City of Sydney and Humanitarian Aid to Haiti
On Tuesday 12 January 2010 an earthquake registering 7.0 on the Richter scale devastated Haiti, the poorest and most underdeveloped nation in the Americas. It is estimated that up to 212,000 lives were lost, 300,000 injured and over a million people left homeless.
The City of Sydney donated $100,000 on behalf of the people of Sydney to Medecins Sans Frontieres who provided emergency medical assistance. Another $40,000 and up to $25,000 in in-kind support was directed to funding local community-based organisations and other charities already on the ground in Haiti.
Another $10,000 was donated to the Exodus Foundation’s Overseas Disaster Resources to meet the cost of transporting containers from Sydney of urgently needed items requested by Haitian organisations.
Two 40ft containers left Sydney to be delivered to KONPAY, a community-based organisation in Haiti which plays a key role in coordinating the on-the-ground response effort. Overseas Disaster Resources coordinated the logistics of freighting these items, supported by the City’s warehousing space.
Haiti update - 12 March 2010
On 12 March 2010 Council donated a further $40,000 towards longer-term redevelopment and community sustainability. The recipients of the donation, Oxfam and KONPAY, already have established community development projects in place in Haiti, received the cash donations.
The Red Cross in Haiti reports that the people are still suffering and the City of Sydney strongly encourages our residents, businesses and members of the public to provide additional support to any of the local Haitian community-based organisations identified by global charity assessment sites such as AidWatch and Global Giving.
Donations may also be made directly to the community-based umbrella organisation in Haiti, KONPAY. The Red Cross and Oxfam are other examples of charities that can be donated to but we encourage you to research your chosen organisation and find out the best way to make a donation.
