UK to send Royal Navy ship loaded with aid for Haiti

20 January 2010

The UK will send a Royal Fleet Auxiliary Supplies ship loaded with aid to help with the relief operation in Haiti, International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander announced today.

The ship, RFA Largs Bay, is being despatched at the request of the United Nations and will sail from the UK carrying relief supplies that will be needed by the people the people of Haiti in the weeks and months ahead.

It will have the capacity to carry supplies and goods on behalf DFID's partners in the UN and NGOs.

The ship, which is due to sail before the end of the month, is expected to stay in the region for some weeks to help the UN ferry bulk supplies around small small outlying ports in Haiti 

The UK Government has already promised £20 million to help those affected by the earthquake victims.

International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said:

“This ship will provide a lifeline of essential supplies to sustain the recovery effort over the coming weeks to keep Haiti running. The focus until now has rightly been on the immediate task of trying to save lives but we must also plan for the future. 

“Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them desperately poor to begin with, have been left with nothing.  It will take many months for them to rebuild their lives and the international community stands ready to help.

"I am proud that the Royal Navy has been able to respond so quickly to the UN's request to ferry vital supplies to the scene of one of the worst natural disasters in living memory.  Their professionalism and capability will make a real difference to the suffering people of Haiti."

DFID also announced it will:

• Allocate Oxfam with £1 million, Action Against Hunger with £1 million, and Handicap International with £500,000. These allocations come from the £20 million already pledged by the UK Government. 
• Pledge help towards rebuilding Haiti’s Government. A team of civilian experts from the UK will help restore vital Government functions,  such as the Justice, Interior and Finance Ministries. This will help the Government of Haiti to re-establish law and order and improve infrastructure. This support from the UK Government will include extra communications, office equipment, logistics and other vital equipment.

Background

So far, DFID’s overall contribution to the relief effort includes:

• £1m for the Haitian Red Cross to provide food, shelter, clean water and other immediate needs for 20,000 families
• £2m for the World Food Programme for transport, communications and base camps to help with the logistics of getting relief where it’s needed
• £300,000 for the World Health Organisation for disease surveillance, to help prevent the spread of epidemics such as malaria and dengue fever
• £1m to help the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs bring in more than 30 extra staff to help bolster humanitarian coordination;
• Transport and deploy the UK search and rescue team and the humanitarian assessment team.
• Support for food, shelter, basic sanitation and health services.