nets, and other items for 2000 families expected to arrive the morning of September 10. The Canadian Ministry of Defense is considering sending a hospital ship and a team of civil engineers. -- France has had a five-member team from Guadeloupe and Martinique on the ground in Haiti since September 5, composed of four disaster assessment experts and one military logistician. Some of this team will be flown to Gonaives September 8 in a MINUSTAH helicopter. The French Embassy reported that the French frigate ''Ventose'' is to arrive in Haiti September 8 carrying one six-passenger reconnaissance helicopter (too small to ferry supplies). The ship will dock in Jacmel, from where the helicopter will carry out damage assessment flights in the south of Haiti. Based on these assessments, France will decide on an aid package by September 9. The French Embassy says their package will probably include materiel, humanitarian aide personnel, and direct financial assistance. The French Minister of International Cooperation is scheduled to visit September 8. -- Germany has pledged up to 150,000 euros to buy relief supplies on the local market. Germany will reevaluate the situation over the next days to decide whether they will give more. -- Spain sent a plane with humanitarian supplies that arrived September 4, and another is arriving September 7 or 8. The total value of these commodities is approximately USD 417,000. -- Switzerland has pledged approximately USD 1 million, including USD 650,000 for food assistance through the UN World Food Program, USD 90,000 for non-food assistance, and the deployment of three logisticians to the Swiss Red Cross. -- Japan is providing USD 156,000 in non-food items, including plastic sheeting, water purifiers, water containers, tents, bedding, and generators. -- Brazil has provided USD 100,000 in food and water assistance through the Brazilian battalion in MINUSTAH. -- MINUSTAH has a bailey bridge and is seeking to identify the best location to deploy it. End list of emergency aid pledges. SANDERSON