HURRICANE IRMA: ACTION AGAINST HUNGER READY TO LAUNCH IMMEDIATE RESPONSE IN HAITI

According to recent updates from the National Hurricane Center, an official Hurricane Warning is currently in effect for Haiti. Irma has now been upgraded to an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane, and is expected to hit northern Haiti on Thursday, September 7.

Action Against Hunger has active programs in northern Haiti. In response to the predicted path of the hurricane, we have pre-positioned emergency relief supplies and we are ready to mobilize 10 expert emergency teams in the hardest-hit areas in Upper Artibonite and the entire Northwest region of Haiti.

Action Against Hunger is ready to conduct rapid needs assessments in the immediate aftermath of the storm, and we are poised to mobilize daily distributions of safe water, as well as emergency hygiene kits and other essential relief items to meet the immediate needs of 6,000 people. We are ready to launch our response within 24 hours of the dangerous storm conditions subsiding.

Action Against Hunger is working in partnership with Haiti’s Civil Protection Directorate to co-lead the coordination of humanitarian activities in affected areas in Artibonite region and the northwest region of the country. Our team will provide support to Haitian authorities to coordinate the humanitarian response in these areas and assess the most urgent needs in the wake of the hurricane to ensure the most vulnerable people receive rapid assistance.

Action Against Hunger has been working in Haiti since 1985. Our team of 450 staff manages programs from bases in Port-au-Prince, Gonaïves, Port-de-Paix, and Bombardopolis. In 2016, Action Against Hunger’s programs benefitted more than 431,919 people in Haiti with humanitarian assistance and longer-term development programs to prevent cholera, improve access to safe water, improve nutrition, and strengthen the capacity of communities and local partners to build resilience to disaster and hunger.