Overwhelming generosity funds Oxfam’s immediate short-term work in Haiti

Funds still needed to help Haiti recover and rebuild over years

International agency Oxfam said today that public generosity had secured enough money to fully fund its immediate emergency work in Haiti over the next six months. Oxfam said it is keeping its national appeals open for people to donate toward its longer-term plans to help Haitians to recover and rebuild their lives, over approximately the next three-to-five years.

Oxfam’s 14 independent affiliate groups have raised nearly $90 million in their home markets. The group intends spending around $18 million of this within the next six months. Oxfam is still increasing its aid effort in Haiti to reach more and more people. So far it has reached 85,000 people with water and sanitation and temporary shelter and plans over the on-coming days to reach up to 25,000 more. Oxfam is also giving people cash for clearing up their neighborhood and digging latrines and handing out essential hygiene kits.

Oxfam says that the longer-term needs will be great given the scale of destruction and the level of pre-existing poverty in Haiti. “We are putting our priority on reaching as many more people with emergency assistance and we are also planning for longer-term rebuilding,” said Oxfam’s humanitarian director Fernando Almansa.

“This will involve helping to rehabilitate water and sanitation systems in poorer urban neighborhoods. We will also look at appropriate ways of helping people to increase their food production in sustainable ways. We will help local communities to have a voice in how the government and the international community go about rebuilding Haiti.”

Oxfam said that due to the scale of the devastation and the level of poverty in Haiti it will take a great deal of aid sustained over many years before the people of Haiti recover from this disaster.

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