GERMANY INCREASES HAITI ASSISTANCE TO 7.5 MILLION

UNCLAS BERLIN 000070 SIPDIS STATE FOR HAITI EARTHQUAKE TASK FORCE (WILLIAMS, ROSSER), USAID (O'NEILL),WHA/CAR (DI PERRO, MCCANTS, ROBINSON, SMITH),PRM/PRP (SCHAAF),EEB/IFD/ODF (LEATHAM, ALEXANDER), EUR/CE (HODGES, SCHROEDER) TREASURY FOR ICN (NORTON) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECON EFIN PGOV PHUM PREL UN GM HA SUBJECT: GERMANY INCREASES HAITI ASSISTANCE TO 7.5 MILLION EUROS REF: A. STATE 04854 ¶B. STATE 04909 ¶C. BERLIN 50 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Germany has increased humanitarian assistance to Haiti following the January 12 earthquake to 7.5 million euros. Of this total, the Development Ministry (BMZ) is providing 2.5 million euros for food aid and the Foreign Ministry is contributing the remainder for emergency assistance, including search and rescue. Germany is registering its contributions on the Financial Tracking System (FTS) of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). More assistance will be forthcoming pending a UN needs assessment. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Econoff conveyed REF A and REF B points to contacts at the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Kerstin Faehrmann, BMZ's Director for Emergency Aid and the World Food Program, said the German government had increased its humanitarian assistance for Haiti from the previously announced 1.5 million euros to a new total of 7.5 million euros. BMZ's share of the total, 2.5 million euros, will go towards food aid, with 500,000 euros channeled via the German development implementing agency GTZ and 2 million euros via the World Food Program (WFP). According to Faehrmann, Germany's 7.5 million euro contribution is part of the 400 million euros pledged by the EU. ¶3. (U) The Foreign Ministry is contributing the remaining 5 million of the 7.5 million euro total towards immediate emergency aid. The funds will be disbursed via German NGOs operating in Haiti and focus primarily on search and rescue, food aid, medicine, temporary shelter, and drinking water. The German Agency for Technical Relief (THW) has deployed a team of 4 experts in the fields of logistics, water, communications and construction. A separate THW team has provided two water purification devices, which can supply drinking water for 60,000 people. According to an MFA statement, the German Red Cross sent a mobile hospital to Port-au-Prince, and the German government will provide an additional mobile hospital. The MFA is registering German government assistance on OCHA's Financial Tracking System (FTS). Pending a needs assessment by the UN, more assistance will be forthcoming. (REF C) ¶4. (U) The MFA believes German citizens are among the dead and injured in Haiti, with 16 Germans still missing. The MFA's regional doctor has traveled to Haiti (presumably to treat German victims). The MFA is also sending additional personnel to staff the German Embassy in Port-au-Prince. MURPHY