Haiti: fundraising takes off after the UN appeal

Six days after the earthquake that devastated Haiti, international aid is ramping up. Pledges of nearly $ 360 million had been advanced by twenty donors on Friday, before the official call for funds from the United Nations (UN). According to Elisabeth Byrs, spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 9% of the targeted $562 million had been paid into the organization's accounts on Monday, i.e. $51 million (35.5 million euros).

New round of announcements for governments

The appeal of the UN has therefore revived the momentum of solidarity on the side of the governments. “France has decided to respond to the emergency appeal for Haiti launched by the United Nations (…) with a contribution of 10 million euros,” Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner announced in a press release on Monday. . A sum which is added to the 2 million euros promised Friday by Paris for food aid, specifies the ministry. In addition, the European Union could release more than 100 million euros, during a ministerial meeting convened urgently on Monday. The Czech government approved aid of 20 million crowns (772,500 euros) today, while Mexico has pledged to give $8 million to Haiti.

In the United States, Barack Obama rallied two of his predecessors, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, to the efforts of the White House to collect donations. And this, after releasing $100 million for immediate aid to Haiti. According to the US State Department, the total US contribution to this first emergency phase could reach several hundred million dollars.

Donations break records for NGOs

Haïti : la récolte de fonds décolle après l'appel de l'ONU

On the fundraising front, NGOs are not left out. In France, a dozen major humanitarian organizations had received some 15 million euros this morning, mainly via the internet. These organizations include Handicap International (100,000 euros), Secours Populaire (185,000 euros), Médecins du Monde (700,000 euros), CCFD - Terre solidaire (820,000 euros), Médecins sans Frontières (880,000 euros), Action against Hunger (965,000 euros). ), Unicef France (1 million), Secours Catholique (1.4 million), Red Cross (3.3 million) and Fondation de France (5.8 million). In the United States, the Red Cross has collected more than 10 million dollars by SMS, "the largest donation campaign by mobile phone that has ever existed", rejoiced the American Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

French companies come to the aid of Haiti

• French Association of Mobile Operators (AFOM): French mobile operators (including Bouygues Telecom, Orange, SFR, NRJ Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Breizh Mobile, Simplissime, M6 Mobile, Universal Mobile, Télé 2 Mobile and Casino Mobile) have launched a SMS fundraising campaign. For one month, their subscribers will be able to make a donation of 1 euro to the Red Cross, Secours Populaire or Secours Catholique, by sending an SMS to specially set up numbers, as part of the "Haiti 1 SMS = 1 euro ". SFR and Orange have also announced free calls to Haiti.

• Air France: After Air Caraïbes, last week, the airline announced that it had planned special rates for repatriation flights departing from Fort-de-France (Martinique) and Pointe-à-Pitre ( Guadeloupe) and bound for Paris Orly.

• Societe Generale and Crédit Agricole banks: Each has undertaken to pay 1 million euros to NGOs present in Haiti.

• EDF: The group has planned a donation of 250,000 euros, and is currently shipping 16 generators to Haiti. EDF experts based in Martinique and Guadeloupe are also ready to travel to Port-au-Prince to assess the damage to the electricity network.

• GDF Suez: The energy group announced a first emergency donation of 100,000 euros and highlighted the mobilization of all its employees, within “internal NGOs”.

• Sodexo: The collective catering group has decided to allocate 100,000 euros to the World Food Program (WFP).

• La Poste: A stamp of solidarity with the victims of the earthquake will be published. Its price of 1 euro includes a donation of 44 cents to the Red Cross.

• EADS and Airbus: The aeronautics group and its subsidiary have decided to lend the Action Against Hunger association an A 340 jumbo jet to help Haitians. The aircraft was to take off from Lyon on Friday, with 150 cubic meters of hygiene and telecommunications equipment on board, as well as pockets of drinking water.

• Les Entreprises du medicament (Leem): The French pharmaceutical industry donated, at the end of last week, 56,000 emergency treatments to relief teams going to Haiti.